New York City Travel Forum

I'm going to be in NYC mid-August with my wife and teenage son. We have an 8.30am flight back home so need to get to JFK by 6.00am-ish on a Tuesday morning.

We've pre-booked a multi-drop minibus to our hotel for when we arrive, but I believe that service doesn't run before 6am for our return flight.

What is the best/easiest/cheapest option at that time to get to JFK from a Times Square/Midtown hotel?
Also, is the fixed cab fare coming FROM the airport the same as if you are going the other way? and how much is it? Would I hit any traffic that early?

Thanks in advance. More questions to follow ;-)

av

If you google "NYC car service" you'll see there are many companies that provide door-to-door service for a fixed rate. Most of them use large 4-door sedans and it generally works out cheaper than a taxi since there is no meter running.

Cabs are $45 flat rate to JFK from Manhattan, plus tip(15- 20%) no toll that direction. From JFK there is also $5.50 toll. Carmel Car Service states $48 (plus tip) Most car services are more, around $75

You'll be going against traffic at that hour, when most people are coming into the city. I would also recommend Carmel. www.carmellimo.com

Good luck on the multi-drop transport, it's rare when someone has a good experience with them, particularly the dreaded Super Shuttle.

On several occasions I have used www.nymexicanacarservice.com and they have been consistently cheaper than the "brand name" services.
They cater to Latino clients but everyone spoke English--sometimes with a heavy Spanish accent :) and I have no qualms in recommending them to non-Spanish speakers.

Thank you all for your replies!

I'm going to check out the car services that have been mentioned.

Looks like I shouldn't have bothered with the multi-drop shuttle. It seemed very convenient when it was offered when I booked my flight with British Airways :-(

Oh well, I'll just try and enjoy the hour or two ride around the city. Hopefully there won't be too many drops!

Thanks again.

If you can handle it, sleep in the airport, plan an event for late at night and then make plans for a safe trip out to the airport afterwards, sure it will be un-comfortable but you wont have to worry about waking up early plus you save alot of money by not getting a hotel room. I use to do this all the time when i backpacked through Europe.