From Mid Town Manhattan Hotel, Transportation to JFK Airport
Aug 28th, 2013, 09:09 AM
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From Mid Town Manhattan Hotel, Transportation to JFK Airport
I am trying to arrange transportation when I leave Manhattan to go to JFK. I am a single traveler and taxis are sooooo expensive and car services even more. Luggage is an issue, I can't go up and down stairs with heavy luggage very easily. I know Go Air Link and Super Shuttle are bad. But they are so much less expensive. I have taken Super Shuttle in the past and survived. I would take the Airporter, but then there is the problem of getting to their location near Grand Central Station. I have taken it many times TO the hotel, which works since they have shuttles. Do you know of any options that are in the $20-$30 range? I will be at 49th St between 7th Ave and Ave of the Americas.
If I go with a shuttle what are your opinions on the better of the 2, Go Air Link or Super Shuttle?
If I go with a shuttle what are your opinions on the better of the 2, Go Air Link or Super Shuttle?
Aug 28th, 2013, 09:28 AM
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Just to be clear, a car service and a taxi cost almost exactly the same amount. The former is not really much more. But I get your point. It's twice as expensive as the other options.
Yes, your best option seems to be to take a taxi to Grand Central, and then jump on Go Airlink. That's about $30 or even less.
Alternatively, you can find a fully accessible subway station for the E train (i.e., the Port Authority) and then take that to Jamaica, where you can transfer to the Airtrain for $5. There's an elevator up from the subway platform to the Airtrain level. This makes a total of $7.50 plus the taxi fare to the Port Authority ... say another $6 or $7.
SuperShuttle, while good in other cities, is abysmal in NYC. I just can't recommend it.
I hate to say this, but I think your real problem is that you have luggage you can't handle.
Honestly, I think the best thing you could do is to rethink your packing strategy and have luggage you can handle, and then you can take the Airtrain to the LIRR from Penn Station, which is easier for me than any other mode. But you have to get down to the LIRR platform (possibly by stairs, though it's not a lot of stairs). Getting up is no problem at Jamaica since there's an escalator.
Yes, your best option seems to be to take a taxi to Grand Central, and then jump on Go Airlink. That's about $30 or even less.
Alternatively, you can find a fully accessible subway station for the E train (i.e., the Port Authority) and then take that to Jamaica, where you can transfer to the Airtrain for $5. There's an elevator up from the subway platform to the Airtrain level. This makes a total of $7.50 plus the taxi fare to the Port Authority ... say another $6 or $7.
SuperShuttle, while good in other cities, is abysmal in NYC. I just can't recommend it.
I hate to say this, but I think your real problem is that you have luggage you can't handle.
Honestly, I think the best thing you could do is to rethink your packing strategy and have luggage you can handle, and then you can take the Airtrain to the LIRR from Penn Station, which is easier for me than any other mode. But you have to get down to the LIRR platform (possibly by stairs, though it's not a lot of stairs). Getting up is no problem at Jamaica since there's an escalator.
Aug 28th, 2013, 11:37 AM
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You can also pick up the Airporter at Port Authority Bus Terminal, which is a few blocks closer to your hotel than Grand Central.
If you are able to wheel your luggage, you can walk the 7 short blocks and 1 1/2 long blocks to 42 St and 8th Ave. to pick up the Airporter. No one will think you look strange wheeling your luggage.
Or you can take a taxi to PA or Grand Central for $10 or less and then pick up the Airporter. That should keep you under $30.
If you are able to wheel your luggage, you can walk the 7 short blocks and 1 1/2 long blocks to 42 St and 8th Ave. to pick up the Airporter. No one will think you look strange wheeling your luggage.
Or you can take a taxi to PA or Grand Central for $10 or less and then pick up the Airporter. That should keep you under $30.
Aug 29th, 2013, 07:42 AM
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Supershuttle drags people around to a number of differnt hotels in midtown traffic. There are numerous reports of people driving around the city for more than an hour before getting to their hotels.
There are also reports of people missing their flights when taking the SS back to the airport. If they are the first picked up they can again be driven around the city for more than an hour picking up people at a number of hotels - when they though they were going direcctly to the airport. Arriving at the airport well more than an hour later than they expected - and with time for check ina nd security they did not make flight check in times.
NYC has a LOT of traffic. To work the SS need to take people for only 2 or at most 3 hotels and they need to be in immediate proximity. Picking up in midtown east, midtown west and uptown for one shuttle just doesn't work - esp given the price - versus taking a large airport bus from Port Authority or Grand Central.
There are also reports of people missing their flights when taking the SS back to the airport. If they are the first picked up they can again be driven around the city for more than an hour picking up people at a number of hotels - when they though they were going direcctly to the airport. Arriving at the airport well more than an hour later than they expected - and with time for check ina nd security they did not make flight check in times.
NYC has a LOT of traffic. To work the SS need to take people for only 2 or at most 3 hotels and they need to be in immediate proximity. Picking up in midtown east, midtown west and uptown for one shuttle just doesn't work - esp given the price - versus taking a large airport bus from Port Authority or Grand Central.
Aug 29th, 2013, 07:53 AM
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I've tried Super Shuttle three different times over the years, always a few years apart, and all have been disasters.
In one, I was picked up for JFK 5 hours before my flight, driven all the way from 35th Street up to 121st St for another passenger, and then still had to make a drop-off at LGA first. The trip took over 3 hours, and I almost missed my flight because check-in was slow.
I used to live next to the entrance for the Midtown Tunnel. The second time I tried to use the service, we were stuck in traffic for over 2 hours because I was picked up first rather than last. After my pick-up we drove all the way to the west side and then returned to take the tunnel to JFK.
The third time I was also no-showed once at 5am, and another time I had to wait 45 minutes for a van at the airport. I've heard that no-show vans have been a problem (I've been told this by several people).
For me, it's been a litany of problems, and I've never had a successful run. But I think it's a matter of logistics for them. The vans themselves are not bad, but they make far too many stops that are too far apart, and the lead time for an airport pickup is almost uniformly 4 hours before a flight. This may be, in part, due to the fact that people avoid Super Shuttle for residential pick-ups because of onerous requirements.
I'm willing to consider that the service may work better in NYC for hotel pick-ups since there are clusters of hotels, and a van can load up with passengers from one hotel. But in NYC, just going across town during the late afternoon can take 45 minutes (i.e., about the equivalent of 10 city blocks). If you don't plan pick-ups in the correct order, then you're stuck in traffic for ages, and everyone gets upset. And all the one-way streets are difficult.
But I've used it in many other cities and never once had the problems I've experienced in NYC. And pickups there are usually 3 hours in advance ... a long time, but much better than 4 or 5 hours.
I don't envy any of these shared-ride companies because it's difficult to do business in NYC (they didn't really even start operating here until around 2000), but the necessity of leaving so far before the flight and the myriad problems have reinforced for me that this is just not the service for me.
Now that I can afford a taxi, I take one. But there was a time not so long ago when I really could not afford a taxi and relied on buses. But I've always had good luck with the bus from Grand Central, never having a problem (not even once). And I've taken the subway several times ... and again, despite a long trip, never had a problem.
But since the Airtrain has been operating (and when I lived still in Murray Hill), I've almost always taken that at least TO JFK (FROM I often take a taxi). Now that I've relocated to the Upper East Side, it's more trouble to take the Airtrain, but I often take the M60 bus from 125th Street to LGA, and that works fine for me.
In one, I was picked up for JFK 5 hours before my flight, driven all the way from 35th Street up to 121st St for another passenger, and then still had to make a drop-off at LGA first. The trip took over 3 hours, and I almost missed my flight because check-in was slow.
I used to live next to the entrance for the Midtown Tunnel. The second time I tried to use the service, we were stuck in traffic for over 2 hours because I was picked up first rather than last. After my pick-up we drove all the way to the west side and then returned to take the tunnel to JFK.
The third time I was also no-showed once at 5am, and another time I had to wait 45 minutes for a van at the airport. I've heard that no-show vans have been a problem (I've been told this by several people).
For me, it's been a litany of problems, and I've never had a successful run. But I think it's a matter of logistics for them. The vans themselves are not bad, but they make far too many stops that are too far apart, and the lead time for an airport pickup is almost uniformly 4 hours before a flight. This may be, in part, due to the fact that people avoid Super Shuttle for residential pick-ups because of onerous requirements.
I'm willing to consider that the service may work better in NYC for hotel pick-ups since there are clusters of hotels, and a van can load up with passengers from one hotel. But in NYC, just going across town during the late afternoon can take 45 minutes (i.e., about the equivalent of 10 city blocks). If you don't plan pick-ups in the correct order, then you're stuck in traffic for ages, and everyone gets upset. And all the one-way streets are difficult.
But I've used it in many other cities and never once had the problems I've experienced in NYC. And pickups there are usually 3 hours in advance ... a long time, but much better than 4 or 5 hours.
I don't envy any of these shared-ride companies because it's difficult to do business in NYC (they didn't really even start operating here until around 2000), but the necessity of leaving so far before the flight and the myriad problems have reinforced for me that this is just not the service for me.
Now that I can afford a taxi, I take one. But there was a time not so long ago when I really could not afford a taxi and relied on buses. But I've always had good luck with the bus from Grand Central, never having a problem (not even once). And I've taken the subway several times ... and again, despite a long trip, never had a problem.
But since the Airtrain has been operating (and when I lived still in Murray Hill), I've almost always taken that at least TO JFK (FROM I often take a taxi). Now that I've relocated to the Upper East Side, it's more trouble to take the Airtrain, but I often take the M60 bus from 125th Street to LGA, and that works fine for me.
