New York terminal to Islip

[gizmodog]

Having never been to New York before and trying to make arrangements for airfare home to Chicago, can anyone help me out with info as to how far it is to Islip airport ??? I know about JFK and LaGuardia, which airport out of the 3 is the most convenient???? I can get airfare from Islip to Chicago at a very reasonable price. Is the distance worth it???

[This message was edited by gizmodog on 05-30-04 at 02:37 PM.]

[jschutz]

You sound like a South West flyer. We flew into Islip, which I believe is Long Island, about a year ago. Depending on the time of day you arrive, it is about 45 minutes to an hour to downtown Manhattan. We made advance arrangements for a limo for the four of us but don;t remember how much it was, probably around $100.00. JFK and La Guardia both are much closer but probably still a $30-50 cab ride to the port. I'm sure some New Yorkers will chime in and give you some more "professional" advice.

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[hancock]

Figure more like and hour and a half from Islip to Manhattan. Think about Newark. There is a rail link into Manhattan from there.

[JJPNYC]

Before booking Islip, make sure that you have a rock-bottom fare out of there. Otherwise, any savings you have from airfare will most likely be spent getting to the airport. For reference, MacArthur Airport (Islip) is about 45 miles east of Manhattan.

Yes, any of the NYC airports (EWR, LGA, or JFK) will most likely be you better bets (unless you must fly Southwest which then makes MacArthur your only choice).

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[ocngypz]

You can forget about Islip. Unless the fare you found is so incredibly cheap, you are going to use up your savings getting into NYC. The cheapest method would be to take a cab from MacArthur to the LIRR train station. Then the LIRR into Penn Station.. then a cab to the pier.

Then on the return, retrace your steps.

I'd recommend Newark or LGA.

[gizmodog]

Thanks everyone, I knew I would get the help I needed. It is definitely not worth it to go out of Islip, I will choose another airline at one of the other airports.
Thanks again!!!!

[dougnewmanatsea]

Definitely not worth it to go out of Islip.

Never mind that Southwest once actually tried to convince people that flying from Islip to Providence was a good alternative to flying from LaGuardia to Boston; Islip is quite a ways out on Long Island, really nowhere near NYC. I live on Long Island (Nassau County; that's the westernmost part that isn't part of NYC) and even for us it's really not worth it.

I think ATA flies from Midway to LaGuardia and that should be pretty cheap - perhaps as cheap as Southwest - and for your purposes, much, much better. Or of course you could just fly a regular airline from O'Hare... There are tons and tons of ORD-LGA flights.

Newark is not bad either. Kennedy is probably third choice because Newark has a direct rail link.

But whatever you do don't fly to Islip if you're going to NYC; it's fine for going to the Eastern part of Long Island but otherwise it's pretty much a useless airport. Luckily for Southwest, there are a lot of people who live on the Eastern part of Long Island.

Doug Newman
Cruise Critic Message Boards Host
e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[gizmodog]

I am leaning towards ATA from LaGuardia to Midway, as far as distance from the cruise terminal which would be the shorter taxi ride?
LaGuardia, JFK, or Newark??
Thanks so much for all of this great information it is helping me a great deal!

[marco]

Absolutely agree with Host Doug. Islip is ideal for folks who live on LI, and don't want to have to go to LGA of JFK to fly somewhere. It is NOT an alternative airport to fly into if you are going to NYC.

[dougnewmanatsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gizmodog:
as far as distance from the cruise terminal which would be the shorter taxi ride?
LaGuardia, JFK, or Newark??<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, time-wise, length of the taxi ride has a lot to do with traffic and nobody can predict that... But theoretically LGA should be much closer. It certainly is shorter, distance-wise, and will be cheaper as a result.

Doug Newman
Cruise Critic Message Boards Host
e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com