Which is the best airport to fly into to get to mid-town Manhattan around 50th Street?

The best fares are into Newark, but does the taxi fare and time in traffic totally eliminate any savings?

Jayne- the closest airport to Mid-town is LaGuardia--

also cheaper taxi/car service and quicker to get in to the city-30 min vs 45 min from Newark

The Olympia bus service will take you from Newark to midtown.It runs every 10 minutes and costs about $15.Check their website:
http://www.olympiabus.com/

Using cabs it's probably $15-20 cheaper each way to get from LGA into the city and back. and as pointed out is a bit quicker. If travelign without lots of luggage and going solo, the new Skytrain from Newark is a great deal at $11.25 each way. Gets you to Penn Station in 25 minutes or so regardless of traffic conditions. Other consideration from a time standpoint is wheter your destination is on east side, west side or in between.

Taxi EWR to midtown - around $45 including tip and toll.
Taxi LGA to midtown - around $27 including tip and toll.
Assuming normal traffic conditions LGA to midtown 30 minutes minimun; ERW to midtown less than 40 minutes

Athough JFK and LGA are probably physically closer to midtown Manhattan, I'd agree with Owen in selecting Newark. It's much less chaotic and you can pick up the Skytrain to Penn Station.

I always choose LGA unless the price difference is over $100. I feel like I have to wait much longer for luggage at EWR, and then either again for the bus or cab. I think the cab from EWR runs more than that, more like ~$60.

I haven't taken the train but, as a woman, when I travel alone I always take a cab. Peace of mind and ease are worth the $10-15 to me.

I've used them all and Newark (EWR) gets my vote! It's definitely the most efficient airport in the area. The cab ride isn't bad and Olympia Bus service goes from EWR to Port Authority Bus Treminal for $11.00. Another option is the Airtrain and Path train combo out of Newark into Manhattan, very convenient! Ground transportation is easy to access at Newark! Have a good trip.

Cab fare from EWR to Manhattan is fixe3d and varies by zone. Te fare to W.50th is $34.50. Add the $6 toll and a tip the fare will be around $45. It would be $4 more to E. 50th.

Eeeuuuwww! Who wants to fly into Newark? You have to a) enter New Jersey and b) look at the horrible city of Newark.

How much of a savings are you getting by flying into Newark? If it's $50 or more, I'd say fly into Newark. I always try to fly into LaGuardia because it's closer to Manhattan and usually less time in traffic. Sometimes in New Jersey, the traffic lines are really backed up just to go through the tolls.

A cab from LaGuardia costs me about $20 into midtown. Newark is more like $35. The bus from LaGuardia is cheap but what I dislike about that and the Olympia (Newark) bus is depending on where your terminal is, they cruise around to other terminals until they finally leave the airport. If you don't mind, well then "take the bus Gus!"