WWYD Re: Bradley vs JFK for the HM

Abeja1226

I don't know if we shold fly out of JFK or Bradley for our HM...We are going to P*nta Cana and the price difference between the 2 airports is about $273 less if we fly out of JFK.  I figure with parking and gas to get to JFK it will be about $155, so we would save about $120.
We are leaving early on a Sunday morning and coming back very late on a Saturday night so I would hope traffic to JFK wouldn't be too bad.

Also, with JFK our air-travel times decrease from over 9 hr if we chose Bradley(with layovers and whatnot) to about 4 hours non stop both ways and I am wondering if this is enough to make up for driving the extra 1.5 hours to JFK.
For example if we chose JFK, our flight would leave at 7am and we would be in P*nta Cana by 10:47am, and we would leave P*nta Cana at 5:30p and land at JFK around 9:30pm. 

What would you do if you were me?!

MoonlightSilver

Sounds like a pretty easy decision to fly out of JFK. 

Do you have anyone who can drive you down there, so you don't have to park your car and pay to leave it there?

Mandafly84

Ooh tough call.  You're saving money and travel time by flying out of JFK, but it's still an hour and a half drive.  Plus JFK can be a nightmare to navigate.

I'd need to know your travel itinerary but I **might** pick JFK.  It would basically be an up-all-night deal unless you stayed at a hotel the night before, but the direct flight would be nice.

JenMatt121210

the other thing with jfk is that it is 160 to 200 dollars to leave your car there for a week so i would take that into consideration to and i had my car broken into when i left it there so you have to be very careful due to where the airport so there are many things you have to take into consideration anymore questions about the airport or an ything just let me know i have flown out of jfk about 20 times i can anwser any questions you have

Mandafly84

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_connecticut_wwyd-re-bradley-vs-jfk-hm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:65Discussion:122867ed-82b4-471f-8c79-c31888591e5dPost:5cd0e7ba-16bb-4199-bace-204a6a415439">Re: WWYD Re: Bradley vs JFK for the HM</a>:
[QUOTE]the other thing with jfk is that it is <strong>160 to 200 dollars to leave your car there for a week</strong> so i would take that into consideration to and<strong> i had my car broken into</strong> when i left it there so you have to be very careful due to where the airport so there are many things you have to take into consideration anymore questions about the airport or an ything just let me know i have flown out of jfk about 20 times i can anwser any questions you have
Posted by JenMatt121210[/QUOTE]

<div>Yikes!!</div>

Abeja1226

We may be able to have one of our parents drop us off and pick us up at the airport so if we could avoid parking there then I think we will go with JFK!  If our flight leaves at 7am I think we'd have to leave our house at 3:00am or so but I would definitely go to bed at 8pm the night before...I'm chronically tired anyways now a days with my toddler, I don't think I could even stay up all night if I tried.

Abeja1226

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_connecticut_wwyd-re-bradley-vs-jfk-hm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:65Discussion:122867ed-82b4-471f-8c79-c31888591e5dPost:fc900929-eabf-465a-b5a4-148d3ff412e4">Re: WWYD Re: Bradley vs JFK for the HM</a>:
[QUOTE]Ooh tough call.  You're saving money and travel time by flying out of JFK, but it's still an hour and a half drive.  Plus JFK can be a nightmare to navigate. I'd need to know your travel itinerary but I **might** pick JFK.  It would basically be an up-all-night deal unless you stayed at a hotel the night before, but the direct flight would be nice.
Posted by Mandafly84[/QUOTE]
Also, with our bradley flights, we would fly into newark NJ first and sit there for 3 hours and then fly direct to PC on the way there.  On the way back we would fly directly to newark, sit there for another 3 hours, then take a 1 hr flight to Bradley.  Those are the best bradley flights available.

Mandafly84

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_connecticut_wwyd-re-bradley-vs-jfk-hm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:65Discussion:122867ed-82b4-471f-8c79-c31888591e5dPost:feb71314-b238-4b1d-8491-ab9194e74c90">Re: WWYD Re: Bradley vs JFK for the HM</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: WWYD Re: Bradley vs JFK for the HM : Also, with our bradley flights, we would fly into newark NJ first and sit there for 3 hours and then fly direct to PC on the way there.  On the way back we would fly directly to newark, sit there for another 3 hours, then take a 1 hr flight to Bradley.  Those are the best bradley flights available.
Posted by Abeja1226[/QUOTE]

<div>Something else to consider (I am going to be no help here, sorry) if you flew out of Bradly is flight delays.  If your first flight gets pushed back at all, you'd be glad for that 3 hour window.  FI and I purposely pick flights that have more than a 90 minute layover just to give us that extra space cushion, because we have never, never been on an American Air flight that's left when it's supposed to leave.</div>

Abeja1226

What is everyone's experience with flying jetblue out of JFK...that is what airline we would take if we flew out of there.  Also, our departure flight leaves at 7am and lands in PC at 10:47am so heaven forbid it runs a few hours late, we still should arrive in PC with a good amount of the day left.

LandB2012

What days are you going and coming?  I travel every week for work and am usually pretty good with finding some great flights.  I can see if I can find any good deals if you want!  

I go out of JFK quite a bit and am okay with it.  Jetblue is pretty good out of there, and the Jetblue terminal isn't overwhelming.  

I'm near Danbury, so I'm kind of in the middle of JFK and BDL but typically prefer JFK actually.  The drive sucks but I find I"m much better off of my flight gets cancelled or delayed.  BDL doesn't have a ton of flights per day and they are usually full so if somehting were to happen and it was cancelled or delayed for whatever reason, I find I"m more likely to get stuck. 

stacykoehler

I've taken JetBlue out of JFK to Aruba and loved the experience. Flight was on time both going and coming back. We parked at JFK SmartParking and had no issues. I think it was around $12 or $15 to park there per day (likely inclusive of tax). So they were really cheap and reliable. They dropped us off and picked us up from the terminal. They were easy to get to as well.

Abeja1226

We are leaving on Sunday June 10th(morning) and returning on Saturday June 16th(evening).  I think we are pretty set on JFK now considering I don't mind driving another 2 hours before/after our flight (I would much rather have the shorter flight time and less time in airports).  Also, if it's not too expensive maybe we will even stay overnight at the airport before our departure flight.

rswan412

I'm flying out of JFK- you should check out the park, sleep and fly options they have- In the end, you might pay more with this option, but otherwise it's an up all night deal- as mentioned by PP: www.parksleepfly.com

The price includes hotel the night before, transportation to and from the airport and parking for the entire week. I'm someone who will pay for comfort- I hate being tired- so we decided to stay at JFK the night before to avoid staying up all night!

eltar08

What if you take the train down to JFK (or into Grand Central and a cab to JFK?)  The trains are a lot less $$, and it can be easier to find someone to drive you to the train station as opposed all the way down to NYC.  FI and I did this for a cruise that left out of NYC port and it wasn't too painful...not to mention cheaper and we didn't have to leave a vehicle anywhere.

Abeja1226

Thanks for all your suggestions! I will definitely check out the sleep and park option and look into the train options as well.  I just booked the HM tonight so JFK is set in stone, ended up saving me hundreds of dollars and we have direct flights.

eltar08

woohoo!  congrats on the check

runtome

I love BDL but in this case I would choose JFK and have someone drive you. You may even hire a driver on the money you save. I just dropped a friend off there last week and it was not difficult even though it was a big place, just watch the departure signs and don't be concerned with any idiots behind you.