Best way to get to JFK?

[beerfan]

I am traveling from JFK in April. What is the best way to get there from the Hartford area? Just drive and park? I am not seeing a good shuttle service, I took a shuttle from Waterbury 20+ years ago but it doesn't exist anymore. I would alsos be willing to drive to New Haven if there is a shuttle from there.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

You could drive and park. If you made it to GCT, you can take the Long island railroad there pretty easily. No idea how long you are going for. Can also see if any of the hotels near there have a parking deal.

 

[DSquiz]

From Hartford you can take the Amtrak direct to Penn Station, LIRR to Jamaica station, then the Airtram to JFK and whatever terminal you need. Takes about 3.5 hours vs 2.5 driving (assuming minimal traffic) but with a car you then need to park and shuttle to the airport vs being dropped off in front of the terminal. So times are comparable for train vs car.

If you want to leave out of New Haven, Grand Central now connects directly to the Long Island Railroad so you can take a train to JFK much easier then before. It's Metro North to Grand Central, hop on the LIRR to Jamaica , then the Airtram to JFK.

 

[Sea7Eh]

Also depends on how long you'll be gone and how much you want to pay for parking. I've used the train from New Haven very successfully. Other methods I've used are:

one-way car rental

pay a friend or relative

 

[Travelman6]

 

[dvegas]

Public transportation to JFK from CT su*cks. At least long-term parking has the Air Train to take you to the terminals (way better than shuttle busses), and exiting is easy becuase they put the parking charges on your EZ-Pass. Ive heard horror stories about some of the off-site parking options (mostly hotels) at JFK, never tried them

 

[YukonDolt5]

A 6.5 mm Carcano rifle, good aim, and plenty of patience.

 

[Jasper Husky]

This past fall we used Phoenix Travel of Fairfield twice, including 6 people on one of the trips. Ariana is the owner.

Because we are from just outside New Haven, they charged a little more to pick us up. I think it was $220 each way plus a tip.

For me, it is well worth not having the stress of going down in traffic or worrying about the trip home (ours was 9 at night flight back). On one of the return, our scheduled driver had an accident but Ariana quickly arranged for a back up.

The other option is try to locate a Lyft or Uber driver to moonlight. If you know a driver from one, they can probably give a referral. (or ask Ariana if she knows someone around Hartford)

You probably know this but leave plenty early - better to be 2 hours early than 10 minutes late.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Waquoit]

Didn't they used to have a shuttle to JFK that left from Sports Haven?

 

[huskyjawz]

You could drive and park. If you made it to GCT, you can take the Long island railroad there pretty easily. No idea how long you are going for. Can also see if any of the hotels near there have a parking deal.

There's also a private bus from Grand Central, used to be ten bucks.

 

[dvegas]

Didn't they used to have a shuttle to JFK that left from Sports Haven?

Pretty sure that was Connecticut Limo, they had a terminal in Norwalk off Exit 15 where the SoNo collection is now. Think they went belly up, but was pretty expensive, and could have long waits if you weren't arriving at a peak hour, plus forced you to leave way way too early for departures.

 

[uconnfan68]

Also depends on how long you'll be gone and how much you want to pay for parking. I've used the train from New Haven very successfully. Other methods I've used are:

one-way car rental

pay a friend or relative

Did the car rental years ago (but was for business, so I wasn't paying). To make matters worse, I was going to Singapore and screwed up the date of return thanks to date line. Luckily they had more cars.

 

[ctkaiser]

Didn't they used to have a shuttle to JFK that left from Sports Haven?

I think that's CT Limo. Might still be there. Bus service.

 

[YukonDolt5]

A 6.5 mm Carcano rifle, good aim, and plenty of patience.

Too soon?

 

[temery]

Too soon?

I was going to say fly a small plane or rent a convertible in Dallas, but I have too much class to post something like that.

 

[temery]

This past fall we used Phoenix Travel of Fairfield twice, including 6 people on one of the trips. Ariana is the owner.

Because we are from just outside New Haven, they charged a little more to pick us up. I think it was $220 each way plus a tip.

For me, it is well worth not having the stress of going down in traffic or worrying about the trip home (ours was 9 at night flight back). On one of the return, our scheduled driver had an accident but Ariana quickly arranged for a back up.

The other option is try to locate a Lyft or Uber driver to moonlight. If you know a driver from one, they can probably give a referral. (or ask Ariana if she knows someone around Hartford)

You probably know this but leave plenty early - better to be 2 hours early than 10 minutes late.

Enjoy your trip.

I've been riding Uber until I find a new car. At least once a week the driver has given me his card "just in case you need a last minute ride and no Uber is available." A few have said they do prearranged airport rides.

An Uber from Hartford to JFK, prearranged, will cost around $200. Uber doesn't allow prearranged airport pickups (flight arrivals are often not on time).

 

[LGITB]

Hopping on this thread in hopes someone will see it - I have a late afternoon flight from JFK and was hoping to just take Amtrak to Penn Station and the LIRR/Airtrain from there, BUT, it turns out that Amtrak doesn't allow suitcases on board, nor a check in option? I'm wondering if anyone knows because I'm getting conflicting answers.

 

[HCCForever]

Public transportation to JFK from CT su*cks. At least long-term parking has the Air Train to take you to the terminals (way better than shuttle busses), and exiting is easy becuase they put the parking charges on your EZ-Pass. Ive heard horror stories about some of the off-site parking options (mostly hotels) at JFK, never tried them

I had a bad experience with an off-site parking option a few years ago. I prepaid for a two week stay in Brazil leaving on Christmas. When I got to the lot, they had no spot for my car. I ended up parking at JFK long-term which worked out great.

 

[DSquiz]

Hopping on this thread in hopes someone will see it - I have a late afternoon flight from JFK and was hoping to just take Amtrak to Penn Station and the LIRR/Airtrain from there, BUT, it turns out that Amtrak doesn't allow suitcases on board, nor a check in option? I'm wondering if anyone knows because I'm getting conflicting answers.

That isn’t true at all. Amtrak is all people with suitcases traveling. In fact they don’t even have a maximum you can bring pretty much as much luggage as you want. I’ve gone to DC with a stroller, 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks, and a crib for no extra cost.

Take as much luggage as you want and put it in the overhead racks or in the large luggage area of each car (so it’s all carry on, no checked bags). The conductors will be more than happy to help out if you have questions.

 

[Waquoit]

I ended up parking at JFK long-term which worked out great.

Good to know. We have a long jaunt in February. I've had good luck with Park-Stay-Fly for Logan and Newark but JFK is slim pickins.

 

[CTGoonie]

I used Smartpark JFK and it worked out great. Easy to find and shuttles run often. Normally I would just do a 1-way Avis rental but needed more room for the family for that trip.