JFK or LGA - Which is better airport for going to Long Island?
 

Hi,
So I want to go to Long Island this summer and flying into Islip is not an option because there is no non stop service from my city. I was wondering which airport, LGA or JFK, would be better to use? I'm looking for ease of navigating in and out of the airport with a rental car and ease of drive to my destination of Sag Harbor.
Thanks!

both airports are ON Long Island - althuough the NYC part of it (Queens).


either is equally convenient to Sag Harbor (or inconveninet) - dependingonday of week and time of day. I would pick based on conveninece nad cost of flights.

If you are coming on a Friday, esp afer 12 noon - understand that you will hit a lot of traffice getting there.

eithre way it is almost all highway until you get fairly close to Sag Harbor - where the roads are basically local. I much prefer the Northern State )or Southern) to the Expressway - since it avoids the heavey truck traffic.

Agree, no appreciable difference. It's about 95 miles from La Guardia to Sag Harbor and about 92 miles from JFK to Sag Harbor - either way it's almost all highway driving.

There are differences between the airports, however. In LGA all the car rental agencies are off site and require you to take a van. At JFK you can take the Airtrain and get to the central rental facility, and I think it's much easier to pick up a car and get out of the airport than at LGA, where you are actually driving on city streets in a very congested area.

But I don't know how this affects costs. Either way, driving from LGA doesn't really add much to your travel time (perhaps 15 minutes), so I'd choose whichever gives you the cheaper flight and car rental.

Flying to Islip may still be more convenient even without a nonstop flight. Otherwise, JFK. Is closer and has more rental car options. It's also possible to take a train or bus out to the ahwmptons and rent a car there. Are you aware of the Hampton Jitney?

Getting to the Jitney from one of the airports in a PIA - although it make sense from Manhattan.

I always try to rent from an airport - so you can e sure of getting a car. Small local car rental offices often run out of cars - even if you have a reservation - in midsummer. (I've had friends have to wait 3 hours while they drove a bunch of cars up from Philly.)

Thanks for all the feedback!

I should have explained my comment about getting a flight that's not nonstop to Islip.
1). If you fly on Southwest, their gates are usually very close to each other if you have to change planes
2) sometimes it's just a quick stop
3) by flying into Islip you miss the worst of the traffic getting out of the NYC area
4) rental cars from Islip will be a lot less expensive than from JFK and delays in and out of the airport are not nearly as bad.

I've had to take a 1 stop flight and. I was surprised how painless it was.