How Can I Travel from LGA to NYC? 6 Ways in 2027

You can travel from LaGuardia Airport to New York City by the free Q70 bus to the subway or the Long Island Rail Road, by the M60 bus straight to Manhattan, by the Q33 or Q90 buses within Queens, by metered taxi, by rideshare, or by pre-booked car service — and the right choice depends on which part of the city you are heading to, because no train serves the terminals directly. The cheapest trip for most riders is the free Q70 plus one $3 subway fare. A taxi runs on the meter plus a $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge, with no flat fare. A car service gives you a written per-trip quote before you travel, and rideshare shows its price in the app at booking.

Picture a traveler landing at Terminal C on a Delta flight, with a rolling suitcase and a hotel near Penn Station, while another traveler on the same plane is heading to a cousin in Flushing. The first traveler is well served by the Q70 to Woodside and the Long Island Rail Road into Penn Station. The second traveler would waste time going to Jackson Heights at all — the Q90 runs straight toward Flushing. This page covers every real option from LaGuardia, with the fares verified for this page, so you can match the ride to your actual destination instead of taking the first queue you see.

Last verified November 2026 against MTA, TLC, and LaGuardia Airport sources

Start with your terminal and your destination in New York City

LaGuardia has three terminals, but ordinary airline passengers use only two of them. Terminal B serves 7 airlines: Air Canada, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Porter, Southwest, and United Airlines. Terminal C is operated by Delta Air Lines. Terminal A, the historic Marine Air Terminal, is closed to the public with no scheduled commercial flights and serves Modern Aviation, so if an old itinerary or an old guide sends you to Terminal A for a scheduled flight, check your airline’s current terminal assignment before you go. The All Terminals Shuttle connects the terminals, parking, rental cars, and car pickup areas, so a wrong-terminal start is fixable without leaving the airport.

The second thing to settle is what “NYC” means for your trip. Manhattan is the destination most visitors mean, but New York City also includes Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and the best route changes completely with the borough. A hotel in Harlem is a direct M60 ride. A home in Flushing is a Q90 ride. A meeting near Penn Station or Grand Central may be fastest by Long Island Rail Road from Woodside. A house in Astoria may be one bus stop away from the M60. Decide the neighborhood first, then pick the option below that serves it, and do not assume one answer fits every address in the city.

The cheapest way: the free Q70 bus, then the subway

The MTA calls the LaGuardia Link Q70 the best public transit option from the airport, and on price it is hard to argue with. The Q70 is free to board. It stops in front of Terminal B and Terminal C, runs nonstop every 8–10 minutes, and reaches Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Av/74 St–Broadway in about 15 minutes in typical traffic. Buses are equipped with luggage racks, and you board through any door. The Q70 runs 24 hours a day, so it is still there after a late landing, though you should check live times in the MTA app before counting on the daytime frequency overnight.

At Jackson Heights, you tap into the subway for $3 for most riders, using a credit or debit card, a smartphone, a wearable device, or an OMNY Card. The station serves the E, F, M, and R trains at Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Av and the 7 train at 74 St–Broadway, which puts Midtown Manhattan, Long Island City, and much of Queens within one subway ride. Transfers between the subway and bus are free for two hours when you use the same card or device, which matters if your last leg is another bus. For a solo traveler with light luggage heading to a hotel near a subway line, this $3 total beats every car option on price, and the honest trade-off is the one the page states plainly: you carry your own bags through the station, and the trip takes longer than a door-to-door car when traffic is light.

The direct bus to Manhattan: the M60

The M60-SBS is the one bus that stops at every airport terminal — Terminals A, B, and C — and runs straight into Manhattan without a subway change. The fare is $3, tapped with a card, phone, wearable device, or OMNY Card when you board. In Manhattan, the bus runs along 125th Street in Harlem with multiple stops, and serves 106th Street and Broadway, 116th Street and Broadway, and 120th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side. It connects to subway lines along 125th Street and at 116th Street, to Metro-North at Harlem–125 Street, and to subway lines in Astoria, Queens, on its way to the airport.

Choose the M60 when your destination is Harlem, Morningside Heights, or the Upper West Side, or when you need a Metro-North train at Harlem–125 Street. For a Midtown hotel, the Q70 plus subway is usually the quicker public transit combination, because the M60 crosses town through street traffic. If you arrive at Terminal A, the MTA notes that the M60 provides a quicker ride into Manhattan than taking the airport shuttle to Terminal B for the Q70 — though with Terminal A closed to the public, most airline passengers will not start there at all.

Queens buses after the redesign: Q33 and Q90, not Q47 and Q48

Old guides, old timetables, and old forum answers will send you to the Q47 or the Q48 for LaGuardia. Do not follow them. Since the 2025 Queens bus redesign, the Q47 no longer serves LaGuardia Airport: its service to Terminal A was discontinued and replaced by the Q33, and the Q47 was rerouted through Woodside and Jackson Heights and extended along 23 Av. The Q48 name now belongs to a Glen Oaks to Kew Gardens rush route that does not serve the airport at all.

The current Queens buses to LaGuardia are the Q33 and the Q90. The Q33 runs between LGA Terminal A and Jackson Heights via Roosevelt Av and 82 and 83 Sts, with the change effective August 31, 2025. Because its airport terminus is Terminal A, which is closed to the public, the Q33 is of limited use to ordinary airline passengers arriving at Terminals B and C. The Q90 Limited runs between Flushing and LaGuardia Airport via Seaver Way and Ditmars Blvd, serving Terminals B and C, with service starting June 29, 2025, as the replacement for the old Q48 service between Flushing and the airport. If your destination is Flushing or eastern Queens, the Q90 is the direct bus. Both routes charge the standard local-bus fare of $3 for most riders, tapped on board.

The Long Island Rail Road via Woodside: Q70, then the train

Ride the free Q70 one stop past Jackson Heights to Woodside, exit the bus, and follow the signs for the Long Island Rail Road. LIRR tickets are separate from subway and bus fares, and the best way to buy one is through the TrainTime app before boarding. A CityTicket from Woodside to Penn Station or Grand Central costs $5.25 during off-peak hours and $7.25 during peak hours. CityTicket covers travel on one railroad within New York City, and tickets bought on board are subject to the on-board surcharge, so buy before you board unless you qualify for an exemption.

This combination suits a traveler heading to Penn Station for an Amtrak connection, to Grand Central, or to a hotel near either terminal who wants a train with fewer stops than the subway. Check TrainTime for the next departure and for overnight service before you commit to it, because trains run less often late at night and the bus-to-train connection depends on the two schedules lining up. If the next train is a long wait away, the subway from Jackson Heights may get you into Manhattan sooner, even with more stops.

Taxi: metered, with a $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge and no $70 flat fare

Licensed taxis are available outside each terminal at LaGuardia. Use the official taxi stand and the dispatcher there, and do not accept a ride from anyone soliciting inside the terminal. Every taxi trip to or from LaGuardia is charged the standard metered fare plus a $5.00 surcharge and all other applicable surcharges. The $70 flat fare you may have heard about applies only to trips between Manhattan and JFK Airport — it has never applied to LaGuardia, and any driver or guide quoting a $70 flat fare from LGA is describing the wrong airport.

The meter starts at $3.00, then adds 70 cents per 1/5 mile when traveling above 12 mph or per 60 seconds in slow traffic or when the vehicle is stopped. On top of the meter, the TLC fare schedule adds the $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge, a $2.00 airport access fee on pickups only, a 50-cent MTA State Surcharge on trips ending in New York City or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, or Putnam Counties, and a $1.00 Improvement Surcharge. A $2.50 rush-hour surcharge applies from 4 PM to 8 PM on weekdays excluding holidays, a $1.00 overnight surcharge applies from 8 PM to 6 AM, and a $2.50 New York State Congestion Surcharge applies to trips that begin, end, or pass through Manhattan south of 96th Street. A separate 75-cent MTA Congestion Pricing toll also applies to taxi trips in Manhattan south of and including 60th Street, excluding the FDR Drive, West Side Highway/Route 9A, and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel connections to West Street. Tolls and tip sit outside the meter, so the final total depends on your exact destination, the route, and the traffic on the day — there is no honest single number for “a taxi from LGA to NYC” when NYC means the whole city. If you want to know what kind of vehicle may pull up, read about the different types of vehicles available for NYC cab services before you ride.

The genuine strength of a taxi is the regulated meter and the managed stand: no surge pricing, no app, no advance booking, and a dispatcher assigning the next cab. The genuine weakness is that the meter keeps running in traffic, so a jam on the Grand Central Parkway writes your bill. For a short hop into Astoria or Jackson Heights, a taxi is quick and simple. For a long cross-city trip at rush hour, compare the meter honestly against a written car-service quote before you get in.

Rideshare and pre-booked car service: an app price versus a written quote

Ride-share apps such as Uber and Lyft are available at LaGuardia, and pickup areas are clearly marked outside of each terminal — follow the signs and your app’s pin to the marked area for your terminal. The price is shown in the app when you request the ride, and it moves with demand and traffic, so no fixed rideshare fare is stated on this page. The genuine strength of rideshare is the upfront price in the app before you confirm, card payment, and door-to-door service without a curb queue. The genuine weakness is that the price you see at a quiet hour is not the price you will see when several flights land at once or the weather turns.

A pre-booked car service works the other way around: you agree the price in writing before the car moves. JetBlack dispatch runs 24/7 at +1-646-214-4828, and a booking buys a private, chauffeur-driven car for your party, door to door. No verified JetBlack per-trip fare for LaGuardia to Manhattan was available for this page, so the honest basis is a written per-trip quote — get the quote in writing, confirm how tolls and governmental fees are treated, and note that a 20% gratuity is suggested and not included. Hourly service is a different product with a different price: an Economy Sedan is $45 an hour with a 3-hour minimum, and the $44 figure you may see elsewhere is the first-mile per-mile tier, not an hourly floor and not a trip price. Child seats cost about $35 per seat for a fee, confirmed at booking, and wheelchair-accessible vehicles are provided on request. Cancellation is free before your booking is confirmed and $31 in total after confirmation: $25 plus $5 in fees plus a $1 technology fee. Before you book with any operator, check what to look for when choosing a car service for your trip, and for a larger party, see how to arrange a group car service for a special event so the vehicle fits everyone and their luggage.

One gap is stated plainly: no verified JetBlack flight-delay pickup policy exists, so this page does not promise one. If your flight is delayed, ask when you book what happens to your pickup, get the answer in writing, and keep the dispatch number with you. The same rule applies to any meeting point: confirm where the driver will meet you, in writing, before you land, because the pickup area differs by terminal.

Which option wins for your destination

Use the list below as a starting point, then check live times before you commit. Traffic, train schedules, and flight arrival banks all move the answer on the day.

• Midtown hotel near a subway line: free Q70 plus subway, $3 total for most riders
• Harlem, Morningside Heights, or the Upper West Side: M60 bus, $3, no subway change needed
• Penn Station, Grand Central, or an Amtrak connection: free Q70 to Woodside, then LIRR on a CityTicket
• Flushing or eastern Queens: Q90 Limited from Terminal B or C
• Astoria or Jackson Heights: M60 or Q70, or a short metered taxi ride
• Heavy luggage, a late-night arrival, a group, or a door-to-door trip: taxi, rideshare, or a pre-booked car service with a written quote
• A connecting flight at JFK: allow for the airport-to-airport transfer and check how long it takes to transfer from LaGuardia to JFK Airport before you book a tight connection

If your trip goes beyond New York City, the same starting point applies but the ride changes: heading east on Long Island, check discounts or promotions available for car service from LGA to Port Jefferson, and heading south, check how long it takes to travel from LaGuardia to Philadelphia so you plan around the longer drive. If you actually landed at Newark, you are at a different airport in a different state with different ground options — see how to get from Newark Airport to the city and what a Newark transfer is instead of following LaGuardia directions.

What to check before you leave the terminal

Confirm your terminal from your airline, not from memory: Terminal B for the 7 airlines listed above, Terminal C for Delta, and Terminal A closed to the public. Check live bus and train times in the MTA app or TrainTime before you choose between the subway and the LIRR, because a long wait for one can make the other faster. If you take a taxi, watch for the standard city rate on the passenger screen — Rate #01 — and keep your receipt. If you take rideshare, match the license plate and driver name in the app before you get in. If you booked a car service, confirm the meeting point and the written quote before you leave the arrivals area, and call dispatch at +1-646-214-4828 if anything does not match what was agreed.

Fares and routes change. The MTA, TLC, and airport pages listed in Sources are the places to re-check the numbers on the day you travel, and a written quote from your car service is the number to trust for a pre-booked ride — not a fare quoted in an old guide.

Questions travelers ask

Sources

• MTA — Getting to Manhattan from LaGuardia Airport: Q70 free, nonstop every 8–10 minutes, about 15 minutes to Jackson Heights, subway fare $3, M60-SBS $3 and stops at every terminal, CityTicket $5.25 off-peak and $7.25 peak from Woodside, accessed 2026-11-13
• MTA — LIRR and Metro-North fares: CityTicket $5.25 off-peak and $7.25 peak for travel on one railroad within New York City, on-board surcharge, accessed 2026-11-13
• NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission — Taxi Fare: standard metered fare, $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge, $2.00 airport access fee on pickups, $0.50 MTA State Surcharge counties, $1.00 Improvement Surcharge, rush-hour and overnight surcharges, $2.50 congestion surcharge, 75-cent MTA Congestion Pricing toll, $70 JFK–Manhattan flat fare, accessed 2026-11-13
• LaGuardia Airport — Terminal Information: Terminal B serves Air Canada, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Porter, Southwest, and United Airlines, Terminal C is operated by Delta Air Lines, Terminal A serves Modern Aviation, accessed 2026-11-13
• LaGuardia Airport — Transportation Options: licensed taxis outside each terminal, ride-share pickup areas clearly marked outside each terminal, All Terminals Shuttle, accessed 2026-11-13
• MTA — Queens Bus Network Redesign, Q33 profile: rerouted to serve LGA Terminal A instead of 23 Av, changes effective August 31, 2025, accessed 2026-11-13
• MTA — Queens Bus Network Redesign, Q47 Local: service to LaGuardia Airport Terminal A discontinued and replaced by the Q33, accessed 2026-11-13
• MTA — Queens Bus Network Redesign, Q90 Limited: new service starting June 29, 2025, replacing Q48 service between Flushing and LaGuardia Airport via Willets Point, accessed 2026-11-13
• MTA — Queens Bus Network Redesign, Q48 Rush: Glen Oaks to Kew Gardens route, changes effective June 30, 2025, no LaGuardia service, accessed 2026-11-13
• Governor of New York — Q70 bus to LaGuardia Airport free for all riders: Q70 runs 24 hours a day and connects the 74 St–Broadway and Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Av station serving the E, F, M, R, and 7 lines, accessed 2026-11-13
• JetBlack Transportation — owner-confirmed service facts (24/7 dispatch, written per-trip quotes, cancellation $31 breakdown, 20% suggested tip, Economy Sedan $45/hr with 3-hour minimum, $44 first-mile per-mile tier, JFK–Manhattan economy $65 flat, child seats ~$35/seat for a fee, wheelchair-accessible vehicles provided, no verified flight-delay pickup policy), confirmed 2026-10-26

JetBlack Transportation · 34 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001 · +1-646-214-4828 · Prices verified November 2026 and subject to change — confirm your fixed quote in writing before you travel