which airport when going to Stamford,CT?
 

We are 4 adults and 2 children (ages 4 and 6) flying from San Francisco to a family wedding in Norwalk, Ct --- staying near Stamford. Which airport would be best (flying in June 24, flying out July 3).
We will be renting a couple of cars, so will need to get those at the airport. LaGuardia or JFK sound closer than Bradley in Hartford.....but wondering how easy it is to drive in and out of LG or JFK, and not sure of rental car situation.
Would love some feedback for this decision, since we are unfamiliar with all 3 airports.
Thanks for any insight you can provide.

LGA is undergoing a construction project and might be a little more difficult. JFK is larger but you shouldn't have a problem making your way to Stamford. You might also consider Newark, which about a one hour drive.

I'd take a look at connections to Westchester NY to see if anything makes sense. A family member lives nearby and much prefers making a connecting flight then travailing to and from the majors.

Not sure, it might also be referred to as White Plains airport.

It's Westchester County Airport. I didn't mention it because there are no non-stops from the west coast landing there -- but you're right, if they are not averse to connecting flights it is the closest and easiest choice.

In terms of travel time, it doesn't matter much if you fly into Hartford or JFK, but Westchester Airport in White Plains is much closer (half the distance/travel time). If you want to fly nonstop, you're better off going to JFK. If you don't mind connecting, then White Plains is the better choice because there are non nonstops form the west coast to White Plains.

curious - off topic
Doug, are you no longer an employee of Fodor's. I noticed no monicker by your name.

>>>In terms of travel time, it doesn't matter much if you fly into Hartford or JFK<<<

I don't agree. JFK should be less than a one-hour drive (sometimes much less). Bradley is closer to two..

Thanks for the input...still not sure what to do....may try to check out the Westchester Airport. Otherwise, still not sure which will be easiest. Maybe JFK....and will check out Newark.

Look at the total cost. Flights and car rentals. Then pick one. I find driving from Bradley to Stamford a little less stressful than from JFK.

Time of arrival/departure and traffic problems will be key as to how long it takes from either.

You can't fly into LGA non-stop from the West coast either, so if you plan to connect then Westchester (code = HPN) is by far the easiest for getting to SW CT. It could not be simpler to get in/out of.

If you are used to driving to/from JFK as I am, then I'd choose a non-stop into JFK over a connecting flight any day. I do know that many people who are not familiar with busy in-city driving do get confused. If you are one of those, then consider connecting.

JFK to Stamford is all limited access highway -- hardly what most people think of as "in-city" driving.

Let me be more specific. I know many people who drive from points north / north-east (that includes Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess counties in NY and parts of CT of NYC to JFK who get confused driving to/from JFK...

I'm not one of them - I know the roads well enough after 20+ trips. ymmv.

I would fly into JFK due to the number of flights and being able to avoid the GW Bridge - which can be a bear and you would use from EWR.

However I don;t think an hour to Stamford is reasonable - more like 1.5 hours - or more if you hit a lot of traffic.

Westchester is the best airport for you.

Regardless of where you fly into, EWR is the worst of all the regional choices. It's the furthest, has the most tolls, and forces you to drive through the worst traffic.

There's also no way you can get from JFK to Stamford in less than an hour. During busy times, it takes me 45 minutes just to get home from JFK, and I live on the Upper East Side. I did the drive on Sunday, and it took 30 minutes, just from the Whitestone Bridge. Granted, it really depends on the day and time you are driving. Weekend afternoons are always bad.

Someone asked if I'm still an employee at Fodor's. I am. It's just the label that went away.

>>>There's also no way you can get from JFK to Stamford in less than an hour. <<<

Simply untrue. I often drove the route in under one hour when I lived in Darien -- one town further than Stamford (My wife once made it in 40 minutes!). As you say, though, it all depends on time of day and traffic.

I once described the Westchester Airport as "Bucolic." It's the only airport to which I've applied that adjective.

I would recommend Westchester County/White Plains (HPN). You might not get a direct flight but the drive in to Stamford/Norwalk is much better than from the NYC airports. Also the lines are short and move quickly.

Westchester is mainly for corporate jets, but they do let in flights for the rest of us. Ask your relatives in Stamford. They'll tell you to choose that one.

Even Stewart Airport in Newburgh might be an option for you at less than 80 miles away, and it gets more flights than Westchester.

Are you mad ? Westchester is only perhaps 20 mi away, 27 min.

@Bedar Everyone agrees that Westchester is the best, most convenient airport, but it has relatively few flights compared to almost all other options, so it may be either impossible due to availability, expensive, or a badly timed connection. It has fewer than 20 flights a day. Granted, they are almost all to major hub airports, but they just may not work for everyone, and the OP may prefer nonstop flights, in which cases almost everyone agreed that JFK would be best.

>>>There's also no way you can get from JFK to Stamford in less than an hour. <<<

Agree, untrue. A few times I've gotten from JFK to Fairfield (16 miles or so further) in about an hour. Well, not me personally, my car service :-). It was after 9:00 at night.

I would like to go into Westchester but I only go nonstop. I prefer JFK over EWR although it hasn't made too much difference at the times I fly, perhaps 15 minutes longer.

Thank you to everyone for the ideas...much appreciated. Since my son has 2 young girls, we are really looking into non-stop flights. From what we can tell, flying into JFK on Jet Blue, non-stop, looks like the way to go. We will be getting rental cars, and flying in late on Saturday should hopefully cut the traffic.
Thanks again!

I agree with this. Late on Saturday is probably the best you can do. Sundays have been very bad lately. Look at the bright side. If there is a traffic back-up, the time saved on having a nonstop flight will more than make up for the difference.

If you can get a flight into Westchester Airport, book it. When we lived near Stamford, we used Westchester or LGA. But with the construction at LGA, I would avoid it. So Westchester, JFK, and EWR in that order. Hartford should be your last choice.

Traffic is going to absolutely horrible on July 3 - especially by the bridges - the day before Independence Day. Do not even consider Newark - because of the GW bridge and all the NJ shore traffic. Make life easier and book in and out of Westchester (HPN). Non stop flights can be more expensive but HPN is one of the easiest in-and-out airports in the country. LGA would be a 2nd choice but would still require a bridge to get to Stamford.