How to get to New Haven from various regional airports

In the directions below I will refer to:
  1. Metro North - the railroad which runs from Manhattan up to New Haven.  To get to the schedules from the web page, click "schedules," choose Metro North Railroad, and click on "Lines East of the Hudson."  Metro North only stops at Grand Central Station in Manhattan.  About $14 off-peak and $18.50 peak for a one way train ride between Grand Central and New Haven.  This trip takes 1 hr 40-50 min.  This train runs at least once per hour except between 1:30 AM and 5 AM.
  2. New Jersey Transit - the railroad which runs from New Jersey into Manhattan.  To get to the schedules from the web page, click "schedules," then "Train Schedules Station to Station."  New Jersey Transit only stops at Penn Station in Manhattan.  It takes at least one transfer in the subway to go between Penn and Grand Central Stations.  ~$15 for a one way ticket between Newark Airport and Penn Station in Manhattan.  This train takes about 20 minutes.  These trains run pretty much all the time.
  3. Amtrak - the nationwide railroad which runs service from New Haven to Newark Airport.  Be sure you purchase a ticket to Newark Airport, not Newark Penn Station.  Reservations in advance are recommended for your departure from New Haven, but it's a little tough to do this heading from Newark to New Haven because you never know when you're going to land.  $40-60 one way between New Haven and Newark Airport.  This train takes a little over two hours.  The last train out of Newark is at about 7 pm.
  4. Prime Time Shuttle - a door-to-door shuttle service which picks people up from JFK ($74 one way), Newark ($269.25 one way), and La Guardia (~$74 one way) and drops them off at a house or a hotel in Connecticut.  This is typically a ~8 person van, except for Newark the only way is a group reservation of an SUV.  Note that, while there is a Yale discount for students, this only applies if they pick you up and drop you off at Phelps Gate in downtown New Haven.  Advance reservations are recommended.  The last van leaves at about 10:30 or 11 PM.
  5. Connecticut Limo - a shuttle service (actually a bus not a limo) which picks people up from JFK (~$130 RT), Newark (~$180 RT), La Guardia (~$130 RT), and Hartford (~$80 RT) and drops them off at a central location in New Haven, where you can get a cab.  Advance reservations are recommended.  The last bus leaves at about 10:30 or 11 PM.
  6. New York Airport Service - a shuttle service which runs from Grand Central to JFK ($15 one way) and La Guardia ($12 one way.)  This is a bus which runs between JFK and LGA and the train and bus stations in Manhattan.  The last bus is around 11 PM.  The pick up location by Grand Central is on 42nd between Lexington and Park.  The friendly police in the station are always more than willing to point you in the right direction.
  7. The New York Public Transit (subway/bus) - the subway in New York City.  Invaluable for trips within the city is the trip planner which will tell you how to get around Manhattan the quickest way.  The subway & buses costs $2 per trip.  However, it is nearly impossible to go between the train stations and the airports without hitting a stair case.  The subway is not handicapped accessible everywhere.  If you have luggage you don't want to heave up at least one flight of stairs, find an option that does not involve the subway.  Note that "Uptown" means North while "Downtown" mean south.  The directions in the subway are labeled using these terms.

In the directions below I will outline how to go from New Haven to the airport.  The directions work in reverse in every instance.  One thing to factor into cost calculations is that the slower options often mean that you have to eat a meal in the airport or in a train station.


JFK
  1. Train and subway - cost ~$17, time ~3-4 hours depending on luck and time of day.  This option is available pretty much 24/7 - the only snag is that the last train leaves Grand Central at about 1:30 AM.  I don't recommend this if you have a lot of luggage or will be navigating the New York subway system for the first time on serious jet lag.
  2. Train and bus - cost ~$30, time 3-4 hours depending on luck and time of day.  If you want to save money but have a fair amount of luggage this is a decent option.  This does involve carting your luggage from the train station to the pick up site.
  3. Prime Time Shuttle or Connecticut Limo - $74, roughly 3-4 hours, more with traffic.  Don't ask me how they turn a 2 hour drive into a 3 hour drive but they do.  I have had some problems with this service.  In principle it should save time but they wait around at the airport for more people until the car fills, especially if you're on the last one.  This is nice if you really don't want to cart luggage.

  4. Car - but warning, parking is expensive.  It is often cheaper to rent a car heading to the airport than to use any of the other options but it's a little more expensive if you want to head from the airport to New Haven.  This is the cheaper option if you have a group of people.  The cost of tolls alone is currently around $10 for the whole trip.

Newark
  1. Amtrak - $40-60.  2+ hrs.  This is the easiest and most time efficient way to get to and from a New York airport.  However, the last train leaves for New Haven from Newark before 7 pm.  This is not good for flights from Europe.

  2. Train - subway - train - $32.  Roughly 3 hours, more with bad connections.
  3. Connecticut Limo - $90.  Roughly 3-4 hours.

  4. Car - but warning, parking is expensive.  It is often cheaper to rent a car heading to the airport than to use any of the other options but it's a little more expensive if you want to head from the airport to New Haven.  This is the cheaper option if you have a group of people.  The cost of tolls alone is currently around $10 for the whole trip.

La Guardia
  1. Train - bus.  $17.  3 hours.  You essentially avoid staircases on this route.
  2. Connecticut Limo or Prime Time Shuttle - $90.  Roughly 2.5- 3 hours.

  3. Train and bus - cost ~$30, time 3-4 hours depending on luck and time of day. This does involve carting your luggage from the train station to the pick up site.
  4. Car - but warning, parking is expensive.  It is often cheaper to rent a car heading to the airport than to use any of the other options but it's a little more expensive if you want to head from the airport to New Haven.  This is the cheaper option if you have a group of people.  The cost of tolls alone is currently around $10 for the whole trip.

Hartford (Bradley)
  1. By car
  2. Using Connecticut Limo
White Plains
  1. By car.  There is an indirect route involving public transportation combined with a cab but essentially all of the money you would save by flying out of White Plains instead of Newark, JFK, or LGA is spent on cab fare.

New Haven
  1. By car - however, this is approximately a 15 minute drive from campus and it is usually easy to get someone to pick you up or drop you off.