How far is it REALLY from EWR to LGA?

[DisneyMomJen]

We are flying to Disney the end of August and cannot believe the airfares! I keep waiting for them to go down and it is just not happenening. Newark is about 20 minutes from our house which is very convenient, but the airfare is $134 each way plus taxes for 6 people.
Is it worth going the extra distance to LGA?
I know LGA is only 16-17 miles from Newark, but how long does it take to get there?

Thanks!

 

[RichNKatHolly]

We are flying to Disney the end of August and cannot believe the airfares! I keep waiting for them to go down and it is just not happenening. Newark is about 20 minutes from our house which is very convenient, but the airfare is $134 each way plus taxes for 6 people.
Is it worth going the extra distance to LGA?
I know LGA is only 16-17 miles from Newark, but how long does it take to get there?

Thanks!

Depending on time of day it can take you up to 2 hours to get to LGA. Plus there will be a $6 Geothals Bridge toll, plus the turnpike toll (unless you use 1&9) and the $8 Verrazzano Bridge toll. Plus traffic is horrible if it is anywhere near rush hour (AM & PM). We live in Staten Island and went through LGA once. I didn't think it was worth the $$ I saved (about $60 per ticket x3 at that time). If your savings is over $200 then by all means consider it. We are having the same trouble right now with our November trip (Thanksgiving weekend). LGA is always cheaper. Last time three months out we suddenly got an excellent airfare from Newark.

Try USA 3000 for cheaper air out of Newark. Sometimes $49 each way. Just read about them on another thread. Sounds like a good company.

Good luck - sorry to be a downer.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

One more thing that we are looking into. Drive to PHilly (a much easier drive although more miles) and take Southwest.

 

[Lewisc]

I'd take the GW Bridge to the Tri-Borough Bridge. It's doable if you're going Sat or Sun morning. Might even work for a 2:00p flight. Traffic can be BRUTAL.

 

[GJM]

We just did this in Oct. We live in Bergen Cty. we saved over $100 per ticket by leaving out of LGA. The traffic was horrible, we left during the week in the morning but the amount of money we saved was still worth it. We will probably be leaving out LGA again in Sept. because of the price.

 

[funcinderella]

We do this too; I live in Clark, only 20 minutes to Newark, and it kills us but we usually end up flying out of LGA or JFK. We are going in November and were able to get $135 and $155 round trip (including tax) for flying out of LGA (or JFK, I forget; we're going on Song.) Since there is 7 of us, it is worth it to get the van service and fly out of NY.

We are also going in July, and flying Independence Air out of Newark. For that trip there is only 4 of us. We were able to get $195 round trip out of Newark, BUT we have to change planes in DC. Our first flight leaves Newark at 7:05 pm, and our second flight lands in Orlando at 11:15 pm. But I have to work that day, so it is feasible to make a 7:05 out of Newark, but I would have had to leave so much earlier to fly out of NY and allow time for traffic. The 1 1/2-2 hrs I saved on the plane ride would have been spent in the car driving to the airport.

So, if you are willing to change planes (and fly a 50 seater to DC; didn't realize that until AFTER I booked it!) you can keep checking flyi.com. They have some awesome sales, but I don't think they book more than 5 or 6 months in advance.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

DisneyMomJen, what part of Jersey are you from?

I am from Northern. I fly twice a year, to MCO. 3 years ago, I switched to LGA & have been very happy.

Newark is 45 minutes from my home. LGA is only 30 minutes. Haven't had a problem as of yet with traffic. In all fairness, I do leave 3 hours ahead always, just in case, & try to book, not during rush hour.

Newark, I have found the staff, to be very bullyish, not helpful, and just down right nasty to me & my dd (10 years)

LGA is much cheaper, & the staff is nice. This is our best kept secret in NJ.

Just my experience.

 

[funcinderella]

Just saw a post about USA 3000. It looks like they will be flying Newark to Orlando starting AUg 31, everyday excpt Mondays and Fridays. The fares were 59 each way on T/W/Th and 79-109 on Sat/Sun in November.

 

[CDN Prince Charming]

Back in January on a Friday, I dropped friends off at LGA at exactly 4:20 p.m and had to drive myself to EWR for a 7:15 p.m. flight. No problem right?
I pulled into the arrivals level of EWR at 7:05 p.m.
Thats 2 hrs and 40 minutes later!!!
Needless to say I didn't make my flight.

FWIW

 

[janets]

Back in January on a Friday, I dropped friends off at LGA at exactly 4:20 p.m and had to drive myself to EWR for a 7:15 p.m. flight. No problem right?
I pulled into the arrivals level of EWR at 7:05 p.m.
Thats 2 hrs and 40 minutes later!!!
Needless to say I didn't make my flight.

FWIW

This is prime weekend traffic from NYC to NJ. I live in NW NJ (Morris Cty) and we travelled on Song to MCO in December for $115/rt. This time, we are going NJ Teachers Convention Week in Nov. and the fares were over $250/rt when I started looking several months ago. So I checked out Song from LGA and the rates were $59/each way. I decided to take the earlier flight down and our rate is $145/rt pp. At the time I booked it, the savings was over $100 per ticket. Now the Newark flights are showing over $300. I think Continental was around $286 last time I looked.

I grew up in Queens and have no trouble with LGA. I used to live in Flushing, under final approach on certain days. While I've always been dropped off and never parked long term, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it. When you have to buy 4 tickets, the additional hour or so of travel is more than outweighed by the cost savings.

We are travelling Sat/Sat so I'm reasonably hopeful that we won't have any serious travel delays.

 

[GJM]

We did long term parking and it was so easy. We parked and got on the bus that goes around, no problems at all, we flew Delta Song.

 

[AspiringCindy]

We always fly out of EWR, but are opting for LGD this time because the savings is huge for us! The drive to EWR is usually 35 minutes, but the drive to LGD usually only takes us about an 1 hour!(we drive to Shea alot)! We are taking the latest flight out of LGD on a Sat., so the traffic shouldn't be too bad!