Travel question - LaGuardia

D

Deep South Mom

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Mar 27, 2020
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What’s the travel time from the LIRR in Great Neck to LaGuardia? What’s the best way to guarantee a timely ride to the train station in an efficient manner so as to arrive at the airport in plenty of time to check in? There will be hundreds of folks headed that way at one time. I know it must be an Uber madhouse...pun intended.

I’m ready to book DD’s ticket home for Christmas. I need an approximate time frame for her arrival at the airport. Last year, the plebes were told they couldn’t leave before 1620 hours. We used the LIRR last summer on a visit to KP. to visit the city and then back to The Andrew. I remember their last train for the day back in to Great Neck leaves the city around 7-7:30 p.m. and if I’m not mistaken, the trains only leave once an hour. So that makes for an issue on returning her in January. Seems like she’ll need to leave home at 0615 hours to arrive at LGA around 3:30. She’s not traveling from Ireland, only Alabama.

I’m struggling to see how to get her home on the 18th when she’d have to depart LGA at 7 p.m. straight up or be forced to wait until the next day.

Help! And it goes without saying...thanks in advance 👍🏻
 
It is very tough to book travel early, especially for Plebes. I am not sure how you can book travel without knowing your DD's finals schedule. Usually they can start their leave after they finish their last final. Depending on their schedule you may get to have them come home a day or two early. Unfortunately, the finals schedule won't come out for several more months, meaning you will have to pay more for a ticket. Most mids take an Uber or Lyft to LIRR station and they share rides. If they are lucky, an upperclassman might have a car and give them a ride, but not likely. It is not unusual for those travelling a long distance to have to wait and leave the following morning. We usually fly out of JFK, but as I recall, it's about 40 minutes on the LIRR to LaGuardia.
 
To come home:
DD can take the LIRR from Great Neck to the Flushing Main St. stop. Then take the Q-48 bus to LaGuardia. She may be able to split an Uber from Great Neck (or Main St.) as others from the Academy are all travelling to the airport at the same time.

Don't know your flight choices, but is there a red-eye available? Can JFK Airport work in some way? The link shows later JFK flights into Birmingham, AL. For Dec 18th, there's an 8PM Delta flight JFK to ATL then to Birmingham arriving 11:29PM. Use the filter to select Evening departure (after 6PM) It's not as easy to get to as LGA but Google Maps says 2 hours & she'll have time to make a 10PM flight. Also the Train to the Plane out of Jamaica Station is the way to get to JFK as traffic on the 18th will be brutal...to LGA as well.


(PRE COVID) The LIRR & the busses run 24 hours. The train usually runs once an hour except for the rush hours & between 0100-0300 hours, approx.

When my DD flew back, she left 2 days before; one day is the travel day, (which will be long as you posted), the next day was just to get settled and be ready for classes to resume...getting a good night's sleep, just back in academic mode, etc. Don't know if this is your plan, but it was how my DD did it up until Senior year; by then she had a lighter schedule & knew what to expect. So assuming her classes start on Monday, January 4th, she would fly back on Saturday, the 2nd, 2021. This also leaves a days' cushion for delays due to weather, etc.

Lastly, I suggest that you have your DD make the plans; she will be much more in tune with the schedule. Good Luck!
 
Thank you @kpmom2013 and @Wishful for the detailed info!

@Wishful, your trip to the airport info and flight info is much appreciated. We live 4 hours from Birmingham and our regional airport doesn’t have arriving flights from about 1 am - 6 am. But thanks for doing research for me!

I think I’ll buy a ticket now, while prices are low and there aren’t any change fees. Then, DD can handle the changes closer to time, as suggested above.
 
I am going to date myself, but the Long Island Limousine used to run from LaGuardia to a diner on Northern Boulevard near Great Neck. Man, I used it all of the time. . .
 
Wishful said:
DD can take the LIRR from Great Neck to the Flushing Main St. stop. Then take the Q-48 bus to LaGuardia. She may be able to split an Uber from Great Neck (or Main St.) as others from the Academy are all travelling to the airport at the same time.
Click to expand...
Uhhhh that's the roundabout way. Q48 takes longer.

The fastest way is LIRR to Woodside station, to Q70 across the street. Thats an express bus now. It only has 3 stops. 74th/Roosevelt, 61st/woodside, and LGA terminals.

But the day of a break, go out to the gate and ask, hey where are you guys going? Someone is always going to LGA. If not, theyre going to the LIRR station, and you can just do the Woodside, Q70. I will say, if traffic conditions are good the Woodside, Q70 route is quite fast.
 
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@Mr2020 I like your way! It's definitely better than mine.
 
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