AngelaHow we get our family of five—and three car seats—from Manhattan to JFK, LaGuardia and beyond without the usual airport-transfer stress.
Getting to the airport with three little kids is one of those parts of travel that can be surprisingly stressful.
Sure, we could take the subway, but the thought of navigating three kids, luggage, strollers, and car seats through the city isn’t exactly how we want to start a trip. Hailing a cab is another option, and technically you can do it in New York without car seats, but that’s something we only consider for a quick trip on surface streets. We’re definitely not comfortable doing it for an hour-long ride to JFK on the highway.
Uber and Lyft offer some car-seat options, too, but with three kids, they don’t necessarily solve our problem. We need three appropriate seats at the same time—and we want to know exactly what will be waiting for us before travel day.
We’ve also tried car services that say they can accommodate car seats, only to find that they can’t always confirm exactly what we need.
That’s why Ride in Style has become our go-to for NYC airport transfers.
We can arrange our ride in advance with the three car seats our girls need confirmed ahead of time. When you’re already juggling three kids, luggage, a stroller, passports, snacks, and everything else that comes with family travel, having one major piece of the puzzle taken care of makes a huge difference.
Why We Keep Using Ride in Style
We’ve been using Ride in Style in New York for years—long before partnering with them for this post—and what keeps us coming back is their reliability.
They’re professional, dependable, and consistently on time. The drivers we’ve had have also been courteous, friendly, and willing to go the extra mile with our girls.
On our most recent trip, we left for the airport on a rainy night. Our driver, Jinder, arrived with car seats ready for all three girls and helped get each of them securely and comfortably settled before we headed out.
It sounds like a small thing. But when you’re trying to get three kids and a mountain of luggage into a car while making sure you haven’t forgotten someone’s lovey or left a passport upstairs, those few extra minutes of help feel very big.
Preet, the owner, has also been wonderful to work with and is available to help coordinate drivers and accommodate our family’s specific transportation needs.
Starting—and Ending—a Trip on the Right Note
There’s something to be said for starting a trip smoothly and ending it the same way.
Those two bookends make it a little easier to navigate all the delays, missed naps, changed plans, and other bumps that inevitably happen somewhere in between.
After a long flight home, the last thing we want to do is stand at baggage claim figuring out how we’re going to get three tired kids, our luggage, and ourselves back to Manhattan. Knowing our ride—and the car seats we need—is already arranged takes one more decision off our plate.
For us, that’s the real appeal of using a dedicated car service. It’s not just about convenience. It’s the peace of mind of knowing that when the car arrives, everything we arranged in advance will actually be there.
After years of traveling with kids, that kind of reliability is something we’re happy to pay for.
What to Know Before Booking
If you’re traveling to or from a New York City airport with young children, we recommend arranging your transportation—and your specific car-seat needs—in advance.
When booking with Ride in Style, let them know how many children are traveling, their ages, and the type of car seats or boosters you’ll need. We also recommend being clear about how much luggage and how many strollers you’ll have so they can recommend a vehicle large enough for your family.
For families like ours, having those details worked out before travel day is exactly the point: When it’s time to leave, we want to load everyone into the car and go.
Our advice: Don’t leave the airport-transfer logistics until the night before a big family trip. Book early, confirm your car-seat needs, and give yourself one less thing to think about on travel day.
We received a discounted rate from Ride in Style for our transfers. We had been Ride in Style customers prior to this partnership, and as always, we only share services we genuinely use and recommend.
