I'm thinking of flying into islip rather than la guardia--any wisdom about how much of a pain it is to get into manhattan from there

There's a shuttle bus that will take you to the Long Island Railroad, which will then you take you into the city...there's also private transportation, but that's more expensive...I don't think it will be a hassle to take the LIRR, and you won't get stuck in traffic.

Youngtom,
Depends on when you arrive and your pain threshold

Shuttle->Train adds 1-2+ hours to trip and LIRR overheads don't accommodate much luggage. Escalators at Penn Station are narrow - don't think a 30" piece of luggage will fit.

Road transport is at the mercy of construction/accidents and time of day.

Travel after ~10AM-3PM on a weekday (anytime on a weekend - except Sunday from ~4PM on) and you'll encounter the least amount of "pain", regardless of the mode of transportation.
hth,

i don't recommend islip. the hassle is unfun and laguardia or jfk can be cheaper and painless.
islip is out in the country, i.e. long island.

Oops, cockpit error, didn't see LGA part.
Removes escalator problem at Penn Station. Trip time is about 2 hours.

I suggest you call the car services but figure 1.5 hours. Don't know prices.

For all transpotation options go to www.macarthurairport.com

i've done that before on a Southwest freebie - it wasn't too painful, but there weren't any shuttle buses yet between the airport and train station, so a taxi driver crammed 5 of us in and charged us $8 each for a 120-second ride. it was between an hour and an hour and a half between Penn Station and the airport, but the train was full of people with accents i've never heard [except on TV] so i was well amused the entire trip.

It all depends on your patience and luggage.

I tried this and to me, it really isn't worth the hassle. It's the time you have to wait for the train and the three luggage transfers - airport to car, car to train, train to cab that just doesn't make it worthwhile.

I'd guess I'd have to save at least $200 in airfare to get me to even consider Islip.

You can also try driving a rental car to New York if you're arriving during off peak hours. I got a rate of $35 once, but it was a pickup truck.

I wouldn't recommend flying into Islip. It's a pain if you need to go into Manhattan. I would recommend JFK, LGA, or even Newark. Good luck.

When taking the LIRR from Islip to Manhattan, do you have to transfer at the Jamica station? Thanks.

Kevin,
There's no hard fast rule. Sometimes you do change at Jamaica, sometimes not.

LIRR has timetables on their site:
http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr/
Timetable legend will note if you have to change trains.
hth,