My husband and I are going to Thailand in August(first time) leaving from JFK (also first time). We live in Providence, and think driving ourselves to JFK is the cheapest and (hopefully) most hassle free way to go, since:
-there are no direct flights PVD-JFK
-we arrive at 11pm on return, so a bus/train would require an overnight in NYC.
- another fodorite mentioned $12 parking at JFK, which seems the more reasonable route.
We are leaving at 3 on a Thursday. Can anyone give me a sense of how long, worst case scenario, it would take to drive through CT and get to JFK? We are an hour from the border. I know what mapquest thinks, but I am sure they aren't factoring in traffic!

If anyone has a better suggestion as to how we can get to JFK inexpensively, would love to hear!
Thanks-

Not sure why you are not taking the non-stop Thai flight from JFK to BKK but its probably too late to change now.

That being said, I assume your intended departure time from JFK is 3 PM. If it is, then you will be travelling on I-95 at mid-day when traffic is lighter - it might be slow-going at times but at least it will be moving.

Our flight to Bangkok in February left at 11 AM which meant driving to the airport during rush hour but not on I-95. We allowed an extra half hour over Mapquest's time estimate which worked out perfectly for us. I think allowing an extra half hour - 45 minutes from Providence would be a good idea even if it is not rush hour. The worse that could happen is you arrive a little bit early.

One bit of advice - when you get to the Bronx (NYC), you might want to consider going over the Throgs Neck Bridge rather than the Whitestone as traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway can be awful at any time of day. The Throgs Neck Bridge takes you to the Cross Island Parkway which goes to the Belt Parkway to the airport. It is longer distance-wise but could save you some aggravation. You'll have to spend some time with Mapquest to figure it out.

Driving is the best option. Instead of paying $12/day at a remote lot, you may want to investigate about airport hotels at JFK that allow its customers to leave their cars for a reduced fee. Book the hotel room for the night of your return, so that you don't have to drive home that late after a long flight.

If your flight's departing at 3pm, then you'll be leaving home in mid-morning, so, traffic shouldn't be a big problem on a Thursday. I'd allocate 3.5 hours for just the drive, not including parking.

i drive this route frequently from west of boston....i would allow the 3.5 hours mentioned above for the drive only, never mind the finding the parking lot and the trip from there to the airport which i would allow another hour for...

the hotel idea is a good one, but honestly i am not aware of any that do this....thrifty car rentals in boston has a long term stay lot that you might check out if they have the same in nyc....

there might be a bus direct from providence to jfk...have you investigated that...? there must be a jfk flight from providence????

btw, how about considering joinin us in cambrdige ma on oct 7 for our boston GTG?? there will be lots of asia board people there??

also, if you have time wold you consider doing a trial run down there some weekend and this would allow you to shop around for a suitable hotel/parking situation....??

Connecticut Limousine goes as far as New Haven or Hartford. But I'm not aware of any direct service from RI.

4.5 hours to drive will alleviate any anxiety. If you go down I-95 there will be inevitable construction delays through CT. Working backwards, for a 3 p.m. flight and a 2 hour pre-flight arrival, you should leave Providence at 8:30 a.m.. Hopefully, it won't take 4.5 hours, but even if you follow Craig's directions, there are possible delays. Be aware that if you end up in a horrific traffic jam after you clear CT, there are many different ways to get to JFK.

LAchica, what airline are you using? My cousins who live in the Hartford area was able to take a shuttle bus from Hartford to JFK. They flew Asiana. This shuttle caters only to Asiana passengers, I called to check. You could call your airline to see if they know of any company that does this for them. Good Luck!

I can't imagine having a 3-4 hour drive (at night, no less) after flying back from Asia. Yuk!

If you do consider the train, there is a 3am train from NYC to Providence. (This is the overnight train from Washington to Boston.)

Thanks for all your help. We are flying Cathay; Thai direct was out of our price range. And no, there are seemingly no direct flights PVD-JFK. Crazy, huh? We've checked several times, and the only routes are through other hubs, which equals a very long travel time for a pretty short distance.

We will "test drive" the route to work out the kinks before we go. Great idea. Any other thoughts most welcome.

Another option to consider would be to fly to Laguardia airport (there are nonstop flights) and then taxi over to JFK. If that flight is "reasonable" enough, it could offset parking and driving costs and hassle (at the expense of a taxi ride).

PVD - LGA flights are $500 pp so I don't think that is a very economical option. When traffic is light, the airports are about 15 minutes apart though.

i find that when i come down 95 that if i go over the throgs neck bridge that it is very easy, using 495...look at your map and you will see it...there is an easy cut off before you get to co-op city north of ny....its a parkway with lighter traffic and no trucks which is terrible on 95....

if you test drive on a weekend, remember that it will be different from the traffic on a weekday...

cathy will be fantastic i am sure...are you stopping in HK for a couple of days i hope...

how do you like providence....we spent about 4 years in RI in the 70's and missed it after we left...jamestown was our favorite destination for a get away afternoon drive...

bob