Traveling to New York City

Planes, trains, automobiles, helicopters, ferries, limos, motorcades, ziplines — there is no shortage of ways to travel to New York. It’s nice to have options, so no matter what your preferred mode of transportation may be, we’re here to help you find the simplest, quickest, and easiest path to come see Yankee Stadium. Traveling to New York can be convoluted and overwhelming, especially if this is your first time visiting, so we’ve put together this insider traveling chapter to make your Yankee Stadium trip as smooth as possible. 

In this chapter, we cover:

• Which airport you should fly into (and how to get to New York City once you’ve arrived)
• Getting to the city by train
• Getting to the city by bus
• Rental car: Yes? NO!

Flying to New York

There are three main airports in the New York area:

1. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
2. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
3. LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

If you’re planning to fly to New York, the airport you want to select will depend on several factors:

1. Where you are coming from
2. What airline you are flying
3. Where you are planning to stay
4. How you are getting around while in New York
5. Your game schedule, and whether you’re flying on the same day that you’re seeing a game

You may have your choice of airports, or your choice might be made for you, depending on where you’re coming from. Regardless, there’s one thing we can tell you: any of these airports will work for a Yankee Stadium weekend. But each one comes with its own nuances, hassles, and inconveniences. Welcome to New York… a concrete jungle where your traveling patience will surely be tested!

Let’s go through each airport and figure out which one is right for you.

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

JFK is the largest airport serving New York, located in the neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens. It’s the farthest airport from Midtown Manhattan, approximately 16 miles away (which may not sound very far, but in New York terms, it can feel like going from Dallas to San Francisco). It’s also the busiest airport in the area, and one of the busiest airports in the world. 

Advantages of flying into JFK:

• Flight Selection: The major convenience of JFK is that it offers the largest selection and variety of domestic and international flights out of the three main airports.
• Cost: You can often catch cheaper flights relative to the other airports depending on point of origin, primarily due to the sheer supply of daily flights.
• Public Transportation: You can take AirTrain JFK that connects to the airport with the New York City Subway and with the Long Island Rail Road. So if you want to stick to public transportation, you can do it from JFK.
• Rideshare / Taxi: It’s fairly seamless to order an Uber or Lyft. They have an easy to find designated pickup area. You can also take a taxi—just follow the signs.

JFK to the city

Disadvantages of JFK:

• Location/Traffic: Unless you’re arriving/departing between the hours of 1:00-5:30am, you’re going to fight traffic to get to and from the airport. It’s commonplace to hit bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially during peak hours. Expect it to take 1-2 hours to get there, depending on time of day.
  
• Long wait times for departure: JFK has long wait times for pretty much every aspect of departure. The airport is also massive and takes time to get to your gate.
• Rideshare / Taxi: You’re going to pay at least $85, and quite often around $100 to get to your hotel if you’re staying anywhere in Midtown Manhattan (around Times Square) or Lower Manhattan (around Tribeca). The cost depends on traffic and surge pricing. Punch it up on your app right now—you’ll see.
• Construction: $19 billion dollars is being used to upgrade the airport and there is heavy construction happening, which can lead to unpredictable inconveniences. 

The biggest thing JFK has going for it is the convenience of flight options. No matter where you are in the country or the world you should be able to find a wide range of flights to get you to and from JFK, and most of them are direct.

You should fly into JFK if…

• You are staying on the east side of Manhattan: East Village, Murray Hill, Midtown East, Upper East Side or Brooklyn.
• You can fly into JFK no matter where you’re staying, but it’s particularly more convenient if you’re staying on the east side, since your commute will be 15-30 minutes shorter than if you’re crossing Manhattan to the west side (to places like Times Square, Penn Station/MSG, Soho, the Upper West Side).
• A direct flight is a must, and you cannot find a direct flight option to any of the other airports.
• Cost is a top priority, and you cannot find cheaper flights to other airports.
• You plan on using public transportation and want to take advantage of cheaper transport options like AirTran, Long Island Railroad (LIRR), or the subway.

In terms of getting to the city or Yankee Stadium, JFK will be the least convenient option of the three airports in NYC. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t doable: it is. It’s our least favorite option just because of the longer commute time, either via car or public transit. But if it’s your only choice, you’ll survive.

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Newark Liberty International Airport is located in Newark, New Jersey, nine miles west/southwest of Manhattan. It’s the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system, behind JFK, but far ahead of LaGuardia Airport. If you fly United Airlines frequently, then this may be your known and preferred airport. 

Newark is a preferred option for locals who live on the west side of Manhattan, and it should be your top option if you’re staying in Times Square, Tribeca, West Village, Chelsea, Midtown West, or the Upper West Side. You can take AirTrain Newark, which will connect you to New Jersey Transit (it’s all in the same station, and is an easy transfer), and the New Jersey Transit will bring you directly into New York Penn Station (where Madison Square Garden is). That entire process will take about an hour. That may sound like a long time, but by New York standards, it’s pretty much the most efficient airport transfer route that we have, and with this one, you’re at least always in motion rather than inching along in traffic. 

TSI TIP: Download the NJ Transit app and buy a ticket online ahead of time to skip the ticket line.

Advantages of flying into Newark

• It has the fastest and easiest public transit options of the three airports. 
• It’s a United hub, and if you’re a United flyer, it will be more convenient. It also happens to have a very nice United Club, if you’re into that sort of thing.
• It’s not under construction, unlike JFK, so you won’t have to deal with unpredictable delays

Disadvantages of flying into Newark

• If you opt for a taxi or rideshare, you’ll be experiencing the Lincoln or Holland tunnels into the city, which can be traffic nightmares.

You should fly into Newark Airport if…

• You are staying on the west side of Manhattan (Times Square, Madison Square Garden/Penn Station, the Upper West Side, Battery Park). It’s fine to fly into Newark if you’re staying on the east side of the island, but it’s particularly more convenient if you’re staying on the west side of the island.
• You can find a non-stop flight from your origin airport.
• You want the option of taking public transportation instead of rideshare or taxi.

If you are staying in Manhattan, we recommend flying into Newark if you can. Even though there’s no such thing as a “convenient airport” in New York, it’s the most convenient of the available choices. It’s also possible to catch a 1pm Sunday game and make a 7pm return flight, especially if you’re not checking bags or flying internationally. (To save you precious time, we strongly recommend you limit yourself to carry-on luggage for a Yankees weekend. It could easily be the difference between making an evening flight following an afternoon game or missing it).

LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

While LaGuardia is located in Queens just like JFK, it’s a little under half the distance to Midtown Manhattan comparatively, making it a more attractive airport to locals on the east side (it’s 20 minutes no traffic door-to-door from Midtown East and Williamsburg). It primarily offers service to domestic (but some limited international) destinations, and is the butt of many jokes about it being “the worst airport in the country.” That moniker must have been taken to heart as renovations and updates across terminals have improved the airport tremendously in the past couple of years. 

The airport is a hub for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and is the only airport of the three that Southwest Airlines flies to anymore (they used to service Newark but left the airport in 2020). 

A travel wrinkle that you normally don’t think about daily but should take into account when considering flying into LaGuardia: The airport gets congested, with flights backed up and plane traffic on the runway. On top of that, its location is close to a dense urban neighborhood. As a result, flights to and from LaGuardia are subject to several travel restrictions, the most significant being a seasonal curfew between the hours of 12am and 6am during the warm months of the year… which also just happens to be during the MLB season! And while that might not seem like a big deal if you’ve got an 8pm departure, consider this: if your flight gets delayed past midnight, you may not be flying out until the next morning because of that flight curfew.

Advantages of flying into LGA

• It’s closer to Manhattan than JFK.
• If you’re a Delta flier, the airline just completed a fantastic renovation of its terminal.
• Depending on your flight time, it’s technically possible that you can be door to door to/from your hotel in 20 minutes (but please don’t assume this will be the case).
• Taxi / rideshare cost will likely be cheaper than going to JFK or EWR.

Disadvantages of flying into LGA

• It is the least convenient in terms of public transportation. You can take an express bus to the subway, and then take the subway into the city. But even though that works, it’s not the experience that most visitors to New York are looking for.
• The flight curfew could impact your plans.
• If you’re flying out of certain terminals, it’s a total shitbox of an airport.
• It’s really, really spread out. It takes 15 mins to walk from one terminal to another, or you have to wait for airport shuttles to take you between terminals.
• Ongoing construction causes delays getting in and out of the airport.

You should fly into LaGuardia Airport if…

• You are staying on the east side of Manhattan or Williamsburg Brooklyn. You can certainly fly into LGA and stay on the west side of Manhattan, but you’ll spend 15-30 more minutes on that trip, depending on your mode of transit.
• You can find a non-stop flight from your origin airport.
• You want to save money and are willing to endure a less-than-enjoyable public transportation experience into the city. The MTA bus lines are the only mode of mass transit and will get you into the city. You can take a free bus from LGA to the subway station at 74th and Roosevelt, and from there you can take the subway directly into Manhattan. It’s the kind of option that is usually reserved for locals, and we wouldn’t suggest bothering with it unless you need to really cut costs. For details on how to do it, click here.

Getting to NYC by Amtrak

The Northeast Corridor Amtrak is the best option for those traveling from regional locations, including Boston, Washington DC, Providence, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. It will drop you off at Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. This is, without question, the most convenient way to enter the city. No traffic, no tunnels, no bridges—you get off the train in the middle of the city, and from there you can easily (and relatively quickly) get to your hotel. For New Yorkers, if they can take the train, they take the train.

Just to clear things up, there are three major train stations that serve the New York metro area, including, confusingly, two that are named “Penn Station.”

Meanwhile, there’s another “Penn Station” in Newark, NJ. But that will always be referred to as Newark Penn Station so as to not confuse people with New York Penn Station.

Trust us: You’re going to want to keep this very clear, because if you end up at the one in New Jersey rather than the one in New York, your trip will be off to a very wrong start.

Getting to NYC by bus

Wait… a bus, you say? How 1970s of you! But no, we mean it—the bus is actually a viable mode of transit into and out of NYC. If you’re coming from within the region, taking a bus is a cheap and simple, albeit hardly glamorous, way to get to NYC. Depending on the bus company, you’ll be dropped off either in Midtown at Port Authority station, the Javits Convention Center, or Lower Manhattan in Chinatown. 

From there, you can take the subway or a taxi/rideshare to get to your hotel, or even the subway directly to the game (and back) if you’re just coming for the day. Check out Megabus or Greyhound—both are well-known and often used options.

Should I rent a car?

Oh Good Lord, NO!!!!! Seriously… driving in New York is horrible, and that’s how we’d describe it for locals. But for visitors who are used to the wide open highways of Dallas or Kansas City or Tampa or St. Louis, driving in New York is absolutely hellish. You will hate every moment of it. You’ll hate figuring out how to navigate the bridges and tunnels. You’ll hate paying for all of the tolls. You’ll hate the car to the left of you, and the car to the right of you, and the car right on your tail behind you. You’ll hate the honking, you’ll hate the bus lane, you’ll hate finding a gas station. And you’ll hate trying to find… and especially paying for… parking. And you’ll absolutely, positively hate parking up in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium. 

Please, please, please… unless you have a very specific reason for renting a car, we cannot say this strongly enough: don’t rent a car for a Yankee Stadium visit.

Bottom Line

You chose to come to New York. Nobody said it would be easy. But a visit to Yankee Stadium is worth all of the travel strife. Just keep in mind: about 16 million people commute around this city each day, and they all seem to survive it, so you will too. Just use our hints, pick a plan, and stick to it. Oh and don’t forget to double check your flight itinerary when leaving to make sure that you’re flying out of JFK and not LGA or vice versa – it happens more than you’d think.