[Comp625]

My wife and I are planning to fly later this year. We're equidistant (without traffic) to both LaGuardia and Bradley. Here are my misc. thoughts and questions but would love any input.

• How's the drive from CT to LGA these days? We recently drove to JFK and it stinks (that last stretch of the Van Wyck Expressway is brutal) but we get to avoid that as soon as we cross the Whitestone Bridge for LGA.
  
• Generally speaking, we both feel the drive to the NY airports is incredibly stressful and kind of dangerous with the insane traffic, crazy drivers who zip in/out, and I remember the LGA property being very annoying to navigate around (this was 10 years ago).
  
• Bradley is obviously low-key and a far easier drive (in general), but their prices come out to be about ~$500 more than a similar flight from LaGuardia. We can thankfully afford the additional cost (through Points) but it's still quite an egregious difference. On the other hand, there is value in saving on added driving and travel stress.
  
• If we pick LGA, the airline uses the new Terminal B (which we've heard great things about). A small perk beyond saving money/points.

Edit: Flight is international to Canada so there's the whole Customs aspect, too. I imagine Bradley is a bit more chill with Customs than LGA.

Thanks in advance!

[Stylo]

I’m also equidistant. For work, I use BDL if I can just due to the fact that I’m not paying. I’m actually going this week.

I almost exclusively use LGA/JFK for personal trips due to the lower cost and destinations. Mostly JFK just due to the fact that most of our travel is international these days.

LGA is certainly easier than JFK and is all about timing.

You want both flights to be outside rush hour. If you can manage that, it’s not been a bad trip for me.

For instance. I’ll get a flight out at around 1-2pm, and then arrive back after rush hour. Or during off times on weekends. Usually a fairly easy drive.

For customs, highly recommend getting Global Entry regardless. But LGA does very few international flights so it shouldn’t be crazy like JFK.

One benefit of BDL is also very cheap parking.

[SteveM85]

Easy if you're going from say Greenwich-Norwalk. Recently drove to LGA in 45 mins door to door on a Sat AM. Left around 10:00am for a 1:00pm flight. Drive home following Thur AM in about 50-55 mins.
Weekend mornings are the best time to drive to NYC airports or anywhere else in NY.

Have a great flight

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

Easy if you're going from say Greenwich-Norwalk. Recently drove to LGA in 45 mins door to door on a Sat AM. Left around 10:00am for a 1:00pm flight. Drive home following Thur AM in about 50-55 mins.
Weekend mornings are the best time to drive to NYC airports or anywhere else in NY.

Have a great flight

Yeah if I time it right it’s usually 65-80 minutes.

[NewJeffCT]

it's always worth checking the prices - I've gotten cheaper flights from BDL to China than from JFK or LGA, though most times it's the opposite. (BDL connects to Detroit or Minn/St Paul) BDL parking is usually quite a bit cheaper & more reliable, and you can get through the airport quicker because it's smaller. 95% or more of the time, BDL will be more expensive, though.

Had a nightmare experience parking at LGA once returning from China - we sailed through customs & our bags were among the first to appear on the carousel. Then, we get to the parking place and they couldn't find my car key.... so, had to wait for them to call everybody that was on duty in the past 24 hours to have them look for the key in the pockets, bags, personal cars, etc. Nobody could find it. They finally called a locksmith there to make a new key so we could at least drive back home. I suspect that their staffer dropped the key after moving my car or the car that was after mine in the queue. Then, they had the nerve to argue with us about billing them the cost of a full replacement key (the locksmith made a temporary key without the built-in transponder or whatever you call it) So, that's why I always check the price - less stress with BDL.

[DigitalMilford]

If you drive to LGA, keep in mind that on-property parking is convenient (new garages across from the terminal) but is based on demand-- On busy days parking can be $75 per day. This may eat in to your savings by using LGA. There are some (somewhat) reasonable off-property lots, but they DO fill quickly and the shuttle buses to and from the lots can be less than totally reliable. I've parked several times at the Hampton Inn/ LaGuardia Plaza hotel, but allow an extra hour if you do.

[JGBigGreen]

If you’re coming back from Toronto (Pearson) you clear customs there and I found it efficient. (This was pre-Covid so maybe that has changed.)

[BobNJ1960]

I favor taking either Metro North to GCT or Amtrak to Penn, then use a cab to LGA.

From NJ, I did Penn-LGA around 2016 for about $45 each way (from NJ). I had Southwest points to use and Newark flights at that moment were far higher than LGA. The city used to have a locked rate Manhattan mid-town to airport. In that case, I did NJ rail-taxi, but Ct train-taxi is an option I have used on other occasions.

Amtrak is competitive in cost if booked at least 14 days in advance, in many cases.

[WestRiverTraveler]

Any issues getting a cab or Uber to LaGuardia or JFK from 125th St? Wouldn't that be a faster way coming from CT?

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by WestRiverTraveler

Any issues getting a cab or Uber to LaGuardia or JFK from 125th St? Wouldn't that be a faster way coming from CT?

Not faster than driving direct, no. Faster than train to GCT/Penn though.