Flights to New York : getting to and from the airports
New York is one of the best connected cities in the USA and boasts the world's busiest flight path: London 's Heathrow to JFK airport.
Every hour hundreds of flights pour into New York 's three airports: the bulk of international flights are shared between John F Kennedy International Airport (www.jfkiat.com)and Newark International Airport (www.panynj.gov/newark-liberty.html), while LaGuardia Airport (www.panynj.gov/laguardia.html) handles the lion's share of domestic traffic.
Most major European cities operate direct flights to New York, and if you're flying form the UK you're spoiled for choice: flight times vary between 6-8 hours (depending on which direction you're traveling in), and depart daily from Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow. Both Virgin (www.virgin-atlantic.com) and British Airways (www.britishairways.com) flights touch down at JFK. Well-known American carriers operating a trans-Atlantic service include: Continental (www.continental.com), American (www.aa.com) and Delta airlines (www.delta.com).
All three airports are well-served by public transport options. New York Airport Service (www.nyairportservice.com) buses take about an hour to reach Grand Central Station (www.grandcentralterminal.com) and are the cheapest option, while Super Shuttle (www.supershuttle.com) minibuses are more convenient (as they run door-to-door), but must be booked 24-hours in advance.
JFK airport is located 15 miles from downtown Manhattan in Queens. Additional transportation links include: AirTrain JFK (www.mta.info/airtrain.htm) which runs from Howard Beach and Jamaica Station round the clock, or you can hop in a cab.
Newark International Airport is 16 miles form central Manhattan in New Jersey. Other transport options include: AirTrain Newark www.airtrainnewark.com (an elevated rail system with links to Amtrak and New Jersey Transit) and 24-hour Olympia Trails' buses (www.coachusa.com/olympia/).
LaGuardia Airport is 8 miles from central New York in northern Queens. If you're traveling on a budget and cannot take a cab, you can hop on a public bus for a few bucks.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 airports have tightened up their security considerably. To avoid frustration it's best to add at least another two hours on to your intended travel times.
Cheap flight to New York :
If you're prepared to spend some time shopping around and have a flexible diary; there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to find a seat for less than the price of a night's accommodation in the big apple.
Recent years have seen a slump in travel agents' profits as the Internet goes from strength to strength. Compared to the high-street, online travel companies are able to offer cheaper flights to New York. This is mostly because they have lower overheads and are competing for business in a much bigger marketplace. The same rules apply to the major carriers, so don't simply discount their websites because they have a reputation for being expensive; you could be pleasantly surprised.
The Web is also a great shop window for airlines to sell-off discounted standby tickets and for companies to offer 'last-minute' deals. When it comes to finding the best airfare on the net there are lamentably few shortcuts, but even if you just put in half an hours' surfing you could save yourself a small fortune.
Savvy overseas travellers will be able to cash-in on the APEX fares offered by the majority of major domestic and international carriers. Once you know that the acronym stands for Advance Purchase Excursion the rest is pretty much self-explanatory.
The rise in no-frills airlines has been the real success story in aviation over the past decade. And while there aren't any intercontinental budget carriers yet although Aer Lingus has entered into the UK market (www.aerlingus.com), there are plenty of international no-frills airlines operating either side of The Pond (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pond). If time isn't an issue, bargain hunters might want to consider taking a cheap flight (and they really can be picked up for peanuts) to another airport which is connected to New York with discounted local flights or transport links.
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