JFK vs LaGuardia vs Newark: Which NYC Airport Should You Fly Into?

Find where you're staying, then book the airport in the second column. Times are approximate door-to-door estimates from the arrivals curb in normal conditions; add 20–40 minutes for bag claim and weekday rush hour.

The counterintuitive row is the last one. If your real destination is the Hudson Valley or the Catskills, flying into any of the big three means crawling out through city traffic. Stewart (SWF) sits near Newburgh and Westchester (HPN) near White Plains, both outside the worst of it, with rental counters a short walk from the gate.

JFK handles most of New York's long-haul international traffic, and it is the natural pick for anyone staying in Brooklyn, southern Queens or on Long Island. Every rail option starts with the AirTrain, which costs $8.75 (paid when you exit at Jamaica or Howard Beach, per the Port Authority) and runs between terminals and the two transit hubs.

LaGuardia's rebuilt Terminals B and C are a genuine upgrade on the airport travelers used to dread, and at about 8 miles from Midtown it is the closest of the three. The catch is that there is no rail link at all, so every trip starts on a road.

LaGuardia is primarily a domestic airport with limited long-haul service, so the choice between LGA and JFK often comes down to which airlines fly your route and which side of Queens you need to reach.

Newark is in New Jersey, which is why many travelers rule it out. That is a mistake if your hotel is near Penn Station, Hudson Yards, Chelsea or the Times Square blocks west of Sixth Avenue. From the terminal, the train drops you closer to those hotels than either New York airport can.

The new Terminal A opened in 2023 and is a clear step up from the old building. The honest caveat: Newark had significant delays in 2025 linked to air-traffic-control equipment and staffing problems, which led to temporary flight reductions. Conditions have changed since, but before you book, check the recent on-time record for your specific flight number and compare it with the same route into JFK or LaGuardia.

This is the table to check before you pick a fare. All figures are approximate, per person and one-way to Midtown, based on published Port Authority, MTA and NJ Transit fares at the time of writing. Verify on those sites before you travel, because fares change.

Two things shift the math. First, rail fares are per person and a taxi is per car. For a family of four, the Newark train is about $69, which makes a cab competitive. Second, any taxi or rideshare entering Manhattan below 60th Street pays the MTA's Congestion Relief Zone charge: $0.75 per trip for yellow cabs and $1.50 for app-based rideshares, on top of the existing state congestion surcharge. It is small on its own, but it stacks with tolls, airport fees and tip. For the rest of the costs that quietly inflate a trip budget, see our guide to hidden travel expenses.

One more lever: if you have a 6am departure, spending the night near the airport often costs less than a predawn cab from Manhattan, and you skip the 4am alarm. JFK has the widest choice of airport hotels.

New York has three smaller airports that most fare searches ignore unless you ask for them. They have smaller terminals, shorter security lines and, on specific routes, sometimes lower fares. They also have fewer flights, so one cancellation can mean a long wait for the next seat.

If the city is only your landing pad and the real trip is upstate, Stewart can turn a two-hour escape from Queens into a short drive to your first stop. Our Hudson Valley and Catskills road trip starts from exactly that part of the map.