Running Through LaGuardia: The Fastest Way to Get Out of the Airport and into an Uber - The Points Guy (2023)

this is no secretNew York LaGuardia Airport (LGA)went from worst to first in just a few years.

It all started in June 2020 with theInauguration of the brand new Terminal B, now headquarters for Air Canada,american airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines e United Airlines.

two years later,Delta Air Lines' gleaming Terminal C opens, and brought a number of improvements to the passenger experience, including an impressive check-in area,the biggest sky club in the worldand some nice new entry areas.

Both new terminals have been praised for the improvements they bring to the passenger experience in all but one area: comfort.

Old LaGuardia may have been like a "Third World country" as President Joe Biden once said, but at least it was easy to navigate..It never took more than a few minutes to get from the door to the sidewalk.

These days, it's best to wear hiking shoes, or maybe even hiking boots, if you plan on traversing LaGuardia.

Alternatively, you can forget everything I just said and fly out of the "other" LaGuardia terminal, the one that is often overlooked.Maritime Air Terminal.

Navigating this facility, built in the 1940s, is still a breeze. The walk from the gate to the curb takes just a few minutes, and the so-called Terminal A even has its own freeway exit, bypassing most of the airport's traffic.

So what's the catch? You should fly with Spirit Airlines or Frontier Airlines, the two airlines that now call the Marine Air Terminal home.

Here at TPG, we set out to test all three LaGuardia terminals. Would the flying ghost really save a significant amount of time from gate to curb? And just how inefficient has the "new" LaGuardia become?

We answer all these questions and more below.

an unexpected lesson

While we decided to see which LGA terminal would be the easiest to get through, we also learned a lesson from it.air traffic delaysand how they can cascade down through the afternoon.

The three runners flew on three different airlines.Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)and they should all be at LaGuardia in 45 minutes.

High winds in LaGuardia brought the entire state to a halt, and the perfectly designed race hit a snag.

the first runnermimi wright, responsible for TPG's social networks, managed to take off shortly before the transmission of the stop on the ground and take off on Delta flight 5803 minutes after the scheduled departure time of 11:48 am.

Scott Mayerowitz, editor-in-chief of TPG, expelled from the gate at 12:09. boarded American Flight 2902 but ended up in the "penalty box" near Charlotte's air cargo facility for about an hour. At least Scott had a great perspective on his approach to LaGuardia.

Finally,Zach Griff, Senior Reporter for TPG, was scheduled for 12:30. He departed on Spirit Flight 1353, but the flight had a takeoff time of approximately 1:45 pm. m. of air traffic control. Zach sat on Charlotte's doorstep for an hour before finally backing out and exploding at 1:41 pm.

Although arrival times were all spread out, our hypothesis was quickly confirmed: the former LaGuardia Marine Air Terminal is still the most convenient terminal at the airport.

The door-to-door experience

Terminal A (Geist)

The Spirit flight landed at LaGuardia Runway 22 at 2:51 pm.

Due to the location of the runway, it took just four minutes to taxi to the Maritime Air Terminal, located in the southwest corner of the airport, away from all other terminals.

Even though Spirit landed on a different runway, it's worth noting that the Marine Air Terminal doesn't suffer from the same ramp congestion that sometimes delays flights from LaGuardia's other two terminals.

Once parked at Gate A6 at 2:55 pm, the gate opened 11 minutes later due to a passenger boarding bridge failure.

Terminal A doesn't offer many amenities for passengers: you'll find a small restaurant, several restrooms and some airside seating, and a Dunkin' Express just past security.

However, this also means that walking to the finish curb only takes a few minutes. Zach walked a total of 205 steps, measuring about a tenth of a mile, from the front door to the sidewalk.

Even better, there were no stairs, escalators, elevators, or moving walkways to use—the entire trip from gate to curb was as close to what you'd expect from a private LaGuardia flight.

Despite the "race", Zach couldn't help but laugh about it.BuzzBallz(Spirit's Signature Cocktail) Marketing panels in the corridors of Terminal A.

There are only two baggage carousels in Terminal A and sidewalk access is direct from the terminal exit; There are no twists, turns or stairs to worry about.

Terminal B (americana)

Scott's arrival at the door was almost as quick as Zach's.

After landing on runway 22, the American Airlines Airbus A321 made a sharp left turn and headed towards Gate 12 of Terminal B. During construction of the new terminalAirport designers built two high bridgesJets can surround the entire gate area. (Those tall bridges are also the reason for all the escalators and a lot of walking.)

The new layout generally means a lot less ramp congestion, which helped get Scott's plane to the gate quickly. The ground staff was waiting for the plane - not always like that - and minutes later it was speeding through the terminal.

The walk to the Uber departure point in Terminal B is the longest: about 800 meters, going up two escalators and then two down.

There was only one movable sidewalk the entire length of the route, although there were many shops, restaurants and restrooms.

Scott is a very fast walker who takes these runs very seriously. (Even when he's not running, his family complains about his "airport speed" and asks him to slow down.)

Although he and Mimi covered almost the same distance, he did five minutes less than them. For most travelers, the walk should take around 15 minutes.

Terminal C (delta)

Mimi's journey to Terminal C was a bit bumpy due to turbulence, but she landed safely at 1:11 pm. m. Although the plane landed early, it meant that no doors were open. After 24 minutes of taxiing, the Embraer E175 stopped in front of Gate 88A, one of the new gates connected to Delta's refurbished LaGuardia Terminal by a temporary walkway.

The gate was not unlocked until around 13:39. and shortly thereafter Mimi walked down the passenger boarding bridge. He took a quick bathroom break and headed for the exit.

Through winding hallways lined with signs promoting "A Whole New LGA," Mimi walked... and walked... and walked: 974 steps, to be exact. After 14 minutes, he reached the curb and hailed an Uber.

In her excitement to be the first to arrive at the meeting point, the clock tower in Grand Central Terminal, she accidentally called her Uber to the Departures level instead of the Arrivals level, but despite the setback, her Uber made it just five minutes later. to call (but would be much faster if done correctly the first time).

After an uneventful 24-minute Uber ride, she was the first to reach Grand Central, giving her just enough time for a late lunch before the other two passengers arrived.

Call a car and arrive at Grand Central Terminal

Terminal A (Geist)

Crossing Terminal A isn't just convenient in terms of the number of steps you have to take.

Once you get to the curb, you don't have to worry about the traffic jams you're used to in Terminal B or Terminal C.

That's because there are 12 lanes around a roundabout that serves as the loading and unloading area. Plus, with only a few flights out of Terminal A, it never gets too crowded.

Zach's Uber arrived in three minutes, and when it did, he didn't have to call the driver to find out where he was and then wonder if he'd found the right car. Zach's Uber was the only one that got to Terminal A in three minutes, so it took us less than 10 seconds to find the driver and get to Manhattan.

Once in the car, all you had to do was turn left and then right, a total of four minutes, to reach the Grand Central Parkway. That's nothing short of impressive for LaGuardia.

Terminal B (americana)

The biggest frustration with the walk is that the yellow cabs are outside baggage claim, but the Uber and Lyft pick-up area is still minutes away in the parking lot. Scott usually calls an Uber long before he gets to the garage, as cars can take 10 minutes or more to arrive.

But for investigative purposes, he waited until he reached the garage and was amazed at how quickly a car arrived, less than three minutes later. It was 2:45 pm. It was a Thursday and the airport was pretty empty. More importantly, there was no waiting time to get out of the garage. In the past, Scott would wait five to 10 minutes in his Uber during peak hours just to pull out of the garage.

So, for the sake of racing, this was surprisingly easy and fast. But that's not the typical experience here, and Scott has been eyeing the yellow cab route recently, picking the one when it's the shortest.

Terminal C (delta)

Exiting Terminal C wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very convenient either, especially considering Mimi arrived at one of Delta's old gates. The claustrophobic corridors twist and turn, and Mimi wouldn't be surprised if passengers get tired of lugging their luggage through the carpeted parts of the terminal.

Be sure to check where you order Uber, as the departure level was one of the app's few default options, and it's easy to slip into autopilot when you've got a damaged travel brain. If the departures area had been busier, Mimi could imagine the wait for an Uber would be much longer, especially if it came from the arrivals area.

In total, it took about as long from disembarking the wheels at LaGuardia (40 minutes) as it took Mimi to get from the plane to the arrivals curb at Grand Central Terminal (43 minutes).

final result

Surprising as it may seem, flying Spirit or Frontier to LaGuardia Airport is the fastest way to get from gate to curb.

Both ultra-low-cost carriers operate from the airport's historic Marine Air Terminal, and while the facility doesn't offer many amenities for passengers, it is certainly the most efficient of LaGuardia's three terminals.

If you're lucky enough to catch a flight in time, passing through Terminal A makes the airport experience a breeze.

Meanwhile, connections B and Cbusy winning awardsbecause of how cute they are. However, the review comes at the expense of efficiency. According to our run, it takes five times as long to get through these new facilities, and that's when you're busy and not hit by traffic or congestion.

Sure, your mileage may vary depending on which gate you're flying through and how fast you're traveling, but there's no two options: The new LaGuardia may be pretty, but it definitely doesn't win awards for efficiency.

For more TPG races visit:

• What is the fastest way to get from New York to Washington D.C.?
• What's faster? Watch us race from Barcelona to Madrid by bullet train and plane
• What is the fastest way to get from New York to Boston?
• Watch us race from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by bullet train and Uber

Additional information by Mimi Wright and Scott Mayerowitz.