Hi everyone. Our ETA at JFK airport is 10pm, on Jan 15, will probably be out of the airport by 12mn. How do we get to New Haven, Connecticut? Are public transportations still available like bus or train at that time? Thanks.
Last train from Grand Central to New Haven leaves at 11:46 PM, so you’d have to leave JFK in a cab before 11 for that. I don’t think there are any regular bus lines.
Connecticut Limo has shuttles that run until midnight from JFK for about $70-80 a person. They take reservations online. They also have private shuttles where you can probably select your time that would cost a bit more.
Don’t know what a cab costs from JFK to NH, but it’s probably a lot! Maybe a car rental is your best bet.
That is not true about the last train from Grand Central. It just flips over to the next day’s schedule. Trust me on this- we just did this last week.
You can either find your way via the LRR to Penn and find an Amtrak train or you can take some kind of cab from JFK to Grand Central. At that hour I would not recommend trying to take the bus that many will offer. We looked into CT limo for my daughter to take but the times were so limited and I would prefer her not to deal with NYC so late waiting around. Same with waiting on some random bus that goes to a random train stop. We are doing the reverse where she needs to get to JFK for a 6am flight. She is taking the Amtrak to LRR and doing it that way.
If you end up taking the taxi from Kennedy to Grand Central, the trains to New Haven depart GCT at 12:07, 1:07, 1:47 and then not again until 5:49am. There is a wonderful app called onTime that includes all Metro North train schedule info. I am not an app user but this one is great. Good luck, and buy your ticket in GCT to avoid the surcharge on the train. However, if you are running late and will otherwise miss the train, just buy on board and pay the surcharge.
Assuming there are at least two of you traveling together at that time of day I would Uber to New Haven if you did not want to rent a car or take an airport shuttle. The fare would be about $175 from LaGuardia and maybe a bit more from JFK. Taking Metro North requires at least three late night connections. It would be cheaper to take CT Limo or Go Limo which do not charge more for walk up reservations so you can always ask the dispatcher which is coming first before prepaying and being locked into one. Although Go Limo says you need a Yale ID to get the special Phelps rate, the driver recently told me that is not true so if you were heading to a nearby hotel and we’re willing to be dropped at Phelps you would save yourself $15 walking a few blocks (an even better option when it’s not 2 AM).
If you’re coming back to the airport within a few days and are old enough that a rental car is feasible, personally I find that the easiest option . . . for a one way trip I think the above pretty much covers the options.
In my opinion, a 10pm arrival into EWR, LGA or JFK for a student traveling solo is not ideal by the way, especially for one less familiar with the area and transportation . . . at that hour Hartford is a lot closer and easier, close enough that Uber isn’t that much more than CT Limo and a lot more convenient.
If you can take the “Train to the Plane” from JFK to Jamaica, you can get to Penn Station. It’s about $5 per person and takes about 15 minutes. Jamaica is kind of creepy at night but you would only have to go from the terminal of the train down to the platform to the LIRR, not down into the neighborhood. You would be best off waiting in the terminal until just a few minutes before the train is due because it’s warm and lighted. You could also take the E train to Penn from Jamaica Station, but I wouldn’t recommend that. From Penn, you can take an Amtrak train to New Haven. Once you get onto the LIRR, you don’t have to go outside again until you reach New Haven as you can walk directly from Penn to the Amtrak underground.
I hate driving so I probably would have timed my trip to arrive during the day.
Filling in a bit for the OP, in case she is confused:
There are two different central train terminals in New York City: Grand Central Station (GCS) and Penn Station. Both have trains to New Haven, but they are different companies and different types of trains. The Amtrak trains run from Penn Station. They are more comfortable, somewhat faster, and much more expensive. You may need a reservation to get a ticket. Amtrak doesn’t have a lot of late-night options, although they usually do have one or two very early morning trains (i.e., 2 am or 3 am). Penn Station is also the terminal for the Long Island Rail Road, which runs commuter trains to and from JFK Airport. So it’s relatively easy and cheap to get to Penn Station from JFK.by train. If you really don’t expect to be out of JFK until midnight (are you coming from abroad and have to go through customs?) and you can get a discounted Amtrak reservation, going to Penn Station on the LIRR and taking Amtrak to New Haven may be a reasonable option, probably about $50 per person.
Grand Central is the terminal used by Metro North to run commuter trains to Connecticut, usually ending in New Haven. Its fares are less than half the cheapest Amtrak fares, and about 20% of normal Amtrak fares. They have more late-night trains. The simplest, most cost-effective way to get to Grand Central from JFK on public transportation may be to take the LIRR to Penn Station and get a cab from Penn Station to Grand Central, which will cost you less than $10 with tip This would cost less (about $30 per person), and probably get you to New Haven a little earlier (but still not before 3:00 am).
By contrast, if you rent a car, or can get an Uber or a limosine service, you would probably be in New Haven at least an hour earlier. Maybe 1-1/2 hours. With a lot less complexity. At that time of night, it may be worth paying for that.
Very helpful summary explanation from @JHS
I would take the Uber/car service/taxi approach also, as I would not want to be trying to find the correct departure and ticket locations in multiple stations while lugging bags late at night. A missed train on one leg of the travel could delay the entire journey.
@CT1417 -
There are only 8 tracks at Jamaica Station, two of which go to Penn, so that’s not difficult to navigate. It is a little trickier at Penn but there are signs for Amtrak and plenty of cops to ask for directions.
One thing about Amtrak - it has (or used to have) a program that offers a half price ticket for students traveling with a parent to see colleges. I used it a couple of times with my kids. Also, if you have AAA or some other memberships, Amtrak offers deals. If you buy more than two weeks in advance, you can also sometimes get a discount.
Don’t know where OP flight originated but we’ve found Tweed in NH is actually sometimes more convenient depending on when you are flying. Sometimes prices ends up being the same as flying into Hartford and certainly cheaper and/or less hassle than flying into big airport and having to deal with trains…cars…buses etc.
Good luck!
some helpful airport shuttle information direct from Yale’s website: https://your.yale.edu/administrative-services/travel-relocation-fleet/travel/ground-transportation/airport-shuttle/go
You might consider staying at a hotel near JFK that night and not deal with all that transportation in the middle of the night. It will be awfully late by the time you get to New Haven.