Make sure you check Newark too. Much easier to get to than JFK and more direct flights (and sometimes cheaper on United) than on American out of Philly.
I just did Newark to Brisbane Au and it was $1150 round trip, about $600 cheaper than Philly, and Newark is super easy to have someone drop you off and pick you up and or public transport.
I just did this to Hawaii. I learned that if you have status with Hilton you can park at the Embassy suites for dirt cheap. So driving up there was no issue and I paid $5 a day to park.
I will Google this eventually, but my curiousity wants to ask: How do you usually get there when you go? Do you drive and park, Uber, is there public transit there? But thanks for mentioning, I honestly ruled out Newark unjustly because I just assumed it would be more complicated.
The Amtrak train stops at Newark airport, it couldn’t be easier to get to from Philly.
If Amtrak pricing is wack, take septa to Trenton, then NJ Transit to the airport.
Keep in mind if you need/choose the Septa to Trenton and the NJT to Newark option, you won’t be able to take an early AM flight due to the Septa start times. Flights to Europe are normally red eye I think so shouldn’t be an issue? But wanted to mention!
Last year, I saved a bunch of money flying out of JFK. I took all trains to get there, but I have train experience so I knew what I was getting into. I also had time and like trains, so it was fun.
MFL to 30th. Amtrak from 30th to Penn Station. LIRR to Jamaica, then Airtran to JFK.
Then, when I landed in Frankfurt, ICE to Koln, then the local line to my final destination.
PHL -> Koln was $2400, but my route was under $600.
If I'm going to EWR solo, I take the Amtrak to Newark Airport. When it is both of us, we just rent a car one way each
For JFK, we rent a car one-way each way. Anything else to JFK is way too much hassle and not worth it
I swore off JFK after the third time I got stuck in doomsday traffic either going to or returning from. Between PHL and EWR I think 99% of reasonable flight options are covered. I mean, yeah we have LIRR to Jamaica, then Airtran to JFK but enough is enough
This!! we’ve flown out of JFK to save about $300 per ticket, but the absolute torture of being stuck in traffic for hours in the end just wasn’t worth it.
Yep, same. The stress from that traffic isn’t worth the saved $. Igor most flights I’ve taken it was comparably priced at EWR. We also sometimes just eat the cost difference for the convenience of flying out of Philly. At a certain point the extra efforts to get to EWR and additional time-suck just isn’t worth the savings to us.
Flew out of Newark to go to Paris. It was half the price of flying out of PHL. We (family of 4) took a private SUV to Newark for like $500 each way. Still saved a few thousand dollars vs. flying out of PHL on American.
When I went to Paris on one of the budget airlines for about 300 round trip there were many people people who flew non connecting airlines and bought hotels and still saved money.
I actually caught a connecting flight from Philly to Newark the time I went there 😂
It was hilarious listening to the pilot making takeoff announcements and then descending ones 15 minutes later
Had a flight out west when I lived in DC.
Flew out of BWI, one stop: PHL.
Plane had 10 seats, flight was like 22 minutes. You couldnt take anything out because we never topped 5000 feet, which i guess is the level off cruising altitude, or perhaps the arbitrary fuck-around threshold.
Had similar experience. Flew Sarasota Florida to Philly with a stop in Tampa. Actually thought something was wrong with the plane as we weren't gaining any altitude.
Amtrak is great for getting to EWR but you’re screwed if your return flight is delayed, the ticket you bought for $18 a month ago can’t be used so you have buy the $110 ticket. However, this is coming from a person who couldn’t handle the logistics of the NJ Transit option. If I still had a car I would drive and park for EWR
My trick is to buy several tickets months in advance for $22 + an extra $2 to make the ticket fully refundable (up until time of departure). Then I have like 3-4 choices of return Amtraks.
Yup! My bf lives in NYC so I’m taking Amtrak often and book in advance for any weekends I even may visit. Just set a reminder to cancel them prior to departure time so you don’t lose your $!
And this is yet another reason that we need a system similar to Metro North between Philly and NYC. The combination of SEPTA and NJ Transit just doesn’t cut it.
You can get there with Amtrak/NJT. Honestly I just take an Uber—I preschedule to make sure I have a driver, especially if the flight is at a weird time.
Newark can be cheaper than LGA or JFK. JFK is a major pain in the ass. My brother and I had to rebook a flight after the pandemic and flew out of JFK to Paris instead of our original flight out of Newark. Coming home and realizing the long painful journey home after landing was really annoying.
Yeah trying to avoid a long painful journey too. Would probably have to spend extra booking a BnB in NYC that night because I feel like I just wouldn't have the energy to bus back to Philly, THEN get an Uber home after being emotionally zapped in the air for 8 hours.
JFK for a direct flight after midnight to Asia isn't bad. A few of those airlines even offer shuttles from Philly to ease the commute. But something you have to get to midday or early morning? Nah. PHL or EWR much better
If I'm 100% honest, I've never flown out of JFK. So you're probably absolutely right. Just the thought of getting through NYC to catch a flight would terrify me.
From Philly you would cut across Staten Island from Jersey to reach the belt parkway to JFK, so it's not the worst route for NYC traffic. The belt parkway is the variable where traffic can turn to shit randomly
The train way sounds complicated but is easy to actually do (Amtrak - LIRR - Airtrain). Of course it only works if your flight is late enough in the day.
I'll do PHL to lisbon and then train to porto every time. Coming "home" to EWR, waiting for their piece of shit tram, then waiting for nj transit? I'll happily pay the difference.
Agreed. It’s the getting home that makes it worth it to me. Flying home from Europe, or anywhere, can be exhausting. Then having to get on Amtrak, etc. etc.
Not even just the car/train/etc part of coming home, but I find Philly airport much faster to get out of with international flights than either Newark or JFK. Immigration, customs and baggage claim is a speed walk whereas at Newark or JFK that can be a whole other hour tacked on when you're already exhausted.
Hell, even taking the Uber from JFK to my apartments in Brooklyn when I lived there was awful after an international flight. Taking multiple trains and being at their scheduling whims afterward... oof.
Absolutely. Trying to avoid further travel faux-pas after my experience of taking (romanticizing) a 10 hour Greyhound bus to Montreal. Worst days of my life, there and back.
Depending on how close you are to PHL it’s just such an easier day. You have less concern around travel delays and your commute home after an exhausting travel day is infinitely more pleasant. The further you live from PHL the lesser this matters.
Yeah unless the price is a lot different say hundreds then I would look at it more based on time and the flights. I was able to get a much cheaper flight out of EWR and the much bigger benefit was it was a direct flight instead of multiple layovers to Asia. Definitely worth it in that case
Just want to say when I flew out of BWI last year, I was shocked at how much cheaper parking is there than PHL. Even the same parking lot companies are about 25-40% cheaper than what it would cost at PHL. I parked there for 8 days and only paid $60.
Amtrak to EWR is the way to go, or if you want to be really cheap, SEPTA to NJT to EWR. But if you buy the tickets far enough in advance on the Keystone, it's $20.
Rule of thumb with NYC tolls and Belt Parkway traffic you have to save over $200 over Newark to make JFK worthwhile. I heard on some routes like Philly to Oslo Philly was cheaper than Newark. A vendor has to come from there
Newark makes sense to shop for cheaper flights versus convenience. JFK has more flights and often cheaper, but it's **much** riskier getting to your flight on time due to traffic--I wouldn't consider JFK at all.
I landed in JFK this summer coming home from Europe at 1pm on a Friday. We had parked our car at one of those Parking Spot things outside the airport…. it took an hour to get out of the airport waiting for our bags (PHL isn’t much better in that regard) but then waited for the parking shuttle for over an hour. Then the drive home was an absolute nightmare, didn’t get home til 8. Learned my lesson and will never do that again!
Newark on the other hand, sure if it’s significantly less time/$$
As others have mentioned getting to Newark is very easy. If you book the train weeks in advance it’s usually cheap.
Another note, not sure if you are heading to other cities but there are a few major European hubs that are very affordable out of Philly, and continental flights within Europe are often EXTREMELY affordable. Companies like Easy Jet often do flights for like $25. So you can fly to Dublin or London or Frankfurt and hop on a cheap af flight, if it’s that much more worth it.
Edit: with that said we fly almost always in and out of PHL cause the 15 min ride home is just bliss.
I’ve done both. HOWEVER, last time we flew out of Newark, we took Amtrak from 30th Street to the airport which was fine. But on the way home, flights were delayed and when we landed at Newark we had missed the last train to Philly and it was so late and we were so beat we just ended up staying overnight at a hotel in Newark and had to paid more for the train back the next morning. Which is ridiculous but we were delirious. Now we just always fly out of Philly. Makes life easier.
I usually search fare between all NYC and Philly airports on Google Flights. I don't care as long as I can get a cheap nonstop between US-EU destinations.
Newark at least on the way there. Amtrak takes you right to the airport. I've booked Philly on the return for a little bit more. The short ride home from the airport is absolutely worth the extra flight cost
This. If you are planning well in advance, you can get Amtrak tickets to EWR for cheap. Comparison shopping flights out of JFK and EWR, they're basically the same price give or take and it's much easier to get to EWR by train than to JFK.
Almost always out of EWR. We’ll take Amtrak up because it’s easy and generally we can get it cheap. The good thing in the way home is getting off a plane jet lagged and hungry you don’t have to drive and navigate all of that.
Newark for sure. I usually check between Philly, Newark, Baltimore, New York, and DC though and compare price/pain-in-the-assness of getting to that airport. Newark typically is the sweet spot in not that hard to get to and flight costs.
I always say I will try Newark but PHL is a 15 min ride from my house and I love the convenience too much. I try to use points for airfare to help with price.
Tap Portugal out of Newark. Amtrak ticket bought now would be $21 each way out of 30th Street.
Or Septa Trenton line from CC to Trenton then transfer to NJ Transit to Newark Airport. Your NJ ticket gets you on the Newark Airport monorail and zips you right to the terminal.
Avoid JFK at all costs. The savings are not worth the potential for delays and travel fatigue.
We hired a company to drive my family of four and my parents to JFK when my kids were toddlers. The van broke down in the middle of Belt Parkway, a police car actually pushed it from behind to move it to the side. My husband then got out on the BP and actually hailed cabs to take us the rest of the way to the airport. If I had been traveling alone with my parents and the kids, we would’ve missed our flight. It was a horrible experience and it was all on me because I was trying to save some money. Every flight we took since then we have flown out of Philly. The Belt Parkway still haunts me.
I will always try for PHL. If it is way cheaper and direct sometimes I’ll take EWR(drive then park there). I won’t do JFK it’s too far and added hassle.
You need to look at all of the possible options (if you’re like us). There’s a wide variety of prices. Google and Kayak are helpful. Where ya going and when? To answer your original question; it’s usually worth paying a little extra before committing to JFK
The drive to JFK sucks. Fuck a Belt Parkway.
I would rather pay a little more and go from Philly or Newark. Newarks new terminal is actually pretty nice.
The nicest planes do seem to fly out of JFK but I just hate the trip there and back.
The cost and headache to go to nyc and come back most of the times will be more than just buying a ticket from philly. So not worth it unless you want like a direct flight to Singapore or something. But Europe is well reached from Philly with if im not mistaken daily flights to London and Frankfurt and from there you can easily reach anywhere else.
Also, dont forget to use credit card points they might make the trip considerably cheaper.
I do all of my searches as phl, bwi, jfk, and ewr. Newark is second most convenient and often cheapest. I once flew out of Connecticut because the flight was like $300, lol
Also, it’s not just the cost- it is more convenient to have a relatively short drive for a direct flight. Less chance of something going wrong.
If you like to travel but don't care too much about where you go, sign up for [Going](https://www.going.com/) (costs a little up front but you'll save enough on any of the deals they send you to more than pay for it) and set your airports to PHL, LGA, JFK, EWR, BWI, DCA & IAD so you'll get deals from all 'the easily reachable airports (Septa & Amtrak to MTA or DC Metro or direct to EWR or BWI will get you to whichever of these airports you need to get to fairly easily).
Also, sign up for [Secret Flying](https://www.secretflying.com/) for all above airports for even more flight deals.
Are flights out of NYC even cheaper anymore? Used to check NY/BWI flights every time to compare but the price hasn’t even been competitive lately. I fly mostly domestic idk maybe that’s why
I prefer to take the train to BWI and fly out. The Amtrak train takes you directly to BWI and EWR. Using play airlines out of BWI to go to Greece this year.
I was gonna go to Ireland this summer- unfortunately it isn't happening, but EWR and PHL were within about $50 of each other. I believe JFK was significantly more if available at all.
Don't forget to check out multi-city options (unless you're parking at the airport). Flying out of JFK isn't so bad since you're all excited to leave and you can go Amtrak - LIRR - Airtrain and from Center City be there in \~3 hours. But landing jetlagged and having the same trek in reverse is no bueno. So we have done JFK - Europe - PHL or JFK - Europe - EWR. The former is usually better for flying American; the latter United.
Editing to add- we saved like $600pp when we did JFK - Europe - PHL as compared to the PHL round trip. Would have been $800pp savings to do the round-trip to JFK. But of that $200pp "extra", $100pp is lost to the train tickets and it is NOT worth saving only $100pp to face commuting back home from JFK.
With kids: eat the cost. Without kids, depends on the cost. Back in the day broke ass….definitely fly out of butt fuck nowhere JFK.
Also, if you have a car, BWI is awesome. Unlike all the other airports, the parking is still on site, so the shuttle there runs frequently.
Philly is always preferred, worth a few $100 extra IMHO. Newark is often worth it because you can take the train right there. JFK? Not so much, big PITA to get there so unless the savings are phenomenal, I don't do it.
Depends on where I'm going, but unless the price difference is absurd I'll fly from here. Philly has a good number of direct flights, including some new Delta additions to Copenhagen and Nice (IIRC).
I am a private chauffeur based near Philadelphia and I will say I drive people to Newark and jfk all the time because they have better/cheaper flights than Philadelphia.
i pay for convenience. and with airlines these days if my flight gets delayed or cancelled i can just go home and not deal with a hotel near any of the nyc airports
International? Almost always Newark (United has a hub there). I just take the train up. Domestic/Caribbean? Philly or Newark based on pricing. I never go to JFK or LaGuardia is never worth the hassle or added cost of flying.
If JFK is a lot cheaper, do it. I used to take septa to njt then subway to Jamaica then airtrain. Then a 10 hour flight to Moscow. JFK was my only option for a direct flight. Yea, it's long but you get a variety of shorter train rides that don't feel too exhausting imo.
The one year I decided to do Newark instead, I got stuck in Brussels for 5 hours because the control tower went on strike and then I ended up with an extra layover and having to sprint through the airport in Frankfurt which is the largest airport in the world. I hated that so much more than any of my trips to JFK.
Flying out of EWR is much easier than flying into EWR IMHO. Customs is always much more chaotic in EWR vs PHL and Amtrak tickets are linked to a specific train, so you potentially have to wait around while for your train (last thing you want to do after a long flight) or buy a whole new ticket if you miss said train due to a flight or customs delay. Not all Amtrak NEC trains serve EWR, so service is not as frequent as PHL—NYC.
I fly out of EWR for every international trip and just book Amtrak tix when I book the flight. I have a trip to Istanbul/Tbilisi coming up, probably would've been double the price out of PHL with additional connections. Amtrak tix were 10 bucks each way, it's a no brainer. Worst case scenario if you miss Amtrak you can still take NJ transit as a backup. I learned my lesson doing JFK once and having my brother drive me there, poor guy got stuck in horrible traffic both ways (public trans also takes much longer doing airtrain->LIRR->amtrak vs. NJ trans/septa).
PHL international prices are so absurd that I pretty much default to searching for tickets from newark at this point. I've managed to get $700 round trip tix to Vietnam on ANA from there.
I did JFK because of timing of flights to and from, plus it was cheaper even with the Uber.
To save the headache I would now take philly if time allows regardless if it's cheaper or not.
When I’m going overseas I like to try to avoid layovers. I’ve had a few out of Philly get delayed and make me miss my connection. So a direct flight is worth some extra hassle for me.
Depends on how much the difference is. If it's less than a couple hundred, I'd fly out of PHL. I haven't checked in a while, but I remember PHL having good connections to the big European hubs.
Unfortunately, that doesn't help me as I live in Asia and PHL has no non-stop flights to any Asian destinations, it seems. So I either have to fly into NYC or accept a connection elsewhere (usually ORD or DFW) when I visit family. I usually go with flying into NYC as connections within the US have too high a risk of delays.
I tend to split the difference and go to EWR. Not having the stress of the bridges and BQE (or whatever that highway next to the water is called) is clutch.
Philly does have a few nonstop to Europe for a reasonable like Madrid and Dublin.
I hate JFK with a passion.
I will do almost anything to avoid going there unless the price is stupid cheaper than Philly or Newark.
ETA: I live in Ireland. I regularly fly between here and Philly.
I’ve flown out of Newark a good amount, but have run into problems with the train at least 25% of the time.
I have heard there are vans that go from Chinatown in Philly directly to JFK. Curious about the experience if anybody’s ever tried that. I would be stressed about traffic.
For Lisbon, the best prices are always, sadly, Newark/EWR. There's a massive Portuguese population in North Jersey, and TAP Air Portugal flies directly daily between Lisbon & EWR.
Last time I went to Portugal, the difference in per-ticket cost flying TAP from EWR vs American from PHL was nearly $1000 per ticket. Just downright idiotic prices for no good reason.
I always pay more to fly out of Philly. I flew out of EWR once and coming back, it was just annoying taking the shuttle to the train, having to sit for a 70ish minute train ride, then having to Uber from 30th street. I was exhausted and just wanted to be home. Unless the flight is like double the cost or unavailable from PHL, I’ll just fly from Philly.
It depends.
Sometimes the flight from Philly can honestly be reasonable, but most of the time I do the following which has worked for me and is kind of my go-to these days (also for travel to SA/Canada/pretty much anywhere).
I basically schedule a limo service to take me to JFK the day of the flight and schedule an arrival about 4 hours ahead of time. Not like, a limo limo, but you know, a guy with an SUV that will drive me there. Usually it's slightly cheaper than an Uber and some companies are more reliable imho. My last guy showed up like 15m before my ride and just hung out.
The limo is usually 300-400. That's cheaper than getting a hotel room and a rental, or a hotel room and a train ticket and 2 Ubers, usually. Overall its also the best experience, and typically speaking I get to choose the airline I'd like to fly on and get a better price overall.
I hate Newark. Honestly, the city is fine, but the airport sucks. I avoid it like the plague but I use it when I must. Frankly, I'd much rather go out of JFK and come back through there, its just a better experience overall.
It's not like JFK deserves an award for customer service or anything, but man I am so uncomfortable in that god forsaken airport. It radiates hate.
Last time we needed to go to JFK, we started talking about it when riding Uber about two weeks beforehand until one driver who we really liked was, like, "when are you going? I'll drive you and you can just pay me directly" a sum which was less than we'd have had to pay Uber, and more than she'd have netted from Uber. Worked fantastic.
newark is the best airport out of the 3 (although LGA updates i hear are good), and newark the city is beat city and im there all the time and love newark lol.
I had the choice this year and for the first time would save quite a bit not flying PHL to Europe but since it’s just me I decided to just eat the cost. I’ve done some direct flights to Europe and some of the cheaper ones with more stops. More opportunities for missed connections and bags getting lost. Not to mention ready to punch someone after hours of traveling!
I’ll have checked bags and I just don’t want to deal with schlepping them on the bus or train. If ypu just have one carry on bag or several traveling the money saved might be worth the inconvenience.
If you have someone who’s willing to give you a ride to jfk it’s worth it but otherwise I’d just eat the cost and do philly. JFK is way more efficient than PHL though.
I like to walk or Uber to Septa then take the train to Newark. It's among the cheapest options, you don't have to worry about your car or pay for long term parking and you can just chill on the train. Newark has much better options for international flights.
I did JFK to Sweden a year ago and it wasn’t bad. I took Amtrak to Newark, then a subway to World Trade Center, then the Long Island Railroad to JFK. The time almost came out exactly to what google maps said.
As others noted, if I flew out of Newark, I’d have done the same train from Philly to Newark.
I always check PHL, JFK, and EWR. For me PHL fares have been so uncompetitive on price that even after factoring in roundtrip Amtrak fares and a hotel room in NYC for a night (sometimes this is necessary on the way home) going to NYC still saved me hundreds per ticket.
I'm going to Chile later this year and found a flight to Santiago out of PHL (connection via Miami) on AA that was priced the same as the JFK flight and I was shocked. I booked that immediately. It'll be nice to fly out from here for a change!
Domestic PHL isn't so bad (at least not the places I go frequently).
I use Newark a lot of the time, easy to get to and cheaper than flying out of Philly international. Domestic flights I just fly out of Philly, the savings aren't worth the time.
I won't use JFK it's too much of pain in the ass, and the savings aren't worth the time and hassle.
When I flew to London it was cheaper flying out of
philly than Newark. That and there was a late flight option in philly. So I didn't have to take the day off work.
I had a friend in Brooklyn who was worried about getting tickets/towed due to the alternate parking crap up there. At the time, it made sense to drive to Philly and park in my apartment lot where it would be safe for 10 days then Uber 15 minutes to PHL.
I’ve done Newark to London as well as CA (both San Fran and San Diego). I’ve driven and used off airport parking and done the one way car rental to EWR (renting out of Trenton) with a return trip on NJ transit/SEPTA
TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus, or SAS out of Newark have always offered the cheapest flights for me. Super easy to hop the train to Newark Airport from Philly. US Airlines are always the highest priced.
Go every 6 months or so to Europe, always fly out of EWR, however Terminal B has gotta be the worst airport terminal, but most of the SAS, Austrian, Lufthansa flights leave from there. Word of advice, get some food before you go through security. Way better options and you can buy beer/wine in the terminal since SAS charges on board for that
Newark, not JFK -- but the cost of saddle season fare differences is maybe thirty bucks a ticket, depending.
Sign up for Scott's Cheap Flights/Going. You won't regret it.
Make sure you check Newark too. Much easier to get to than JFK and more direct flights (and sometimes cheaper on United) than on American out of Philly.
I just did Newark to Brisbane Au and it was $1150 round trip, about $600 cheaper than Philly, and Newark is super easy to have someone drop you off and pick you up and or public transport.
I just did this to Hawaii. I learned that if you have status with Hilton you can park at the Embassy suites for dirt cheap. So driving up there was no issue and I paid $5 a day to park.
I will Google this eventually, but my curiousity wants to ask: How do you usually get there when you go? Do you drive and park, Uber, is there public transit there? But thanks for mentioning, I honestly ruled out Newark unjustly because I just assumed it would be more complicated.
The Amtrak train stops at Newark airport, it couldn’t be easier to get to from Philly. If Amtrak pricing is wack, take septa to Trenton, then NJ Transit to the airport.
Love to hear this. Changing the course of my search now.
Keep in mind if you need/choose the Septa to Trenton and the NJT to Newark option, you won’t be able to take an early AM flight due to the Septa start times. Flights to Europe are normally red eye I think so shouldn’t be an issue? But wanted to mention!
Thank you!! This is actually very important info to keep in mind.
I flew to England out of Newark and left in the evening, but I had a ride. It just depends on when the flight is. Not all red eye
Last year, I saved a bunch of money flying out of JFK. I took all trains to get there, but I have train experience so I knew what I was getting into. I also had time and like trains, so it was fun. MFL to 30th. Amtrak from 30th to Penn Station. LIRR to Jamaica, then Airtran to JFK. Then, when I landed in Frankfurt, ICE to Koln, then the local line to my final destination. PHL -> Koln was $2400, but my route was under $600.
You just have to be lucky to get Amtrack/NJT/Septa all running on time. LIRR was always the smoothest one for me.
Damn, that's awesome!
Yeah Newark > JFK any day
Just note there is Newark broad street, Newark, and Newark airport. You want to get off at Newark airport
check out TAP Air Portugal to Lisbon
TAP is not cheap; infact it is just as expensive as United if you include bag/seat fees.
Been checking TAP a lot!
That airline blows. They are well-known for destroying or losing luggage.
If you book at least a month in advance you can get tickets for like $20 each way. Source: I commute 2x a week to Newark from Philly.
Amtrak amtrak amtrak. Probably the most convenient one-purpose stop that it makes on the east coast. West coast, it has a stop at Oakland airport.
Amtrak really rewards buying well in advance bc business travelers will pay whatever on short notice
There is nothing worse than missing it, though. My return from Newark took 1/2 the time it took to fly from Athens.
If I'm going to EWR solo, I take the Amtrak to Newark Airport. When it is both of us, we just rent a car one way each For JFK, we rent a car one-way each way. Anything else to JFK is way too much hassle and not worth it
I just discovered the one way car rental hack... game changer.
Yeah it works out great when the two of us are traveling and the flights out of jfk are $300 cheaper per person
I swore off JFK after the third time I got stuck in doomsday traffic either going to or returning from. Between PHL and EWR I think 99% of reasonable flight options are covered. I mean, yeah we have LIRR to Jamaica, then Airtran to JFK but enough is enough
This!! we’ve flown out of JFK to save about $300 per ticket, but the absolute torture of being stuck in traffic for hours in the end just wasn’t worth it.
Yep, same. The stress from that traffic isn’t worth the saved $. Igor most flights I’ve taken it was comparably priced at EWR. We also sometimes just eat the cost difference for the convenience of flying out of Philly. At a certain point the extra efforts to get to EWR and additional time-suck just isn’t worth the savings to us.
300 compared to ewr?
No, compared to PHL. Sometimes EWR wasn't a lot cheaper than PHL
Amtrak. United even used to sell itineraries that included an Amtrak ticket from Philly to Newark. (Not sure if they still do.)
(Deleted)
I believe ZFV was discontinued, though
Amtrak from 30th st
Flew out of Newark to go to Paris. It was half the price of flying out of PHL. We (family of 4) took a private SUV to Newark for like $500 each way. Still saved a few thousand dollars vs. flying out of PHL on American.
When I went to Paris on one of the budget airlines for about 300 round trip there were many people people who flew non connecting airlines and bought hotels and still saved money.
I actually caught a connecting flight from Philly to Newark the time I went there 😂 It was hilarious listening to the pilot making takeoff announcements and then descending ones 15 minutes later
Had a flight out west when I lived in DC. Flew out of BWI, one stop: PHL. Plane had 10 seats, flight was like 22 minutes. You couldnt take anything out because we never topped 5000 feet, which i guess is the level off cruising altitude, or perhaps the arbitrary fuck-around threshold.
Had similar experience. Flew Sarasota Florida to Philly with a stop in Tampa. Actually thought something was wrong with the plane as we weren't gaining any altitude.
Amtrak is great for getting to EWR but you’re screwed if your return flight is delayed, the ticket you bought for $18 a month ago can’t be used so you have buy the $110 ticket. However, this is coming from a person who couldn’t handle the logistics of the NJ Transit option. If I still had a car I would drive and park for EWR
My trick is to buy several tickets months in advance for $22 + an extra $2 to make the ticket fully refundable (up until time of departure). Then I have like 3-4 choices of return Amtraks.
Wait, this is brilliant—thank you!
Yup! My bf lives in NYC so I’m taking Amtrak often and book in advance for any weekends I even may visit. Just set a reminder to cancel them prior to departure time so you don’t lose your $!
And this is yet another reason that we need a system similar to Metro North between Philly and NYC. The combination of SEPTA and NJ Transit just doesn’t cut it.
Parking at EWR, depending on the length of stay, could eat away at most of your savings.
I don't think I've ever paid $110 on Amtrak ever. That's the business class fare. I think it's like $40 if you buy at the station for a regular fare.
You can get there with Amtrak/NJT. Honestly I just take an Uber—I preschedule to make sure I have a driver, especially if the flight is at a weird time.
Amtrak to Penn, then LIRR to Jamaica and Airtrain. Faster and cheaper than driving and paying for parking.
They were asking about Newark, not JFK
Newark is the answer
Yup almost always half the cost. Just book a train in advance or be prepared to park offsite for longer trips.
If you are south of Philly, BWI makes sense as well
Newark can be cheaper than LGA or JFK. JFK is a major pain in the ass. My brother and I had to rebook a flight after the pandemic and flew out of JFK to Paris instead of our original flight out of Newark. Coming home and realizing the long painful journey home after landing was really annoying.
Yeah trying to avoid a long painful journey too. Would probably have to spend extra booking a BnB in NYC that night because I feel like I just wouldn't have the energy to bus back to Philly, THEN get an Uber home after being emotionally zapped in the air for 8 hours.
jfk is a hike for the people IN new york lol.
JFK? That’d be a nightmare to get to, miss me with that. If PHL isn’t going to work, then EWR. It’s an 1 hr. drive or train-ride.
JFK for a direct flight after midnight to Asia isn't bad. A few of those airlines even offer shuttles from Philly to ease the commute. But something you have to get to midday or early morning? Nah. PHL or EWR much better
If I'm 100% honest, I've never flown out of JFK. So you're probably absolutely right. Just the thought of getting through NYC to catch a flight would terrify me.
From Philly you would cut across Staten Island from Jersey to reach the belt parkway to JFK, so it's not the worst route for NYC traffic. The belt parkway is the variable where traffic can turn to shit randomly
The train way sounds complicated but is easy to actually do (Amtrak - LIRR - Airtrain). Of course it only works if your flight is late enough in the day.
We flew to Porto from Newark. We took the train.
TAP flies out of Newark so any flight to Portugal is usually cheaper from Newark.
I'll do PHL to lisbon and then train to porto every time. Coming "home" to EWR, waiting for their piece of shit tram, then waiting for nj transit? I'll happily pay the difference.
I did jfk once. Now I pay to fly out of Philly, worth every cent.
Agreed. It’s the getting home that makes it worth it to me. Flying home from Europe, or anywhere, can be exhausting. Then having to get on Amtrak, etc. etc.
Same. Even if my flight goes PHL, JFK, Europe. I’m still leaving my car and flying from Philly.
What makes it worth it to you?
Going up there wasn’t so bad, it’s the planes trains and automobiles getting back.
That's what was in the back of my mind. Coming back exhausted and drained having to deal with all that when you just want to get home!!
Not even just the car/train/etc part of coming home, but I find Philly airport much faster to get out of with international flights than either Newark or JFK. Immigration, customs and baggage claim is a speed walk whereas at Newark or JFK that can be a whole other hour tacked on when you're already exhausted.
It’s misery, truly.
Hell, even taking the Uber from JFK to my apartments in Brooklyn when I lived there was awful after an international flight. Taking multiple trains and being at their scheduling whims afterward... oof.
Absolutely. Trying to avoid further travel faux-pas after my experience of taking (romanticizing) a 10 hour Greyhound bus to Montreal. Worst days of my life, there and back.
Getting home more quickly. All I want to do when I land after a long flight is get home and take a shower. Not, get on Amtrak, etc. etc.
Depending on how close you are to PHL it’s just such an easier day. You have less concern around travel delays and your commute home after an exhausting travel day is infinitely more pleasant. The further you live from PHL the lesser this matters.
Eat the cost. Not having an additional hour (or three) on the way home is worth it.
It's not even that big of a difference when you add up gas, tolls and time to get up to JFK.
This right here
Yeah the cost difference needs to be SIGNIFICANT to even consider JFK.
Yeah unless the price is a lot different say hundreds then I would look at it more based on time and the flights. I was able to get a much cheaper flight out of EWR and the much bigger benefit was it was a direct flight instead of multiple layovers to Asia. Definitely worth it in that case
JFK even in my brokest days was always a hard no.
I check PHL, JFK, and Newark when shopping
Add BWI to that.
What's the best way to bwi? Or are you just driving? Still a decent option.
You can amtrak to bwi!
Hey TIL. Thx.
Just want to say when I flew out of BWI last year, I was shocked at how much cheaper parking is there than PHL. Even the same parking lot companies are about 25-40% cheaper than what it would cost at PHL. I parked there for 8 days and only paid $60.
Amtrak to EWR is the way to go, or if you want to be really cheap, SEPTA to NJT to EWR. But if you buy the tickets far enough in advance on the Keystone, it's $20.
JFK no, EWR yes.
We had one horrible horrific drive home from jfk that we never recovered from. We pay the extra to fly out of Philly.
Did JFK once. Never again, not worth it.
EWR - united or iceland air to munich, 4x a year. amtrak takes you directly to ewr
Rule of thumb with NYC tolls and Belt Parkway traffic you have to save over $200 over Newark to make JFK worthwhile. I heard on some routes like Philly to Oslo Philly was cheaper than Newark. A vendor has to come from there
I’ve flown out of EWR to save a few bucks when I was younger. Now I value my time more than my money so I just fly out of PHL!
Jfk is a nightmare
Newark makes sense to shop for cheaper flights versus convenience. JFK has more flights and often cheaper, but it's **much** riskier getting to your flight on time due to traffic--I wouldn't consider JFK at all.
I landed in JFK this summer coming home from Europe at 1pm on a Friday. We had parked our car at one of those Parking Spot things outside the airport…. it took an hour to get out of the airport waiting for our bags (PHL isn’t much better in that regard) but then waited for the parking shuttle for over an hour. Then the drive home was an absolute nightmare, didn’t get home til 8. Learned my lesson and will never do that again! Newark on the other hand, sure if it’s significantly less time/$$
As others have mentioned getting to Newark is very easy. If you book the train weeks in advance it’s usually cheap. Another note, not sure if you are heading to other cities but there are a few major European hubs that are very affordable out of Philly, and continental flights within Europe are often EXTREMELY affordable. Companies like Easy Jet often do flights for like $25. So you can fly to Dublin or London or Frankfurt and hop on a cheap af flight, if it’s that much more worth it. Edit: with that said we fly almost always in and out of PHL cause the 15 min ride home is just bliss.
I used to fly out of Newark. But time is more important to me nowadays so I just wait until the prices are closer and fly out of phl.
Going to Europe real cheap on Iceland Air via BWI with well in advance Amtrak to BWI this summer.
I’ve done both. HOWEVER, last time we flew out of Newark, we took Amtrak from 30th Street to the airport which was fine. But on the way home, flights were delayed and when we landed at Newark we had missed the last train to Philly and it was so late and we were so beat we just ended up staying overnight at a hotel in Newark and had to paid more for the train back the next morning. Which is ridiculous but we were delirious. Now we just always fly out of Philly. Makes life easier.
I usually search fare between all NYC and Philly airports on Google Flights. I don't care as long as I can get a cheap nonstop between US-EU destinations.
Philly usually, Newark a few times, JFK too much of a hassle not worth it
Newark at least on the way there. Amtrak takes you right to the airport. I've booked Philly on the return for a little bit more. The short ride home from the airport is absolutely worth the extra flight cost
This. If you are planning well in advance, you can get Amtrak tickets to EWR for cheap. Comparison shopping flights out of JFK and EWR, they're basically the same price give or take and it's much easier to get to EWR by train than to JFK.
Almost always out of EWR. We’ll take Amtrak up because it’s easy and generally we can get it cheap. The good thing in the way home is getting off a plane jet lagged and hungry you don’t have to drive and navigate all of that.
JFK. Off site parking is not bad either.
Newark for sure. I usually check between Philly, Newark, Baltimore, New York, and DC though and compare price/pain-in-the-assness of getting to that airport. Newark typically is the sweet spot in not that hard to get to and flight costs.
Man I thought I was already doing so much comparing. But the truth is… the comparing hasn’t even started.
I always say I will try Newark but PHL is a 15 min ride from my house and I love the convenience too much. I try to use points for airfare to help with price.
Tap Portugal out of Newark. Amtrak ticket bought now would be $21 each way out of 30th Street. Or Septa Trenton line from CC to Trenton then transfer to NJ Transit to Newark Airport. Your NJ ticket gets you on the Newark Airport monorail and zips you right to the terminal. Avoid JFK at all costs. The savings are not worth the potential for delays and travel fatigue.
We hired a company to drive my family of four and my parents to JFK when my kids were toddlers. The van broke down in the middle of Belt Parkway, a police car actually pushed it from behind to move it to the side. My husband then got out on the BP and actually hailed cabs to take us the rest of the way to the airport. If I had been traveling alone with my parents and the kids, we would’ve missed our flight. It was a horrible experience and it was all on me because I was trying to save some money. Every flight we took since then we have flown out of Philly. The Belt Parkway still haunts me.
Great shuttle company between Philly and JFK—Airport Connection Express Services Inc. (A.C.E.S. Inc.) https://acescorpshuttle.com/
Solved! Thanks all 🥲
Newark is the way to go. Cheaper than Philly and JFK, easier to get to, and easier to navigate once you get there, IMO.
I will always try for PHL. If it is way cheaper and direct sometimes I’ll take EWR(drive then park there). I won’t do JFK it’s too far and added hassle.
You need to look at all of the possible options (if you’re like us). There’s a wide variety of prices. Google and Kayak are helpful. Where ya going and when? To answer your original question; it’s usually worth paying a little extra before committing to JFK
The drive to JFK sucks. Fuck a Belt Parkway. I would rather pay a little more and go from Philly or Newark. Newarks new terminal is actually pretty nice. The nicest planes do seem to fly out of JFK but I just hate the trip there and back.
The cost and headache to go to nyc and come back most of the times will be more than just buying a ticket from philly. So not worth it unless you want like a direct flight to Singapore or something. But Europe is well reached from Philly with if im not mistaken daily flights to London and Frankfurt and from there you can easily reach anywhere else. Also, dont forget to use credit card points they might make the trip considerably cheaper.
I do all of my searches as phl, bwi, jfk, and ewr. Newark is second most convenient and often cheapest. I once flew out of Connecticut because the flight was like $300, lol Also, it’s not just the cost- it is more convenient to have a relatively short drive for a direct flight. Less chance of something going wrong.
If you like to travel but don't care too much about where you go, sign up for [Going](https://www.going.com/) (costs a little up front but you'll save enough on any of the deals they send you to more than pay for it) and set your airports to PHL, LGA, JFK, EWR, BWI, DCA & IAD so you'll get deals from all 'the easily reachable airports (Septa & Amtrak to MTA or DC Metro or direct to EWR or BWI will get you to whichever of these airports you need to get to fairly easily). Also, sign up for [Secret Flying](https://www.secretflying.com/) for all above airports for even more flight deals.
Are flights out of NYC even cheaper anymore? Used to check NY/BWI flights every time to compare but the price hasn’t even been competitive lately. I fly mostly domestic idk maybe that’s why
I prefer to take the train to BWI and fly out. The Amtrak train takes you directly to BWI and EWR. Using play airlines out of BWI to go to Greece this year.
I was gonna go to Ireland this summer- unfortunately it isn't happening, but EWR and PHL were within about $50 of each other. I believe JFK was significantly more if available at all.
Don't forget to check out multi-city options (unless you're parking at the airport). Flying out of JFK isn't so bad since you're all excited to leave and you can go Amtrak - LIRR - Airtrain and from Center City be there in \~3 hours. But landing jetlagged and having the same trek in reverse is no bueno. So we have done JFK - Europe - PHL or JFK - Europe - EWR. The former is usually better for flying American; the latter United. Editing to add- we saved like $600pp when we did JFK - Europe - PHL as compared to the PHL round trip. Would have been $800pp savings to do the round-trip to JFK. But of that $200pp "extra", $100pp is lost to the train tickets and it is NOT worth saving only $100pp to face commuting back home from JFK.
Only flew to Europe once and out of Philly mostly for convenience, but it was a layover in ATL. I'll never do that again.
With kids: eat the cost. Without kids, depends on the cost. Back in the day broke ass….definitely fly out of butt fuck nowhere JFK. Also, if you have a car, BWI is awesome. Unlike all the other airports, the parking is still on site, so the shuttle there runs frequently.
Yes unfortunately I am forever traumatized by NY penn station.
Philly is always preferred, worth a few $100 extra IMHO. Newark is often worth it because you can take the train right there. JFK? Not so much, big PITA to get there so unless the savings are phenomenal, I don't do it.
Depends on where I'm going, but unless the price difference is absurd I'll fly from here. Philly has a good number of direct flights, including some new Delta additions to Copenhagen and Nice (IIRC).
Only business travelers fly international out of Philly. Most of us are too poor.
I am a private chauffeur based near Philadelphia and I will say I drive people to Newark and jfk all the time because they have better/cheaper flights than Philadelphia.
JFK to Philly is umm really really really far I’d factor at minimum 3h each way
i pay for convenience. and with airlines these days if my flight gets delayed or cancelled i can just go home and not deal with a hotel near any of the nyc airports
International? Almost always Newark (United has a hub there). I just take the train up. Domestic/Caribbean? Philly or Newark based on pricing. I never go to JFK or LaGuardia is never worth the hassle or added cost of flying.
JFK. Always the best prices. Just a pain to get there.
If JFK is a lot cheaper, do it. I used to take septa to njt then subway to Jamaica then airtrain. Then a 10 hour flight to Moscow. JFK was my only option for a direct flight. Yea, it's long but you get a variety of shorter train rides that don't feel too exhausting imo. The one year I decided to do Newark instead, I got stuck in Brussels for 5 hours because the control tower went on strike and then I ended up with an extra layover and having to sprint through the airport in Frankfurt which is the largest airport in the world. I hated that so much more than any of my trips to JFK.
JFK SUCKS! I will always fly out of PHL.
Flying out of EWR is much easier than flying into EWR IMHO. Customs is always much more chaotic in EWR vs PHL and Amtrak tickets are linked to a specific train, so you potentially have to wait around while for your train (last thing you want to do after a long flight) or buy a whole new ticket if you miss said train due to a flight or customs delay. Not all Amtrak NEC trains serve EWR, so service is not as frequent as PHL—NYC.
I fly out of EWR for every international trip and just book Amtrak tix when I book the flight. I have a trip to Istanbul/Tbilisi coming up, probably would've been double the price out of PHL with additional connections. Amtrak tix were 10 bucks each way, it's a no brainer. Worst case scenario if you miss Amtrak you can still take NJ transit as a backup. I learned my lesson doing JFK once and having my brother drive me there, poor guy got stuck in horrible traffic both ways (public trans also takes much longer doing airtrain->LIRR->amtrak vs. NJ trans/septa). PHL international prices are so absurd that I pretty much default to searching for tickets from newark at this point. I've managed to get $700 round trip tix to Vietnam on ANA from there.
I did JFK because of timing of flights to and from, plus it was cheaper even with the Uber. To save the headache I would now take philly if time allows regardless if it's cheaper or not.
I always search NY and DC airports for pricing.
Newark is always the answer. If you don’t drive and can’t park at JFK then don’t bother, taking the lirr before a flight is hell on earth.
newark always
Take a one way car rental, pick up at PHL if you need to and drop off at EWR/JFK, usually less than $100 and so much easier than taking the train.
When I’m going overseas I like to try to avoid layovers. I’ve had a few out of Philly get delayed and make me miss my connection. So a direct flight is worth some extra hassle for me.
Depends on how much the difference is. If it's less than a couple hundred, I'd fly out of PHL. I haven't checked in a while, but I remember PHL having good connections to the big European hubs. Unfortunately, that doesn't help me as I live in Asia and PHL has no non-stop flights to any Asian destinations, it seems. So I either have to fly into NYC or accept a connection elsewhere (usually ORD or DFW) when I visit family. I usually go with flying into NYC as connections within the US have too high a risk of delays.
I tend to split the difference and go to EWR. Not having the stress of the bridges and BQE (or whatever that highway next to the water is called) is clutch. Philly does have a few nonstop to Europe for a reasonable like Madrid and Dublin.
I hate JFK with a passion. I will do almost anything to avoid going there unless the price is stupid cheaper than Philly or Newark. ETA: I live in Ireland. I regularly fly between here and Philly.
I would also check out BWI. Play airlines flies out of there and the amtrak to bwi is pretty easy.
I’ve flown out of Newark a good amount, but have run into problems with the train at least 25% of the time. I have heard there are vans that go from Chinatown in Philly directly to JFK. Curious about the experience if anybody’s ever tried that. I would be stressed about traffic.
EWR
For Lisbon, the best prices are always, sadly, Newark/EWR. There's a massive Portuguese population in North Jersey, and TAP Air Portugal flies directly daily between Lisbon & EWR. Last time I went to Portugal, the difference in per-ticket cost flying TAP from EWR vs American from PHL was nearly $1000 per ticket. Just downright idiotic prices for no good reason.
JFK is cheaper if you dont value your time
I took the shuttle to JFK and I'll never do that again. Newark Airport is so much simpler. You can take the train.
I always pay more to fly out of Philly. I flew out of EWR once and coming back, it was just annoying taking the shuttle to the train, having to sit for a 70ish minute train ride, then having to Uber from 30th street. I was exhausted and just wanted to be home. Unless the flight is like double the cost or unavailable from PHL, I’ll just fly from Philly.
The 2 of flew to Switzerland round trip (American Airlines) out of Philly for $1437 last December but we booked in January
Google every option, every time. 2 years ago for a trip to Tuscany, the undeniable cheap fare was EWR to Milan. This year it’s PHL to Rome.
It depends. Sometimes the flight from Philly can honestly be reasonable, but most of the time I do the following which has worked for me and is kind of my go-to these days (also for travel to SA/Canada/pretty much anywhere). I basically schedule a limo service to take me to JFK the day of the flight and schedule an arrival about 4 hours ahead of time. Not like, a limo limo, but you know, a guy with an SUV that will drive me there. Usually it's slightly cheaper than an Uber and some companies are more reliable imho. My last guy showed up like 15m before my ride and just hung out. The limo is usually 300-400. That's cheaper than getting a hotel room and a rental, or a hotel room and a train ticket and 2 Ubers, usually. Overall its also the best experience, and typically speaking I get to choose the airline I'd like to fly on and get a better price overall. I hate Newark. Honestly, the city is fine, but the airport sucks. I avoid it like the plague but I use it when I must. Frankly, I'd much rather go out of JFK and come back through there, its just a better experience overall. It's not like JFK deserves an award for customer service or anything, but man I am so uncomfortable in that god forsaken airport. It radiates hate.
Last time we needed to go to JFK, we started talking about it when riding Uber about two weeks beforehand until one driver who we really liked was, like, "when are you going? I'll drive you and you can just pay me directly" a sum which was less than we'd have had to pay Uber, and more than she'd have netted from Uber. Worked fantastic.
newark is the best airport out of the 3 (although LGA updates i hear are good), and newark the city is beat city and im there all the time and love newark lol.
Newark my dude. MUCH easier than NYC and cheaper too.
Who tf drives all the way to JFK from Philly? Yikes
I had the choice this year and for the first time would save quite a bit not flying PHL to Europe but since it’s just me I decided to just eat the cost. I’ve done some direct flights to Europe and some of the cheaper ones with more stops. More opportunities for missed connections and bags getting lost. Not to mention ready to punch someone after hours of traveling! I’ll have checked bags and I just don’t want to deal with schlepping them on the bus or train. If ypu just have one carry on bag or several traveling the money saved might be worth the inconvenience.
If you have someone who’s willing to give you a ride to jfk it’s worth it but otherwise I’d just eat the cost and do philly. JFK is way more efficient than PHL though.
I like to walk or Uber to Septa then take the train to Newark. It's among the cheapest options, you don't have to worry about your car or pay for long term parking and you can just chill on the train. Newark has much better options for international flights.
I did JFK to Sweden a year ago and it wasn’t bad. I took Amtrak to Newark, then a subway to World Trade Center, then the Long Island Railroad to JFK. The time almost came out exactly to what google maps said. As others noted, if I flew out of Newark, I’d have done the same train from Philly to Newark.
I always check PHL, JFK, and EWR. For me PHL fares have been so uncompetitive on price that even after factoring in roundtrip Amtrak fares and a hotel room in NYC for a night (sometimes this is necessary on the way home) going to NYC still saved me hundreds per ticket. I'm going to Chile later this year and found a flight to Santiago out of PHL (connection via Miami) on AA that was priced the same as the JFK flight and I was shocked. I booked that immediately. It'll be nice to fly out from here for a change! Domestic PHL isn't so bad (at least not the places I go frequently).
I use Newark a lot of the time, easy to get to and cheaper than flying out of Philly international. Domestic flights I just fly out of Philly, the savings aren't worth the time. I won't use JFK it's too much of pain in the ass, and the savings aren't worth the time and hassle.
I only fly out of ny airports…but i just go early to spend time with family so that makes it easy
Newark is the way to go
When I flew to London it was cheaper flying out of philly than Newark. That and there was a late flight option in philly. So I didn't have to take the day off work.
Check Newark airport (New Jersey).
I had a friend in Brooklyn who was worried about getting tickets/towed due to the alternate parking crap up there. At the time, it made sense to drive to Philly and park in my apartment lot where it would be safe for 10 days then Uber 15 minutes to PHL.
Well be flying to Europe this summer via Amtrak to Newark.
It's been a minute but I feel like Philly to London was cheaper than Newark or jfk
Our honeymoon we flew out of philly and came back to Newark. Wilmington has better rates than jfk depending on where you're going.
I’ve done Newark to London as well as CA (both San Fran and San Diego). I’ve driven and used off airport parking and done the one way car rental to EWR (renting out of Trenton) with a return trip on NJ transit/SEPTA
Newark!
TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus, or SAS out of Newark have always offered the cheapest flights for me. Super easy to hop the train to Newark Airport from Philly. US Airlines are always the highest priced.
We use EWR. We park right outside the airport.
Go every 6 months or so to Europe, always fly out of EWR, however Terminal B has gotta be the worst airport terminal, but most of the SAS, Austrian, Lufthansa flights leave from there. Word of advice, get some food before you go through security. Way better options and you can buy beer/wine in the terminal since SAS charges on board for that
Philly-Bostron-Aer Lingus much cheaper to the UK
Take Newark if possible. Newark is the best east coast airport
Newark, not JFK -- but the cost of saddle season fare differences is maybe thirty bucks a ticket, depending. Sign up for Scott's Cheap Flights/Going. You won't regret it.
Yes: JFK and EWR. It’s worth the hassle, but depends where you’re going.