1 hour connection at LGA - doable?

[peacefrogdog]

Asking this on this board as it pertains to Canadians travelling via Westjet.

Looking at a flight on Westjet that has just a 1:09 layover at LGA. Is this a feasible connection? Anyone know if we would have to change terminalls?

 

[minnie mum]

I think it would be tight, but since Westjet has this as a scheduled connection for this flight, it must be doable. It does seem to involve a terminal change.

When you are on the Westjet site, bring up your flight and click on the flight number (in blue on the left). This will bring up the flight details, including the terminals for arrival and departure for each leg of the flight.

 

[CanadaJulie]

I would add that we'd need to know *when* you are travelling and where from. For example, leaving Toronto YYZ in a February snow storm, with de-icing delays - you'll be cutting that turn around really tight ! Whereas, leaving from a smaller, less congested airport in May: probably not a big deal.

 

[peacefrogdog]

Yes, it looks like we arrive at Terminal C at LGA and depart out of Terminal D. How much trouble is it to change terminals?

We are looking for a flight on Dec 13th 2013.

 

[CanadaJulie]

There is a 600ft walkway between terminal C and D. *If all goes well*, you can certainly make the 1 hour connection on LGA. Is it the ideal situation ? no...

A few things to consider:
Customs: Assuming you are leaving YYZ, you will have pre-cleared customs so one less thing to do in LGA.

Time of day: If at all posssible, choose the earlier part of the day for travel. There is a morning rush once the airport opens and a peak time around 5-7pm with the departure of overseas flights. Any delays get compounded over the day. LGA is bad for that and will implement ground delays or ground stops if their traffic volume is too high. This usually happens some time in the afternoon so if you go early in the day, you can mostly avoid that.

Wort case scenario: check and see if there are other flights LGA-MCO later in the day in case you do miss yours. Nothing worse than spending the night in LGA because you just missed the last flight out. Having said that, there is no guarantee there will be room on the next flights but at least there is the possibility...

I am in the same boat as you. Up til yesterday, I had a 3 hour connection in LGA which was great. Lots of wiggle room ! Yesterday I got an email saying my inbound flight YUL-LGA had changed and now I have 1h45misn which I am not crazy about. I travel end of February so the weather is most definately a huge factor.

Here's hoping for good weather !

 

[Lizard Valley]

I avoid LGA like the plague...It is notorious for flight cancellations. Whenever it's raining, foggy, snowing, or windy they have to shut down one of the runways. This causes a cancellation of approximately 30% of their flights, and delays the rest of them for hours.

 

[minnie56]

Just a heads up..YYZ-LGA flights are mostly ALWAYS delayed!
My daughter lives in NYC and I can count on one hand the times her flight in or out for that matter of any NYC airports have been on time!

My other daughter booked a WJ flight to MCO a couple of months ago and as per always -her flight from here was late ..she missed her connecting MCO flight which was the last of the day!! Fortunately, her sister lives there so there was no hotel issue but ! I told her please please, no more bookings with WJ to Orlando unless it's the non stop!

 

[minnie56]

I avoid LGA like the plague...It is notorious for flight cancellations. Whenever it's raining, foggy, snowing, or windy they have to shut down one of the runways. This causes a cancellation of approximately 30% of their flights, and delays the rest of them for hours.

Agreed.

You have to also remember, JFK LGA EWR are all very very busy airports. If there's one flight delayed it backs up the times slots of all the others!