Our tickets from Zurich to Denver have two options; JFK to EWR or JFK to LGA, from there we take our flight to Dallas.

On a week day, which will be easier for us to connect to? EWR or LGA?
How do we get from one airport to the other?

We have about 3 hours in between flights.
I've never been in New York, so I'm not aware of distances.

Thanks,

JFK to LGA... about 20 minutes between airports by taxi. EWR is Newark, NJ which is much farther away.

No contest.

JFK to LGA is an easy taxi ride away.

JFK to EWR involves 1-2 hours of the worst traffic on the east coast.

Thanks a lot!
I'm glad I didn't get the tickets before asking.

Not only is LGA more efficient, in every way, it's a much nicer (well, somewhat nicer) airport than EWR, which is the worst!

I would look into another ticket entirely that avoids any airport change at all. The price difference may compensate the headache. Luggage is not transferred between airports. There must be more combinations.

Give yourself PLENTY of time to allow for fight delay upon arrival,( frequent summer storms on east coast) immigration back-up, etc.

Am I reading this right. You are flying Zurich to NYC then to Dallas then onto Denver? Surely there is a flight from NYC to Denver without going thru Dallas

Air Canada and Continental both have flights with jusr 1 stopover, in Toronto or Washington DC

Check ITA software ..

this does not sound good.

Am I reading this right. You are flying Zurich to NYC then to Dallas then onto Denver? Surely there is a flight from NYC to Denver without going thru Dallas?

Unfortunately not with 30k miles, AA makes you have the big headache for a 30k ticket.

Yes, this is the itinerary a mad thing I know!

65 ZRH Zurich JFK New York
Jul 23, 2010 01:10 PM

763 LGA New York DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth
Jul 23, 2010 08:20 PM

2065 DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth DEN Denver
Jul 24, 2010 10:00 AM

Well at least you won't have to go thru customs and immigration in Dallas! It's a mess there

Well at least you won't have to go thru customs and immigration in Dallas! It's a mess there...

Agreed!
We came back on April from Chile and in Dallas they broke every single handle of 10 suitcases we had, not counting all the liquor and preserves bottles they broke. We received 2 big suitcases wrapped in plastic and clothes and shoes smelling like after a drunken spree.

We wound up having to leave LGA and take off from JFK when snowstorms in ATL in March resulted in the cancellation of our first leg to JFK. I was panicked but everything worked out wonderfully. (See the first part of my trip report call Barcelona--whoda thunk snow?!! on this board. We were flying Delta and have platinum status so lots of things were open to us so I can't speak to Anerican or to what the situation might be if you can't go through shorter, premium lines, but your arrival at 1:10 is a step in the right direction. Traffic should be less heavy than at rush hour. Unless there's some major weather or other unforeseen problem you should be ok, at least in my limited experience. Good luck.

We did a LGA to JFK last summer on our way to Zurich and eventually Venice. No problem at all. We were going to take a taxi but there was a shuttle bus right behind the taxi stand so we hopped on.

To get from JFK to a flight at EWR you need to allow 5 hours at least, from wheels down to take off time. In 3 hours you would stil be on the Jersey Turnpike.

In 3 hours (assuming you land on time) you should be able to make a flight at LGA - since it is 15 to 45 minutes away from JFK (depending on traffic). Don;t forget you need to allow for immigration, customs, getting transport to LGA (I would use a taxi but there is a bus) and stil arrive at LGA 2 hours before your flight departs to check in and go through security.

Our flight arrives JFK at 1:10pm the LGA to Dallas is at 5:10pm. There is another one at 6:35pm to Dallas that I would consider but the combination for Saturday to Denver is at 7am and I rather flying at 9am.

Your plan gives you plenty of time and options should there be issues with your arrival into JFK - there are lots of LGA-DFW flights every day.

There is usually a 3 or 4 o'clock from LGA to DFW. If you arrive at LGA early, and you have gold or higher AA status you may be able to get on an earlier flight. I've done this numerous times on frequently serviced routes similar to LGA-DFW.