We are spending tomorrow night at the Marriott Courtyard Newark Airport hotel prior to our flight home Friday morning. We used Dial 7 to get to the hotel from Newark Airport, but they want $55 to take us to the hotel (it's $48 to get to the airport which is just next door).

Can anyone hazard a guess on what the cab fare would be? Or should we stick with the car service? There are four of us with three suitcases. We're staying at Radio City Apartments on 49th street between 6th and 7th avenues.

I was planning on heading out about 3pm, or should we leave sooner?

Thanks, Rich

Well, last time I took a taxi FROM EWR to 52nd and 3rd Ave., on a Thursday morning after rush hour, it was $60.00 including toll and tips (one person with 4 bags). That was a year ago.

Here is a fare calculator:

http://www.nyccabfare.com/

The reason they charge more may be that they then have to go to the airport itself to pick up a fare, so they add some money for their time. Not sure if that's the reason, or if it's really justified, but I'd just pay the extra $7 and be done with it. There are discount coupons around that might save you about $5.

NYC taxis are required to take you to Newark airport, but NOT to any other place outside the 5 boroughs (even if its right near the airport)
If they choose to take an out of town fare, they can set a rate (which I suspect will be the same or more than the car service)
http://home2.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/p..._pass.shtml#15

NYC cabs can't pick up fares in New Jersey so they have to come back empty. So the fare would be the meter, plus twice the meter in NJ plus $10 to get back to the city plus toll and tip. I would anticipate at least as much as a car service.

nytraveler, FYI the fare structure for out of town trips seems to have been changed (maybe with one of the most recent fare increases?)

I also originally thought it involved the "twice the meter" thing for part of the ride, but the link I posted above, from the official NYC website, says it's now a negotiated rate.

In any case, richbutnot is probably best off just booking a car service and not worrying about it

$55 is actually a really good deal, and I'd jump on it. A regular taxi will cost you over $60.

A cheaper but more difficult alternative would be to take the A) NJ Transit to Airtrain starting from Penn Station or B) Olympia Trails Shuttle to EWR from the Port Authority. Then you'd take a cab from the airport to the hotel or see if the hotel offers a free shuttle.

This could bring your costs for two people down to perhaps $40.

Doug, I also thought about recommending the train option but richbutnot mentioned that they are 4 people traveling...

Thanks for all the input. We ended up taking Dail 7 Car Service for $75 including the tolls and tips. We had an excellent driver who took us right to the hotel.