The Ultimate Guide to Budget Airlines and Cheaper Airports in the NYC Metro Area

​We all know about Spirit and JetBlue by now, but did you know there are MANY other low cost carriers (aka budget airlines) flying in and out of the NYC Metro area?! They'll take you to endless domestic AND international destinations. AND we're not just talking flying out of JFK, Newark, and La Guardia. In fact, there are some much smaller airports in New York and New Jersey you should have on your radar (pun intended) to save on flights, parking, and time (smaller airports = less lines and crowds to deal with!!)

I hope my ultimate guide to budget airlines and cheaper airports in the TriState NYC Metro Area helps you and your family travel more while spending less - so let's get to it!

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​Regional Airports

​These smaller "regional" airports are NOT included when you enter "NYC" in your flight finder searches ("NYC" is typically just going to show you JFK, LGA and usually but not always EWR), so these are worth adding to your search, since they offer plenty of domestic and international flights, often for significantly cheaper prices because the smaller airports charge the airlines less to use them! Just note, some low cost carriers won't show up on certain search engines... best to try both Google Flights and Kayak Flights (and individual airline sites if something I have listed below isn't popping up), and always book directly through the airline.

Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP)

• Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
• Airlines: ​
  • Breeze (non-stop to Charleston SC, Ft Meyers FL, New Orleans LA, Norfolk VA, Raleigh NC, Richmond VA, and Vero Beach FL)
  • Frontier (non-stop to Atlanta GA, Fort Lauderdale FL, Fort Meyers FL,  Myrtle Beach SC,  Orlando FL, Tampa FL, and West Palm Beach FL)
  • JetBlue (non-stop to Boston MA, Fort Lauderdale FL, Orlando FL, West Palm Beach FL)
  • SouthWest (non-stop to Orlando FL, Fort Lauderdale FL, Tampa FL, and West Palm Beach FL)

Stewart International Airport (SWF) 

• Location: Newburgh, NY
• Airlines:
  • Allegiant (non-stop to Ft. Lauderdale FL, Myrtle Beach SC, Orlando FL, Punta Gorda FL, and St. Pete-Clearwater/Tampa FL)
  • Breeze (non-stop to Charleston SC, Ft. Myers FL, Orlando FL, and Vero Beach FL)
  • Play (non-stop to Reykjavik Iceland, + onward to Europe via Iceland)
• Personal note: my family flew out of Stewart on Play (see our video below), for $280 per person roundtrip non-stop to Iceland (read about that vacay here!). It was our best airport experience, ever. You park right in front of the airport, no shuttle needed, just $12 per day. There was NO line at check in or security. It was insanely chill at this airport and I can't recommend it enough!!! Just an hour drive from NJ, and they even have an express bus to/from Port Authority for those in NYC!!

Trenton-Mercer Airport (TTN)

• Location: Ewing, NJ
• Airlines:
  • Frontier (non-stop to Atlanta GA, Charlotte NC, Ft. Lauderdale FL, Ft Meyers FL, Orlando FL, Raleigh NC, West Palm Beach FL, and Tampa FL)

​Westchester County Airport (HPN)

• Location: White Plains, NY
  Airlines: 
  • ​American (non-stop to Charlotte NC, Chicago IL, Miami FL (seasonal), Washington DC) 
  • BermudAir (non-stop to Bermuda)
  • Delta (non-stop to Atlanta GA, Augusta GA, + Detroit MI)
  • JetBlue (non-stop to Fort Lauderdale FL, Fort Meyers FL, Nantucket MA (seasonal), Orlando FL, San Juan PR, Tampa FL, and West Palm Beach FL)

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So those are the smaller airports to add to your flight searches, but some low cost carriers are also flying out of the 3 major NYC area airports (though sometimes they operate in a tiny no-frills terminal). So let's see who's where!

Low Cost Carriers flying out of Newark Airport (EWR):

• Allegiant (non-stop to Asheville NC, Cincinnati OH, Des Moines IA, Destin FL, Knoxville TN, Savannah GA, + 3 airports in Michigan)
• Breeze (non-stop to Charleston SC + Orlando FL)
• FrenchBee (non-stop to Paris and onward to Europe, or to Tahiti via San Francisco; read about and see our experience flying FrenchBee here)
• Frontier (non-stop to San Juan PR)
• ​JetBlue (non-stop to Aruba, Cancun Mexico, Dominican Republic (Santiago, Santo Domingo, Punta Cana), Fort Meyers FL, Los Angeles CA, San Juan PR, West Palm Beach FL)
• Spirit (non-stop flights to many destinations in the eastern half of the US as well as Los Angeles CA + Las Vegas NV)
• TAP Portugal (non-stop flights to Porto + Lisbon Portugal)

Low Cost Carriers flying out of La Guardia Airport (LGA):

• Frontier (non-stop to Atlanta GA, Charlotte NC, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Guadalajara + Mexico City (occasional), Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Raleigh, and San Juan PR.
  
• ​​JetBlue (non-stop to Boston MA, Fort Lauderdale FL, Orlando FL, Tampa FL, and West Palm Beach FL)
• ​SouthWest (non-stop to Atlanta GA, Chicago IL, Dallas TX, Denver CO, Houston TX, Kansas City MO, Nashville TN, New Orleans LA, St Louis MO, Tampa FL)
• Spirit (non-stop flights to many destinations in the eastern half of the US)

Low Cost Carriers flying out of JFK:

• HiSky (non-stop to Romania, Moldova, + Israel)
• ​​JetBlue (their main NYC area hub, with TONS of non-stop service all over the US, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Europe!)​
• Level (non-stop to Barcelona Spain)​
• Norse Atlantic (non-stop flights to Europe (some seasonal) including Athens, Berlin, Paris, Rome, London, and Oslo)
• TAP Portugal (non-stop flights to Lisbon Portugal)
• Volaris (non-stop flights Mexico)

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I hope you found this post helpful and opened your eyes to the different airports and airlines around NYC that can help you travel more while spending less!! Leave a comment if you've flown any of these, we'd love to hear your experiences! Personally, my family of 5 has flown out of Stewart, Newark, JFK, and La Guardia on budget carriers Play, French Bee, Spirit, and Frontier, and have our first trip on JetBlue coming up for spring break in Costa Rica!!

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