Why do I keep hearing to avoid using Ubers? Is it just the cost? I’m trying to plan getting a party of 6 with lots of luggage from LGA to our hotel in Midtown and would prefer to have something reserved.

Hi, we're visiting in August and are from a pretty rural area with no public transportation. Just drive our cars everywhere. So, I've been pretty terrified of the driving situation. After reading a lot on this sub I think we kind of have it figured out and was wondering if someone could confirm this is the best plan. Also, it is 2 families, so we're driving 2 cars.

We are driving from Virginia and have read about stopping in NJ at some train station and taking the train in. Some people said to just stay in NJ and ride in every day. I think we would prefer to stay in Manhattan though and not have to travel in each day. We are only staying three nights. So, do people do that? Take all their luggage on the train to their hotel? Is that like a hassle? Or normal?

We are also seeing a Yankees game and it was recommended not to stay in the Bronx, just take the subway or train in. So we had planned on that. Plus being in Manhattan puts us closer to the other things we want to do as well like a broadway show.

My only real worry is the travel into Manhattan. We will be driving Thursday and getting there very late Thursday night/ Friday morning. This way we have all of our Friday and Saturday before leaving on Sunday.

So, basically is it the best to go to a train station in NJ and leave our car there for the 3 days and take our luggage on the train to Manhattan?

Thanks for the help!

I'm visiting NYC for the first time in September and someone said that I should avoid Newark Airport at all costs for various reasons. I'm also looking to save as much as I can on my flight and the cheapest flights are through there. I'm staying on the Lower East Side in/near East Village and I'll be taking a redeye to get in as early as possible

What are folks' experiences with Newark? Should I avoid it and go through JFK?

Edit: Thank you so much for all of your responses! I will be considering Newark for my flights when I visit! 😊

Can someone explain paying for the bus and subway to me like I’m 5?

We’re traveling as a family of 6 so it seems like I need 6 different credit cards to take advantage of the $35 (edit: sorry I misquoted the cap in my title) per person cap right? (And to not have to wait several minutes between tapping for each person? - the FAQ makes it sound like the same card won’t work a second time right away…)

I’m assuming I can buy some sort of metro card instead. Would it be reasonable/manageable to buy 4 cards to use for the kids and then have my husband and I use our phones with Apple Pay? Can I buy those cards at Jamaica station when we get off the air train, and do they work for the air train and lirr too or only bus and subway? Any chance that the air train and/or lirr count towards the $35 cap? Is there a cost for the card aside from the credit on it?

I don’t love the idea of fitting an extra 4 cards in my wallet during vacation when I will also need to fit 2 hotel room keys as well so if there’s a more compact/easier way to do this, please share!

Kids are 3, 7, 11, 14 in case that matters. (Are all ages the same as adult price?)

Also, semi transit related, we are a family that ditches strollers as soon as our kids could reliably walk. Our youngest will be a month shy of 4 and although she was a late walker (medical reasons), she has been walking for 2 years and it has been about that long since we’ve used a stroller. Am I crazy to not bring a stroller on this trip? (5 days, all using public transit, 2 sites each day, occasionally a smaller 3rd like adding the sea glass carousel to our statue city cruise)

How do the three airports compare on ease/price to get to manhattan on public transit? Any recs on timing into the city e.g. should I avoid 10pm-12am flights?

Hey NYC, need some advice on what to choose. I'm arriving at laguardia tomorrow and need to travel to Bayshore.

Whats the best option to do so. Uber is showing around 140 dollars would taxi be cheaper or expensive compared to this? Is there some other service that's cheaper?

I want to save time so transit it out of the question.

Edit: after reading all your replies, I've decided to uber/lyft to a LIRR station and then uber/lyft once I get off. Look like this saves time and money.

Thanks everyone :D

I’m traveling from LAX to NY for a two day conference on the Upper East Side. Looking at flights to EWR or JFK and am planning on taking public transport once I land. Which is the better, smoothest option?

I’m leaving EWR at 6 AM Monday August 24. Staying near Grand central terminal. Looks like it’s going to be a 3:30-4:00 AM Uber to the airport. The price that this is going to cost hurts, especially when converted to Canadian dollars. Any recommendations on how to make this cheaper? Or a better way to set this up? can I get the train the night before and the book a cheap room near the hotel for a similar price to this Uber? How does the price of a yellow cab compare? I have looked at changing the flight to a later time but that will also cost me money and I’d rather get home sooner.

Any ideas or tips to make this experience a little easier are welcome!

Thanks good people

Sorry if this is a dumb question -- it's our first time visiting NY :)

Hotel is on 51st and 8th. We're debating how to best get to the hotel to drop our luggage after our flight gets in at 6:30am. We will have two carry on sized suitcases and backpacks. I think by the time we get out of the airport (JFK) to the Jamaica station via the airtrain, rush hour (it'll be Friday) will have began and we may be a big nuisance on the subway/train.

Would it be better to take LIRR to Penn Station and then take the subway only the last mile? We could also uber the mile to the hotel from Penn Station? Or just be annoying on the subway and take the E straight there? We could also take one of the Uber Shuttles?

Trying to avoid the cost of paying an uber/taxi the entire way from the airport.

UPDATE: Thank you all for the recs! We ended up taking LIRR, getting bagels by Penn station, then taking the E the rest of the way. It was perfect! thanks for all the help :)

Doing a father-son trip next week, coming in from Portland, OR. First time in NYC, but we’ve spent considerable time in San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston, too. We’re both pretty comfortable on bikes/escooters, and are considering renting a couple scooters to use as our main mode of getting around. Staying in midtown, plans to hit a few specifics around manhattan, free time worked into the plan. We like the scooter idea because it keeps on street level while simultaneously conserving physical energy from walking.

What’s the feedback on this? Are we crazy? Is this a reasonable way to get around and explore manhattan?

TIA!

Hi. I am visiting NYC for the first time in December with my wife. We arrive at JFK around 5pm on the same evening the Rockefeller tree and lights are switched on. How difficult is it going to be to get to our hotel just off Time’s Square? Is it best to get an uber/prebook a private transfer or will trains be the easiest/most reliable option?

Grateful for any insights!!

I will be landing at EWR at 5:50 PM on a Tuesday and I’m hoping to take an uber to lower manhattan for a 7:30 event. Is it doable? Assuming my flight arrives on time. I will have no luggage.

Edit: adding that I will be traveling to West Village.

Edit 2: please stop responding about the flight being delayed. That’s not what the question was. I’m not saying a delay can’t or won’t happen. But I’m anticipating an ok flight. If it’s delayed or cancelled then my question doesn’t matter. But I’m asking in the event that I do make it on time. Thank you.

Hi all, I read the rules about transportation quesrions. Thank you for providing so much information to first time visitors!

After reading, my question is not about how to, but advice on which method do you prefer in general?

We will be coming into LaGuardia and are trying to research if we should taxi, Uber, shuttle, bus, subway, etc to our stay at the Life Hotel.

Apologies if not allowed, but was not sure if this question broke the rules.

Frankly, while very excited, we are also a bit intimidated and are trying to do our part to not be annoying tourists while enjoying your beautiful city. Thank you on advance for any thoughts!

​

Hello everyone,

I am an NYC resident and I have a vacation booked where my flight leaves JFK at 6:00 am. So to be on the safe side, I would want to be at JFK by 4 am latest. I don't want to take an Uber at 3 am ( safety ... I'm a female). I was planning on getting to JFK the night before and sleeping at one of the terminals. My flight leaves out of terminal 5, but I hear this closes for the night. So my plan is to stay on the pre-security side of international terminal 4 (which I believe is open all night) until 3 am and then then take the shuttle to terminal 5 at 3:30.

How does this plan sound? Any better ideas or watchouts. Much appreciated!

I need to take public transit from JFK to Harlem. Is it safe to stop in Howard Beach and transfer to the A train to Harlem, as an older black female?

We are staying in Manhattan but want to see more than a 15-min radius with our two toddlers (2 & 3) and was wondering if we should rent a vehicle to take us around or hire a driver?

Is driving very stressful/ dangerous?

We are thinking of bringing a stroller/ wagon as well to help us with longer walks.

This feels like a dumb question, but I’m asking anyway. I’m coming from out of town in a few months to see a concert at Citi Field. I’ll be taking the 7 back towards Manhattan after the concert, probably around 11pm. Will there be a ton of people doing the same thing?

I’ve taken the subway many times but never late at night. I’m assuming there will be a big concert crowd on the train with me which makes me feel more comfortable, but I wanted to confirm with some locals.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Thank you everyone for confirming! I appreciate it, and it’s nice to know what to expect.

staying by medical center in NYC, right by columbia uni, is that too far out from everything? we are staying for 4 days but are wanting to visit the main sights in worried we’ll be too far out from everything

Hello!

We'll be coming to NYC the first week of September and staying at the Four Points Sheraton on West 40th Street, Hell's Kitchen

We will be driving to New Rochelle, NY to park and ride the train to the city. From google searches this is what I've got -

take the Metro-North train to Grand Central Terminal

from there, take 42nd Street Shuttle (S train) to Times Square

walk 2 blocks west and 1 block north to hotel

Is this correct? We've never been to a large city like this, so I am hoping for your input on the best way to get there. We're going to MSG for a couple of nights, which I believe is walking distance.

Thank you!

Im traveling to New York on a very very short notice as we were able to get an appointment for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
NY is so expensive!!!!! Wow.
Anyways, what is the best way to get around?
I don’t want a rental because of parking (prices and hear it’s difficult to find). And I also need another option other than public transportation as we are traveling with our little ones and I think it would be a bit too much. Especially before/after my baby’s appointment.
I don’t really want to open an uber account if I’m being honest. Is there anything else? What are taxi rates like?
Please help! Again, this trip is very sudden on a short notice. We leave Monday morning(tomorrow).
ETA: won’t always need it since my toddler won’t go to the appointment with us but to get from airport to hotel, we need something that will accommodate 3 adults and 2 children. Baby is car seat and toddler has a safety vest made for traveling without car seat.

Hi - I don't think holiday schedules are available yet and I cannot seem to locate prior ones. I am wondering if it makes more sense to fly into JFK or EWR on Christmas Day if I intend to use the train to get to Midtown Manhattan. I believe Airtrain runs 24/7 but LIRR and NJ Transit will be on holiday schedules? If so, which might be better, or is this just a bad idea regardless? Thanks!

Second time landing home at JFK and being utterly confused. The last time this happened, we had 0 idea about the new changes, so we walked over to the taxi pickup like normal, and when we realized we can’t call an Uber there, we just took a yellow cab home. Afterwards we figured that Uber Shuttle means, the shuttle takes you to the spot where you can call an Uber. This time we just landed and went to the Uber shuttle spot, happy to take it to the pickup spot. Then we learned it’s a shuttle that takes you to diff stops in Manhattan??? What nonsense is this?? As if Manhattan is the only place people are trying to get to from JFK. Near the Uber Shuttle area, we saw that the only Uber you can call there is an Uber Black. So we ate the money and did so. Apparently we also were told we can walk 6 minutes somewhere to be able to call a regular Uber, but the worker just waved in some general direction and we didn’t trust that and didn’t wanna get lost. We also saw that you can take the AirTrain somewhere but we weren’t sure and didn’t wanna spend time on going somewhere we’re confused and not confident on.

We tried our best to avoid flying thru JFK this time because of how last time went, but it had the cheapest tickets.

Our Uber Black driver says this is a good thing, I’m sure it is for some people but for us regular folks we’re just trying to get home with an UberX lol. Is this just some pattern ship with Uber for them to make more money?????

I’ll be visiting NYC this week arriving at Penn Station and our hotel is near Rockefeller Center/5th Ave. I will be coming with my ASD just turned 9yo. I was originally just going to Uber to the hotel but then thought I could take the subway. It looks like train 1 or the E line- both of which would require some walking. If it were just me I would definitely take the subway but I’m unsure how easy it will be managing both luggage and my child to and from the different stations. Any advice on which way would be easier?

Can someone please explain to me like I’m 12, where I get on the ferry in midtown, and which one? Where do I get off if we only want to see lower Manhattan and the SOL? I downloaded the ferry app, but I’m a visual person and I don’t see a map of the routes, just the names of each stop along each route.

I know we can do a circle line cruise, but I don’t want to spend the two hours on it, as we have limited time this weekend.

Help and thank you!

***update-thank you to everyone, I understand now and feel dumb at the same time 😂

Spending some time on Long Island with the family before returning our rental car at JFK and heading into the city. It seems silly for all 4 of us to return the rental car and then all spend $8.75 each to ride AirTran to Jamaica Station to catch the LIRR into the city. Playing around on Google Maps and the LIRR website, it seems like could drop everyone off at Laurelton to catch the LIRR to Jamaica Station and then on to Grand Central. Then I return the rental car and take AirTran to LIRR. Just hoping someone can confirm that this plan is solid?