Any NY/NJ dis’ers that can help a girl out with airport advice? Budget in mind!

[Debbie Jean]

NJ here.

There are advantages to Newburgh and Westchester and I’ve done both… but for me the biggest disadvantage is very few flights so if something goes wrong, you have little in the way of options.

I fly out of EWR and do a stay and park… Springhill Suites has been most economical recently… hotel shuttle along with a great breakfast make this the easiest and most convenient since parking alone is $$$ at EWR.

I generally stalk flight costs between United and JB… DD has gotten great deals on Spirit and been happy with their service.

Good luck with your planning! Lots of options is a good thing

 

[Genie+]

We’re in NJ and Newark EWR is almost always more expensive than JFK or LGA Laguardia, though we stick with Jetblue to WDW for loyalty programs. Laguardia is usually the best prices. Parking has many competitive options; we’ve never had issue with hotels or parking lots that offer shuttle. Just make sure you have the address correct to get there.

I’m happy to report Newark is FINALLY much nicer experience. Beautifully renovated and improved functionality.

HPN (Westchester) used to be a good option but the prices are not competitive anymore. Same price as the more expensive Newark EWR.

 

[js]

Hello! I was unsure where to post this query. But, since this is a budget-minded decision on my part, I figured this was the right place. I just need to find some people from New York or New Jersey to guide me!

We are a large family of 7 from the New England area. We typically travel to Disney in the summer when schedules are lighter. We sometimes drive but when we fly, we almost always have good luck securing reasonable flights from our local airport. I do my homework and try to book at the optimal time. And I’m not afraid to fly budget airlines if necessary.

Considering a trip over April school vacation. We have done this once before and drove. We will not have the flexibility (or stamina!) this time around with sports commitments, jobs, and life in general to squeeze in a lengthy drive on both ends of the trip.

It would be impossible for us to fly out of our home airport, since it is our school vacation week. Everything gets marked up substantially and we would be looking at thousands in flights. Not going to happen. We cannot adjust our dates to fly out a few days earlier or later because I work in a school and have to stick to the actual vacation days. I also can’t really book flights this far in advance because our kids play a lot of sports and we don’t have every schedule this far out. We usually plan vacas within 6-8 weeks of travel. Crazy, I know. But it works for us. School vaca flights will never drop. They will only get more expensive as time passes.

But, if we drive 4 or 5 hours south to NY/NJ, we can fly all of us there and back for under $2000 (at least as of now). The prices were even lower when I checked last year closer to the travel dates ($89 one way!), but we ended up going in the summer instead and never booked it.

We will have to add in daily economy parking and some gas money, but we will still be making out financially. Driving 4-5 hours is a breeze to us after so many trips to FL in the car. And looking at current available flight times, we likely won’t even need a hotel unless we experience delays.

My question for you locals is which airport would be best? Where can we find safe overnight parking for our car that won’t cost an arm and a leg per day? Which airport is the easiest to navigate for out of towners? Quickest exit and baggage collection? Or, are we totally crazy in thinking we can pull this off?! And if so, why? Hit me up with your recommendations!! And thank you.

If you are driving to New York, I would look to see how much it is to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Staten Island (It is clean and the owners are always present). Then, I would look to see how much flights are from Newark (EWR).
The trip to the airport would be approximately 20-25 minutes. I use that Hilton often when I need someone to stay over for work, interviews, etc. You use to be able to leave your car there and they had a shuttle to/from the airport but not sure if that is done since Covid but it's worth looking into.

 

[PrincessGidget]

Frontier out of ISP!
Save yourself from the bridges and tunnels and take the ferry over from Connecticut.
There is a cheap, safe parking lot right there and TSA is a breeze.

 

[mjkacmom]

We’re in NJ and Newark EWR is almost always more expensive than JFK or LGA Laguardia, though we stick with Jetblue to WDW for loyalty programs. Laguardia is usually the best prices. Parking has many competitive options; we’ve never had issue with hotels or parking lots that offer shuttle. Just make sure you have the address correct to get there.

I’m happy to report Newark is FINALLY much nicer experience. Beautifully renovated and improved functionality.

HPN (Westchester) used to be a good option but the prices are not competitive anymore. Same price as the more expensive Newark EWR.

Terminal A is a nicer experience, the first time my husband flew back after the renovation he thought for a moment he flew on the wrong plane. My family members have been flying frequently, unfortunately the other terminals are still trash.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

How close is your local airport vs driving to a NY/NJ one.
I’m in CT and only fly out of JFK when it’s an international flight. The aggravation of getting into the airport far outweighs any savings. If you get caught in traffic getting there, many times you are screwed and stuck.

We drive to a Japanese grocery store just over the GW bridge in NJ. It ’should‘ only take us 2 hours to drive there. Very rarely has it taken just 2 hours. One time was a 5 hour ordeal.

Also don’t know where you are, but am assuming further north in New England, but have you checked Bradley airport in CT (northern CT close to MA border). They have directs to Orlando via both Jetblue & Southwest.

 

[mjkacmom]

How close is your local airport vs driving to a NY/NJ one.
I’m in CT and only fly out of JFK when it’s an international flight. The aggravation of getting into the airport far outweighs any savings. If you get caught in traffic getting there, many times you are screwed and stuck.

We drive to a Japanese grocery store just over the GW bridge in NJ. It ’should‘ only take us 2 hours to drive there. Very rarely has it taken just 2 hours. One time was a 5 hour ordeal.

Also don’t know where you are, but am assuming further north in New England, but have you checked Bradley airport in CT (northern CT close to MA border). They have directs to Orlando via both Jetblue & Southwest.

True, one of my daughter’s goes to school in Boston, the one time it only took 4 hours was a trip at 10:30 pm. Her bff’s family has a home on cape cod, back and forth was always traffic.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Looking at April 15-19 +/-1 day I see lots of flights from JFK/LGA/EWR below $300. I see a couple of Delta flights in the low $300s out of HPN. Otherwise you are very quickly getting to $500+ for any of the airports mentioned already.

 

[Genie+]

the first time my husband flew back after the renovation he thought for a moment he flew on the wrong plane.

haha that’s funny!

 

[dwonderz]

Frontier out of ISP!
Save yourself from the bridges and tunnels and take the ferry over from Connecticut.
There is a cheap, safe parking lot right there and TSA is a breeze.

Was going to suggest this - or potentially the airport in Westchester.

LaGuardia used to get a lot of hate - but it is now our favorite airport since they re-did it (especially if you are flying Delta). We easily have the best experience flying out of LGA vs. JFK/Newark.

 

[Penmac]

Don’t hate on Newark! Honestly driving there is MUCH better than the nightmare that is navigating to JFK. Plus if there are delays or cancellations it’s better to be at a big airport vs. something like White Plains or Albany (speaking from experience having to try to get my mom home).

DH always finds offsite parking with a shuttle. We have used a number of them and I think he likes Corporate Airport Parking the best. It isn’t the cheapest but it isn’t too crazy. Parking at White Plains is crazy expensive.

Take a look at Bradley as well. It might be a closer option for you.

Having said that, are you sure it’s worth it to drive from the Boston area to Newark and then get on a plane, rather than just sucking it up and driving through?

I’ve asked myself that same question. It is a 20 hour drive without stops so I think it is worth eliminating 15 hours (that’s 30 hours round trip, not including stopping for food or hotel stays). We’ve done it several times and Jersey basically feels like we are still in Boston.

 

[Sheree]

ttn has frontier. ewr is a united hub so lots of flights, but term c is crazy! phl has no non stops on sw to mco anymore. just american and maybe delta


good luck

 

[TheDailyMoo]

LaGuardia used to get a lot of hate - but it is now our favorite airport since they re-did it (especially if you are flying Delta). We easily have the best experience flying out of LGA vs. JFK/Newark.

Just flew into LaGuardia for the first time in many years this past summer and I was shocked at how lovely it is now! No more third world status for LGA. I would also concur that Islip would be so much easier with the ferry and you can take Southwest from there as well.

 

[jtopp]

Not sure how far you are willing to drive, but Trenton and Atlantic City is only about an hour further then Newark, With much more favorable fees for airfare and parking. Just for your consideration.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I just checked Trenton and Atlantic City. For the dates that OP was talking about the only flights I’m seeing are Spirit for $600+.

 

[pklein09]

PSA on TTN airport: We used to live 20 minutes from the Trenton airport (now live in Daytona Beach area), and we have flown out TTN to MCO. If the TTN flight gets cancelled for any reason, you're stuck. There is no second flight of the day....you're waiting until the next day. Because of where it's situated, if there are weather delays, the big airports get priority. So, Philly, Newark, JFK, and LaGuardia get first dibs on air space.

I'd personally be looking at a larger airport for that reason.

 

[Violetee]

We fly out of Westchester or Stewart. We’ve driven up to Albany too.
I prefer these small airports, and parking isn’t outrageous. Always reserve parking at Westchester though, the garage fills quick

 

[vetrik]

We are in New England and the last time we went during April vacation in 2018 we flew from Newark and did a park, stay, and fly at the Best Western Newark. It went smoothly and was a big savings. We started talking about driving to FL after seeing the air prices from New England, so the drive to Newark and the flight didn't seem too bad after potentially talking about 24 hours each way of driving!

It wasn't to Orlando, but this summer we went to Costa Rica and ended up flying from JFK since Logan only had connecting flights, we live at least 60 minutes south of Boston, and I was concerned about all the construction. We're 3 hours from JFK so it actually shortened our total travel time since the nonstop flight was so much faster. However, I found it much more complicated flying out of JFK and I don't think I'd do it for Orlando - the drive/traffic was miserable, the parking and the hotel options were much more expensive and a bigger hassle.

 

[Anthony1971]

We use mostly EWR but used LGA and JFK when we lived in NY a lot. For me EWR, LGA last is JFK. parking Offsite will be similar in price for all. I will add this should all depend on the airline. United has a hub at EWR Delta also has a lot of flights. Jet blue has few flights out of EWR now JFK is a hub for them. LGA has few flights for all. With the recent flying experiences I would stick with which one has the most flights on the airline you choose. With that EWR terminal A is nice and the biggest advantage is UBER/LYFT….. enjoy the 20 minute wait from the other terminals on a good day. Terminal A 5 minutes consistent. Most of the offsite parking is not in a great area but your car should be fine or at least we never had an issue the few times we did this they are all gated and manned. In the end if you are taking a shuttle from a lot to the airport itself should not matter much. Rideshare, Taxi Train driving= EWR. Faster in out With driving or Rideshare taxi LGA. JFK is a mess.