New York to Orlando International Help needed

[todds34]

Iam currently organising a surprise 21st Birthday trip for my Daughter in late August. We will be travelling from Scotland to New York spending 4 nights and then moving on to Orlando to spend 1 week at Universal and then 1 week at Disney.

My question is I will be booking US domestic flights from New York to Orlando International and never having done this before was looking for some advice on which New York airport is the best/easiest and also which is the best airline United, American Airlines or Delta to use.

 

[supersnoop]

Airlines are all pretty much equal these days, especially domestically. Some have more flights at one airport or another out of New York City. Use the code "NYC" to search flights for all area airports.

As I recall, LGA is probably closest to Manhattan. There's a shuttle to one of the main Metro stations, and there's a bus line that runs to the airport.
JFK is a little farther out, but has access to one of the Metro lines and the Long Island Rail Road station.
EWR is farther, but in a different direction. There's a PATH bus or shuttle that runs to Manhattan.

 

[Woodview]

Have you booked your flight to JFK yet ...?

If not then use the Multi city booking .

Scotland to JFK on xxxx day JFK to Orlando on FFF day .

Return Orlando ( MCO ) to Scotland Direct ( at least on the same day )

This way you would arrive in JFK & Depart from JFK

 

[Tozzie]

Iam currently organising a surprise 21st Birthday trip for my Daughter in late August. We will be travelling from Scotland to New York spending 4 nights and then moving on to Orlando to spend 1 week at Universal and then 1 week at Disney.

My question is I will be booking US domestic flights from New York to Orlando International and never having done this before was looking for some advice on which New York airport is the best/easiest and also which is the best airline United, American Airlines or Delta to use.

I live in NYC and fly out of either JFK or LGA I have never flow out of Newark. JFK is a larger airport and has more airline options and that is the airport you will fly into as the runways at LGA can't land lager planes.

You will will have a lot more choices if you fly out of JFK rather than LGA

As far as transportation goes in NYC there is a flat fare to go from JFK to any Hotel or destination in Manhattan and to go from Manhattan to JFK, LGA is metered fare and with the traffic in Manhattan the fare could be more than the Flat rate to JFK.

There are also a couple of Bus companies that have routes to and from Manhattan to the airports that are much cheaper than a taxi however it isn't door to door so you would end up walking a couple of blocks with your luggage.

Lastly a word of advice about transportation if you decide to take a from the airport, there will be "drivers" that approach you and ask if you need a taxi, do not under any circumstances say yes, there have been many issues with these "drivers" such as jacking up the fare considerably when you get to you destination, threatening passengers even assaulting them so just avoid them.

 

[rwdavis2]

A bit off topic but a week at Universal may be a bit.much. 3 days 8s enough unless you are doing SeaWorld and other attractions attractions that area.

 

[wilkeliza]

Most important question that no one has asked yet.

Where in NYC are you staying? Newark can be increibly easy if you are in Times Square or near Penn Station. la Guardia at that point you would have to oay for shuttle bus, either the official one or just super shuttle. JFK from therr you could take LIRR or the Blue line subways. Now if you are in north manhattan around 96th you can take a regular metro bus to LGA, JFK would be a long subway ride or cab/super shuttle and EWR would not be wirth it. Lower Manhattan LGA and EWR are harder and not really worth it. JFK is still accessable by the blue line.

Not on the island but instead in Queens or Brooklyn and it becomes a different story all together.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

which is the best airline United, American Airlines or Delta to use.

jetBlue is headquartered in NYC and has many flights to Orlando to/from all of the NYC area airports. Many of us on the dis boards think it's the best airline.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would chose EWR over JFK or LGA.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I'd recommend Newark. It has a good proximity to NYC and is an easier airport to get around than LaGuardia. JFK is a great airport, but inconvenient to the city.
If you don't have a hotel in NYC yet, Jersey City, NJ has hotels with great views and great access to the city without the higher prices of staying in NYC.
The airlines are pretty much equal NYC to MCO, but lately I have been finding the lowest fares on United, especially when booked well in advance.

 

[todds34]

Thank you all very much for your replies. Iam just planning at the moment haven't taken the plunge and booked anything yet I think that will be done tomorrow .
I think I will be flying into JFK with BA and staying at the Hotel Metro in Midtown Manhattan.
I tried using the BA multi city booking tool but it only gave me 1 option for the flight to MCO but the flight time was not what I was looking for & was also much more expensive than booking the domestic flight on its own.
I had not heard of JetBlue but will definitely have a look.

 

[disneywlf]

Hi todds34! Living on Long Island about 40-50 minutes outside of NYC, I am happy to contribute. Based on where you are staying, it looks like you will be close to Penn Station, meaning you will definitely be able to use transit to the airports. The easiest option would be JFK, as the LIRR has trains running to Jamaica station frequently. The ride typically takes about 20 minutes from Penn and it's another 10 minutes from Jamaica to the terminals at JFK. From JFK, you could use American, Delta, and JetBlue to Orlando. I happen to like Delta and JetBlue better than AA as they have more frequency and are better airlines overall in my experience. You could also go to Newark from Penn, which is about a 25 minute ride via New Jersey Transit (remember, do not get off at Newark Penn Station, look for a train that also stops at Newark Airport, as these two stations are separate (the conductors will announce this onboard). From Newark (EWR), you could fly United or JetBlue to Orlando. I have never used Newark as it is inconvenient as a Long Islander and while I prefer JFK, if Newark has a flight that works for you, Newark is easier to reach by mass transit than Laguardia. Laguardia is harder to reach by mass transit, as there is no rail connection like JFK or EWR. However, you could use the LIRR to Woodside station and there, transfer to the Q70 bus to LGA. The disadvantage here is that unlike the Airtrains at JFK and EWR, the bus is subject to street traffic. In addition, I find that LGA is a little less efficient than JFK in my experience. If you choose LGA, you could fly Delta or JetBlue. Happy travels and hope this helps!

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

None of the above airlines. I would be using jetblue to fly nonstop for about 124$ USD one way direct from NY (either JFK or Laguardia) to Orlando. Your other choice for around 142$USD would be southwest out of Newark. Happy and safe travels to all!

 

[todds34]

Again thank you all for your help. I knew this was the place to get the information I needed. I think I will be using Jet Blue from JFK.

 

[Maxpowers]

Go JFK or Newark (depending on where you are staying in NYC) and use Jet Blue. That's my suggestions

 

[supersnoop]

I'm surprised by all the Jet Blue love. They're the worst carrier I've ever flown. Sure, they have fancy gadgets on the planes, but they can't manage their operations worth a darn. Every single flight I flew was delayed at least 2 hours. One was cancelled and the guy at the desk didn't even know about it. And then, after they re-booked half the flight, it was un-cancelled and everyone had to be re-booked again.

 

[Maxpowers]

Interesting, I've never had a problem with Jet Blue that was their fault (aka not weather related).

\knock on wood

 

[wilkeliza]

I've never had crazy issues with Jetblue that was there fault. The biggest issue right now is JFK runway construction. Every airline out of JFK was having issues not just Jetblue. It was simply due to the fact that if 1 plane was delayed it started a domino effect through out the day with only 2 runways operational. It hasn't been as bad in the past month but for a while when things were being worked out it was brutal. Still Jetblue was the best at making us aware that there was a possibility for that issue.

I will say Jetblue seems to be the quickest to jump the gun on weather. I've heard it is because they are still considered a small airline and don't have the money power to pay for priority with the FAA so they may not be able to get out if the FAA only clears X number of flights before a storm may be in the area. I don't know if that is true or not.

 

[Accident]

Most people I know in nyc wuld fly from JFK, LGA as a backup and generally only pick EWR if the price is dramatically better or just can't get a flight for when they have to fly. EWR has 2 trains to get from nyc to the airport for a reasonable price but if there is any train issues, a taxi or uber instead is not low cost.

I would book a multi-leg flight and do a triangle of home -> nyc -> orlando -> home and use the best airport for your flight to nyc.

 

[pad406]

Another vote for JetBlue. Used them last year from NY to MCO and then MCO to BOS. Very impressive for a budget airline

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Interesting, I've never had a problem with Jet Blue that was their fault (aka not weather related).

\knock on wood

I have experienced TWO aborted take offs on JetBlue, BOS-MCO on one of their Embraer Jets. We had to wait on the tarmac while they telephoned Brazil to figure out how to fix the issue.