Save on Travel To and From the Airport

As the cooler season approaches, travel beckons. With only a few months until Thanksgiving and a little longer until Christmas, the time to book flights is now.

Whether family is coming in, or you’re headed out of town, the internet has made many of us our own travel agents. Online travel services provide an excellent means of comparing pricing not only among carriers, but also around certain dates. Farecompare, a discount pricing search engine, states that the cheapest day to fly is on a Wednesday and you'll get the best price if you book on a Tuesday at 3 pm.

Some quick tips to help you save some cash on airline travel:

• If you’re a frequent flier, check your preferred carrier online and see how much it will cost using your existing banked rewards.
• Whether or not you have miles, check online sites. I always start with kayak.com and compare that to orbitz.com.
• If you can, consider dates around a general timeframe, rather than going in with exact days. I really like how Orbitz allows you to look at different dates, so you can move your itinerary back or forward to find the best rate in a flexible timeframe.

The final step is one that can easily be missed, but can add significant cost to the total price of your travel package. 

When planning airline travel and considering the cost, it’s important to include any additional transportation costs to or from the airport, as well. Many times, arranging pickup from friends or family becomes an issue, especially if you're taking a cheaper flight, at off-hours. Public transportation is an option, but timing can be difficult to align and if you’re carrying luggage (or, as the holiday season approaches, gifts) single-handedly navigating a bus with your baggage can truly be a feat.

New Jersey is lucky enough to be accessible to numerous airports, although the most popular is decidedly Newark Liberty International, with John F. Kennedy airport in New York a close second. While JFK often has cheaper flights, it is also significantly further and less convenient to get to. JFK is 63 miles away from Basking Ridge, while Newark is around 27 miles away. As shown in our informal study, below, JFK can be nearly three times the price, in arranging car service to or from Basking Ridge.

After calling around town, here are some prices from local providers who can help get you to and from the airports. I priced each as a single passenger with two bags, to keep things consistent.

Provider: State Shuttle
Type: Van Service (with other passengers)
Newark: $65 one way
JFK: $112 one way
Tolls/Taxes/Tip: Additional
Online: http://www.stateshuttle.com (can be booked online)
Phone: 1.800.427.3207

Provider: Basking Ridge A-1 Car & Limousine Service
Type: Individual transportation service
Newark: $60 one way
JFK: $115 one way
Tolls/Taxes/Tip: Additional
Phone: (908) 604-0400

Provider: Airport Limo Express at Basking Ridge
Type: Individual transportation service
Newark: $80 one way
JFK: $120 one way
Tolls/Taxes/Tip: Additional
Phone: (732) 548-1140

Provider: Basking Ridge Taxi & Limousine
Type: Individual Transportation
Newark: $75 one way
JFK: $140 one way
Tolls/Taxes/Tip: Additional
Phone: (908) 204-0888

Provider: Liberty Corner Taxi
Type: Individual transportation service
Newark: $85 one way cash; $96 one way credit card
JFK: $220 one way cash; $235 one way credit card
Tolls/Taxes/Tip: Included
Phone: (908) 580-0030

Do you have a favorite local airport transportation provider? Please post it to the comments.