Travelling from HPN (Westchester Cty Airport) NY

[zmanandshan]

Hi everyone. OK, so I already booked Jet Blue flights for a party of 6 for 8 nights. I heard parking can be really limited at HPN. I will be going in October a few days after Columbus day. I have a few issues:

I am coming in from Connecticut only about 45 min from my house, but a Limo ride for 6 is like $500. The plane tix were only 215 a piece. I cant see paying that much for that short a ride.

The train is too much of a pain with a 4YO DS and 1.5YO DS plus luggage in tow. And returning flight is late.

Parking at HPN is a whopping $25 per day, no discounts, so I'm looking at 225 just for parking. But worse off, what happens if the lot is full and I have a loaded SUV pack full of kids and luggage. I can fit 8 in the explorer, but 6 with luggage will be doable but tight. A drop-off driver wont work. And I hate to put other people out esp. in the event of flight delays, etc.

Now that you all have the details, anyone have any advice? Is it really that hard to get parking there with a 11:30am flight to Orlando?

Thanks in advance,
John

 

[vod2117]

If you live in CT, find a car rental place that has locations by your house and by the airport and rent a car for the 45 minutes from your house and drop it off at the location at the airport.

 

[huskies90]

If you live in CT, find a car rental place that has locations by your house and by the airport and rent a car for the 45 minutes from your house and drop it off at the location at the airport.

Beat me to it. We are going in August flying from White Plains. Judging by your 45 minute distance and the fact that you are in CT, we are probably neighbors. Anyway, Avis on Mill Plain Rd in Danbury has one way rentals to HPN for $35-$40. We used a discount code from Mousesavers and got it down to about $32 or so each way. Beats the $25/day parking. You are 6 so not sure you can fit in a midsize even for such a short trip. There are 4 of us. Full size is a bit more but still a better option...

 

[Girlie1]

OP - you did not mention what day of the week you are leaving on but I have not had problems getting parking on a Fri, Sat or Sun at HPN. I believe within the last year or two they also have an overflow lot but you would need to call to find out. I also recall reading posts a while back about people parking at a hotel approximately 10 minutes from the airport which charged $10/day and had a shuttle to and from the airport. If memory serves me correctly it was La Quintas in Armonk and I think you had to call ahead to arrange the shuttle and let them know how long the car would be there.

 

[Goofygirl17]

I haven't flown out of HPN but I read on here about staying at La Quinta the night before and taking the shuttle to the airport. I told a friend about it and she said it worked great! It was much cheaper than paying for long term parking at the airport.

Good luck!

 

[zmanandshan]

If you live in CT, find a car rental place that has locations by your house and by the airport and rent a car for the 45 minutes from your house and drop it off at the location at the airport.

I checked out Hertz and Enterprise, and the rentals were more than $160 one way. I might try to call as I did look online.

Beat me to it. We are going in August flying from White Plains. Judging by your 45 minute distance and the fact that you are in CT, we are probably neighbors. Anyway, Avis on Mill Plain Rd in Danbury has one way rentals to HPN for $35-$40. We used a discount code from Mousesavers and got it down to about $32 or so each way. Beats the $25/day parking. You are 6 so not sure you can fit in a midsize even for such a short trip. There are 4 of us. Full size is a bit more but still a better option...

Thanks, good tip. I'll try to give Avis a call. I assume you are getting a one-way back too?

 

[zmanandshan]

I haven't flown out of HPN but I read on here about staying at La Quinta the night before and taking the shuttle to the airport. I told a friend about it and she said it worked great! It was much cheaper than paying for long term parking at the airport.

Good luck!

That's not a bad idea. I wonder if they will offer parking without a stay. Our flight is not until 11:30, and the kids would sleep much better at home, so I probably wouldnt really want to stay overnight.

 

[zmanandshan]

I haven't flown out of HPN but I read on here about staying at La Quinta the night before and taking the shuttle to the airport. I told a friend about it and she said it worked great! It was much cheaper than paying for long term parking at the airport.

Good luck!

Thanks, Goofygirl! Called LaQuinta and they actually offer parking only with Shuttle to/from airport from 5am (i think) thru midnight each day. It's 10 bucks a night, less than half what airport charges, and you wont get stuck without a parking space. All you have to do is call a day or so before your flight and give them the flight info so they can arrange a drop off. Same thing coming home. It is only 10 minutes from the airport. Sounds really convenient. This will be perfect. Now to fit 6 plus luggage for 8 nights in the Explorer. Thank God for 3rd row seating...

 

[DisGeebs]

My parents just flew out of the HPN a month ago and they used the La Quinta hotel shuttle and it worked out perfectly. It is a reasonable option and easy to get to.

 

[cg1200]

Thanks, Goofygirl! Called LaQuinta and they actually offer parking only with Shuttle to/from airport from 5am (i think) thru midnight each day. It's 10 bucks a night, less than half what airport charges, and you wont get stuck without a parking space. All you have to do is call a day or so before your flight and give them the flight info so they can arrange a drop off. Same thing coming home. It is only 10 minutes from the airport. Sounds really convenient. This will be perfect. Now to fit 6 plus luggage for 8 nights in the Explorer. Thank God for 3rd row seating...

This is the best option. I am fortunate in that my office building is literally 5 minutes from HPN (it's located between the airport and the La Quinta in Armonk). So I can just park my car at the office and get a co-worker to drop me off. But as others are not so lucky, La Quinta is a good alternate.

To be honest, that whole airport is a joke. The parking lot is tiny, the terminal is basically a large room. They don't even have the covered gate connectors from the terminal to the plane. If it weren't so cheap...They totally under-estimated how popular that airport would be so they can barely handle the crowds. SWF and BDL have the opposite problem. Nice, spacious airports but crummy flights/airlines.

 

[zmanandshan]

This is the best option. I am fortunate in that my office building is literally 5 minutes from HPN (it's located between the airport and the La Quinta in Armonk). So I can just park my car at the office and get a co-worker to drop me off. But as others are not so lucky, La Quinta is a good alternate.

To be honest, that whole airport is a joke. The parking lot is tiny, the terminal is basically a large room. They don't even have the covered gate connectors from the terminal to the plane. If it weren't so cheap...They totally under-estimated how popular that airport would be so they can barely handle the crowds. SWF and BDL have the opposite problem. Nice, spacious airports but crummy flights/airlines.

Hey CG. This will be my first time using it. But many of my friends have used it and rave about it. But the catch is to get dropped off. If I were not bringing my parents, that would have been a solid option, but I dont want them to be stressed about worrying about getting a ride. I told them I'd take care of everything. Plus HPN is quicker to get to with generally less traffic on the Merrit Pkwy or if there is major traffic, I can catch 84. Hartford area traffic sucks. BDL has crappy flights, airlines, and terminals. No way in hell will you get me to take JFK right now down a runway, and my guess is that LGA and Newark is busy handling some overflow as well...

 

[AllyBri]

This is the best option. I am fortunate in that my office building is literally 5 minutes from HPN (it's located between the airport and the La Quinta in Armonk). So I can just park my car at the office and get a co-worker to drop me off. But as others are not so lucky, La Quinta is a good alternate.

To be honest, that whole airport is a joke. The parking lot is tiny, the terminal is basically a large room. They don't even have the covered gate connectors from the terminal to the plane. If it weren't so cheap...They totally under-estimated how popular that airport would be so they can barely handle the crowds. SWF and BDL have the opposite problem. Nice, spacious airports but crummy flights/airlines.

HPN use to be this sleepy little airport that not too many people used and then JB arrived and it was like all **** broke loose. I think they do a wonderful job, considering how popular JB is.
Not so much that they under estimated the airport, they just could not have known back say 50 years that an airline like JB would come along and be so popular.

 

[Goofygirl17]

zmanandshan- I'm glad it's working out! I've learned an awful lot on these boards that make my vacations better and easier to plan!!

Have a great time

 

[cg1200]

HPN use to be this sleepy little airport that not too many people used and then JB arrived and it was like all **** broke loose. I think they do a wonderful job, considering how popular JB is.
Not so much that they under estimated the airport, they just could not have known back say 50 years that an airline like JB would come along and be so popular.

Why not invest in some better accomodations? JB and airtran have been there for years already and the airport is only getting more popular. There have been several times where my family could not even get a seat in the waiting area. We've learned to live with the crude amenities as the convenience is just too good to be true.

I flew out of SWF once in Newburgh and I thought they did a nice job of builiding out a respectable terminal while not turning it into O'Hare. I know real estate is more expensive in lower Westchester county vs Dutchess county but you get my point.

 

[AllyBri]

Why not invest in some better accomodations? JB and airtran have been there for years already and the airport is only getting more popular. There have been several times where my family could not even get a seat in the waiting area. We've learned to live with the crude amenities as the convenience is just too good to be true.

I flew out of SWF once in Newburgh and I thought they did a nice job of builiding out a respectable terminal while not turning it into O'Hare. I know real estate is more expensive in lower Westchester county vs Dutchess county but you get my point.

JB has only been at HPN for a few years now (flew out on one of JB's first flights)
HPN has tried to add on a few times, but the communities close by, Harrison and Greenwich say "not in my backyard"

 

[sjs314]

We normally fly out of Bradley, last year we flew out of JFK, always booking a stay park and fly pkg at a local hotel, planning on flying out of HPN this year and staying at the La Quinta nearby booking their stay park fly pkg , we find not having to drive to the airport on the day of our flight and taking the hotels shuttle much more convient and it is cheaper to stay over and park for a week than just park at the airport

 

[If U Had Wings]

I live in the New Haven area and HPN has become my airport of choice. Usually I'm able to have a family member drop me off, but I've used the La Quinta several times as well. I went to Disney a few weeks ago, for $110 I parked my car for 10 days in their lot, and had shuttle service to and from the airport. No worries about parking at all. It is much less than the parking lot would have cost me, and I didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn either.

I do wish BDL would have some more economical fights, like Jet Blue flying out of there. To get to Florida Delta is always crazy expensive and I never really find Southwest's flights to all that good of a deal. Then again I wish my life would be much, much easier and actually have decent airlines flying out of Tweed.

 

[zmanandshan]

I live in the New Haven area and HPN has become my airport of choice. Usually I'm able to have a family member drop me off, but I've used the La Quinta several times as well. I went to Disney a few weeks ago, for $110 I parked my car for 10 days in their lot, and had shuttle service to and from the airport. No worries about parking at all. It is much less than the parking lot would have cost me, and I didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn either.

I do wish BDL would have some more economical fights, like Jet Blue flying out of there. To get to Florida Delta is always crazy expensive and I never really find Southwest's flights to all that good of a deal. Then again I wish my life would be much, much easier and actually have decent airlines flying out of Tweed.

Heck Ya! Tweed airport would be sweet. I live in Seymour. The problem for them is similar to most, they just cant get past NIMBY (Not in my backyard). I think Tweed tried to lenghten the runway. Same with Sikorsky airport. Oxford tried to get larger jet service too for a while. But for it to be worth it, they must offer nonstop flights, as I dont want to connect for obvious reasons. ALso good to know you had a positive experience with LaQuinta and HPN.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Heck Ya! Tweed airport would be sweet. I live in Seymour. The problem for them is similar to most, they just cant get past NIMBY (Not in my backyard). I think Tweed tried to lenghten the runway. Same with Sikorsky airport. Oxford tried to get larger jet service too for a while. But for it to be worth it, they must offer nonstop flights, as I dont want to connect for obvious reasons. ALso good to know you had a positive experience with LaQuinta and HPN.

Sikorsky would be even sweeter. I don't think they have commercial jets flying out of there anylonger because the runway is too short.

The people at La Quinta are wonderful. We actually got snowed in there for an extra day a few weeks ago. (It was the travel trip from he** ). They kept the shuttles running even if the snowstorm, and everyone at the motel really helped what was a trying situation that much better. It's a real no frills kind of place, but fine for a night or two. The restaurant there is pretty good too.