Hello all,
We are thinking of hiring a car service to take us from our Midtown Manhattan hotel to JFK for our flight back home. Our flight is on Monday afternoon at 5PM, so I'm thinking we should be at the airport around 3:30PM.

What time should I tell the car service to pick me up? I dont know how traffic can be on Monday afternoons....

Thanks!

It should be about 40 minutes, but traffic is often a factor and can double the time if it's bad.East midtown or west? Just getting from the west side to the east can eat up a lot of time midday
Domestic flight or international?Checking any luggage? I"m not sure being at the airport 90 miunutes in advance (best case scenario you have) is enough time to clear security and check luggage

Our hotel is right next to Rockefeller Center.

Domestic flight back to Los Angeles via Jetblue. You recommend more than 90 mins to check in bags and clear security?

I would say 2 hours if you are checking bags. Probably too much time, though I would error on the side of caution. My daughter and I are taking Jet Blue to NYC in November, though we won't be checking bags. So 90 minutes should be okay for us.

So people recommend 2 hours for checking in, and about 1 hour for driving to the airport? Thus, for a 5PM flight, we should have the car pick us up at 2PM?

Thanks!

Yeah, that sounds about right for the cautious among us!

Yeah, that sounds about right for the cautious among us!

My dad (88 years young) would leave at 11 a.m.

The trip to the airport by car is a huge mystery. The approach to JFK is perhaps the worst section of highway in the NYC area. It could be smooth sailing, it could be a parking lot. We're all saying that for your peace of mind it's better to chance being a little early than to spend time hyperventilating while stuck in traffic.

In the days before lengthy security checks, we were stuck in this traffic nightmare on an airport express bus. We had allowed for a 40 minute trip from Manhattan, which would place us at the airport 1.5 hours before departure, a typical check-in time in those days for our international flight. Traffic was a nightmare and we were extremely agitated, nervous and fearful as time ticked away. We finally reached our terminal 20 minutes before departure time and ran ran ran directly to our gate. After the briefest of check-ins, we walked right onto the plane and the door was closed--impossible with today's check-in requirements.

Since that day, I'm happy to sit at the airport, having a coffee, reading a book, whatever, knowing I'm actually there in time. I allow an hour for the trip to the airport, and plan to be there 2 hours ahead for both domestic and international flights.

Ellenem- I will allot the full 2 hours for us also. Thanks for sharing.

First - ask your airline when you must check in.

This varies by destination and airline - and you don;t want to get shut out. To play it safe I would leave 1.5 hours to get there - but do check with the car service that day - since something (accident, construction work, someone visiting at the UN) can wreak havoc with traffic patterns.

I am bumping this because I need to go on virtually this same route (Midtown, opposite Rockefeller Center) to JFK for a Thursday 6PM JetBlue flight. Because of the great deal of uncertainty going by taxi/car, as outlined above, I am considering the subway/air train. Can anyone share their thoughts about that option vs. taxi? I would ordinarily not mind leaving way early and just taking a cab, but I'm trying to avoid leaving too early from work -- so I'm wondering if the public trans option might be a bit more reliable in terms of duration.... (as much as it pains me to use the adjective "reliable" to describe the subway, ha ha)

(I live here in NYC, but have always gone to JFK from home in Bklyn before now, nor have I flown out right during rush hour like this.)

Also the car service company may be able to advise. They drive that route all the time and are as familiar as anybody with the typical traffic patterns. Tell them about wht time you'd like to get to the airport and they'll tell you what time is best for pick up.

Personally, I would leave no later than 2:30 for a 5pm flight, but probably would leave 2pm to allow for either traffic and/or airport security backups.

I live on the east side, just at the Midtown Tunnel Entrance. I've made JFK in as quick as 20 minutes in pre-dawn hours, but it's taken me almost 90 minutes when stuck in traffic on a Saturday afternoon of all times. I'd certainly allow 2 hours, but I'd feel more comfortable with more time.

If you don't have a lot of luggage, then it's much much much easier to take the combination of LIRR and Airtrain from Penn Station. That will reduce the travel time to just under an hour. That's one of the reasons why I love the Airtrain, especially if I'm traveling at a busy time.

Public transit will take longer than cab/car service unless there is a disaster on the roads. From where you are it should take (assuming you're leaving around 3 pm - later is a big risk) - 40 minutes or so by car/cab. To take train/Air Train or subway/Air Train from where you are I would leave at least an hour and a half - and if there are long lines at securityin a rush at the airport..

Follow-up subway/airtrain question: There's an E train right near where I'll be in midtown, so it looks like I can take that all the way to the terminus (Jamaica Center/Parsons/Archer), where I can pick up the Airtrain. According to the MTA's Trip Planner, I can grab a 3:43 train that gets me to Jamaica at 4:11. I don't know how long the Airtrain takes from that point to Terminal 5, but it seems like plenty of time to get me to the airport by 5:00, no? And does an hour seem like enough time if I'm checking no luggage, and checking in online? Am I cutting it too close?

The E train runs regularly (unless there is trouble on the line) and you will not see a sign for a specific arrival time for the E train or any train, like on a communter line. And no NY'er refers to specific times for any subway except for dispatchers.

The Airtrain runs about every 5-10 minutes and if your flight is at Terminal 1 in will be about a ten minute ride and then up to Terminal 8 which is anout another 7,8 minutes.

Agreed on the specific time for the E train. I only refer to it as what Trip Planner on mta.info spat out; I intend to use it as a guide only. If the train actually shows up at 3:43, I'll buy you your beverage of choice.

>>

Even if it does, you won't know if it's the 3:43 that arrived on time, or the 2:43 that arrived an hour late

Tell the car service what time your flight is. They will know when you should be picked up.

If you don't have a lot of luggage, the e train is a perfectly good option. From your location, I would prefer the E train to the LIRR because the E is nearby while you will need to shlep to Penn Station for the LIRR--this effort cancels the time savings of taking a LIRR commuter train versus the subway.

I think (not positive) that the E train station at 53rd St (I assume your choice) has an escalator. At the Jamaica Station end, there's an escalator and elevator that you can take from the subway platform up one level. From this level, follow the signs to the AirTrain elevator. From here you walk past all the LIRR stairs and enter the AirTrain station.

I have done this trip a few times. I would recommend allowing at least 90 minutes travel time to be safe. (I've managed door-to-door in 78 minutes but every little thing went right that day.)