Here’s a helpful brochure on how to connect to the airports from Metro North.
http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/airconn/AirportBrochure.pdf
I think my son has now officially tried every type of transportation to the New York airports! Well, Newark Airport–which we tried this December- was a bust before he started because the Amtrak was 45 minutes late into New Haven, so I changed his reservation before he left New Haven to the next day, flying him out of LGA instead (God bless Southwest airlines!)–won’t try that again.
Anyway, Metro North to Harlem-125th Street to LGA and vice-versa is now his route of choice. No choices are exactly speedy, but he says there are lots of trains and buses running so at least there’s no trouble making connections.
@canoe2015 Interesting insight on Go-Shuttle working better headed south. As I said earlier in this thread, my son tried it northbound and it took forever.
One thing to keep in mind with any shuttle service is that the trains operate on a track and are not affected by the traffic on the roads. Any shuttle between NYC and Yale will deal with driving traffic. I would never count on that being a smooth ride. It may be wiser to spend a little extra and fly out of Hartford because the traffic is nowhere near as bad. It is my understanding that late this year there will be a new commuter rail service between New Haven and Springfield Mass. At least that is my understanding .You could grab a cab to Bradley from there rather than have to deal with anything in NYC. Just an idea.
One other thought, from Hartford it appears that the only shuttle option is Connecticut Limo and it’s not very appealing - last time they told my daughter it was a 2 hour wait for a shuttle. It seems like there’s not enough air traffic into BDL to support a reasonable shuttle service.
The good news is Uber is far better than CT Limo from Hartford and only a little bit more expensive - $60 vs. $44.
From Hartford, there is also a bus that runs hourly from the airport to the train station (called Union Station) in downtown Hartford (https://www.cttransit.com/routes/bradley-flyer) and costs $1.50. From there, you can take an Amtrak train for $14 to Union Station in New Haven. The Amtrak trains and CT transit buses run throughout the day, and Amtrak tickets can be purchased on the day you travel (either online or at the station), so you can buy a ticket after you land in case of delayed flights. You may have to wait a bit for the train, depending on when your flight arrives, but there’s places to eat and things to do in downtown Hartford.
It’s much less expensive than the shuttle or Uber, and the train takes about 45 minutes. You could also take a cab from Bradley to downtown Hartford and then take Amtrak, but I’m not sure what the cab fare would be.
On weekdays, there’s also a CT transit bus that goes between Union Station in New Haven and Union Station in Hartford (https://www.cttransit.com/sites/default/files/2016-04/950NH_Hartford_sched.pdf).
Additionally, and perhaps a better option, the Amtrak station in Windsor Locks is about a 10 minute drive from the airport, so you could alternatively take a cab to the Windsor Locks station and then a train to New Haven.
I’ve taken both CT Limo and the bus/train combination from Hartford to New Haven, and I find the bus and train to be much less expensive and not any more inconvenient.
D has done bus/bus. There is a bus from airport to civic center (?). From there she took a Megabus (or something). She was traveling on weekends and it was $15 roundtrip. If it had been weekday I think there is a regular CT Transit route from New Haven to Hartord that would have been about $3. I think she got this info on web page for Yale about transit/travel to airports.
Most of the time D has found someone willing to drive her to/from Hartford.