Travel advice JFK to Yale (New Haven: rental car, rental, limo)

[kvando]

Hi,
I am coming for a college visit with my daughter and didn't look at ground travel before we booked our tickets (NOT a good idea). But now I have to make the best of it. What is the best way to get from JFK to New Haven? Is there anyway to take Airtrain out of the city but be able to get a rental car at that point?

Thanks,

Kelli

[Chava61]

The Airtrain connects JFK to the NYC subway system.
You might want to check out the Connecticut Limo service at JFK.
Otherwise you might want to consider taking an airport bus to Grand Central Station in Manhattan and from there a Metro-North commuter train to New Haven.

[nei]

Or you could do Airtrain to subway to Grand Central to Metro North

Subway would be the E line change for the 6 at the 51st station. Might be the cheapest way to go. A little complicated and the transfers could eat up time, but so could traffic.

[citylove101]

A) Get a rental car at JFK and take the 2 hr (more or less) drive to New Haven.
B) Connecticut Limo will pick up and go to New Haven and Yale directly. But for two people round trip its cheaper to get a car.
C) Airport bus to Grand Central and then Metro-North (the commuter line) to New Haven. The least expensive way to do it, but will take the most time.

Any subway/bus ride will add an hour to your trip becaue you're going into Manhattan first. Unless you are planning some sightseeing in Manhattan, its much quicker to go to New Haven straight from Kennedy.

[kvando]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm leaning toward just renting the car and driving. Our flight gets in at 4:41 pm on Thursday (bad planning again). Should I just head out or try to wait at the airport awhile for traffic to lighten some?

We return on Saturday...flight leaves at 5 pm. If we wanted to try to see something in NY city that day, should we return the car early and then take some public transportation? Or drive somewhere? Thanks for the help.

Kelli

[DarkWolf]

Traffic is very bad from 4-7pm on I-95 , in some places its a sludge movement. So taking the Train would be faster and they run express trains between 3-6pm to New Haven so it would only take 2hrs instead of up to 4hrs via a car. The Train is very comfy and you might even get a bar car...

[Henna]

I personally would also prefer to take the train. That trip can be a nightmare if the traffic is bad, and also, it can be a bit tough (confusing) when you drive that route the first time -- especially getting from JFK out of the city.

[citylove101]

Coming in you would be driving into Connecticut at the height of rush hour, so if you can, yes, it might help to eat at the airport first and wait a bit for the traffic to die down--though there is sill no guarantee that the highways -- mainly 95 -- won't be packed at 7 or even 8. You'll just have to play it by ear. Listen to the news radio stations at 880 or 1010 am for regular trafiic reports.

Driving back I'd defintely hit Manhattan first with the car, as early in the day as you can swing it, pay to park wherever is nearest to what you want to see. On street parking can be somewhat easier on weekends, but pay for a garage if need be. Leave the city by 3pm latest so you'll have time to rtrun the car, check in etc etc.

You'll waste a lot of time if you drop the car off first and then go to Manhattan by public transit and back to the airport the same way. That would be a huge waste of time and IMO just not worth it.

[nei]

You might not need a car in New Haven, depending on where you staying, so perhaps a train might make sense.

By the time you get out of the airport, the traffic may be dying down.

[DarkWolf]

Its not like they have no public Transit in New Haven or Most CT cities , New Haven has one the best systems mostly due to Yale and the Downtown itself. Theres 2 or 3 bus lines that connect the station to Yale / Downtown or you could walk its like 6 blocks.