What's the best way to get from La Guardia airport (LGA) to Stamford, CT during the evening rush hour? A lot of details inside. My flight arrives at 5:20pm on a Thursday. I will not have checked baggage. It appears to me that my options include the following:
1. a shared van service (either CT Limo or GO Airport) directly from the airport to Stamford which will cost around $60 - $70 and take, I hope, between 60 and 90 minutes depending on traffic and on where it drops people off, etc.
2. the "NYC Airporter" bus to Grand Central followed by a Metro North train to Stamford. This will cost around $25 bucks total, but it appears that it could take as long as 3 hours total depending on how well the schedules end up meshing.
3. M60 bus to 125th Street, Metro North to Stamford. This is probably the cheapest option (under $20 total), and may be quickish as well, but I don't have a sense of how long the M60 takes to get to 125th or what it's like to ride it with a carryon suitcase and man-purse thing.
4. Taxi to GCT + metro north to stamford for a total of around 50 bucks and a travel time of 90 - 120 minutes.
5. Taxi directly to Stamford, which I'm sure would be the fastest and most convenient, but I assume that if I could even get a driver to agree to take me would end up being cost-prohibitive because it would be off-meter and I'd probably have to pay the driver for his return trip.
Some conditions / limitations:
- I am unemployed and would prefer to limit cost if possible.
- I really need to make it to Stamford by 8PM if at all possible.
Additional datum:
-I spent my teenage years in Connecticut and lived in NYC for 5 years as an adult, so am comfortable in concept with navigating the city and the transit system, but this was some time ago, so I am not familiar with any newer options or any changes that have happened in the last 6 or 7 years.
Anyway, I'm leaning toward either option 1 (the CT Limo / GO Airport solution) or option 3 (the M60 to 125th St. / Metro North to Stamford solution), but here (finally!) are my questions:
1. Given my limitations above, are there any decent options I don't know about / haven't mentioned?
2. Anyone with recent experience with any of these options have any advice / warnings / strong opinions one way or the other?
3. CT Limo vs. GO airport: is one better? Is it likely necessary to book in advance? (I could book in advance, but what if my flight is delayed...)
4. The M60: have you ridden it from LGA? At rush hour? How crowded is it? How slow? Any caveats?
Thanks in advance for wading through all these dreary, overthought, overwritten details.
1. a shared van service (either CT Limo or GO Airport) directly from the airport to Stamford which will cost around $60 - $70 and take, I hope, between 60 and 90 minutes depending on traffic and on where it drops people off, etc.
2. the "NYC Airporter" bus to Grand Central followed by a Metro North train to Stamford. This will cost around $25 bucks total, but it appears that it could take as long as 3 hours total depending on how well the schedules end up meshing.
3. M60 bus to 125th Street, Metro North to Stamford. This is probably the cheapest option (under $20 total), and may be quickish as well, but I don't have a sense of how long the M60 takes to get to 125th or what it's like to ride it with a carryon suitcase and man-purse thing.
4. Taxi to GCT + metro north to stamford for a total of around 50 bucks and a travel time of 90 - 120 minutes.
5. Taxi directly to Stamford, which I'm sure would be the fastest and most convenient, but I assume that if I could even get a driver to agree to take me would end up being cost-prohibitive because it would be off-meter and I'd probably have to pay the driver for his return trip.
Some conditions / limitations:
- I am unemployed and would prefer to limit cost if possible.
- I really need to make it to Stamford by 8PM if at all possible.
Additional datum:
-I spent my teenage years in Connecticut and lived in NYC for 5 years as an adult, so am comfortable in concept with navigating the city and the transit system, but this was some time ago, so I am not familiar with any newer options or any changes that have happened in the last 6 or 7 years.
Anyway, I'm leaning toward either option 1 (the CT Limo / GO Airport solution) or option 3 (the M60 to 125th St. / Metro North to Stamford solution), but here (finally!) are my questions:
1. Given my limitations above, are there any decent options I don't know about / haven't mentioned?
2. Anyone with recent experience with any of these options have any advice / warnings / strong opinions one way or the other?
3. CT Limo vs. GO airport: is one better? Is it likely necessary to book in advance? (I could book in advance, but what if my flight is delayed...)
4. The M60: have you ridden it from LGA? At rush hour? How crowded is it? How slow? Any caveats?
Thanks in advance for wading through all these dreary, overthought, overwritten details.