When to leave Connecticut and Westchester for JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and HPN during Thanksgiving week — day by day, town by town.
Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26. For anyone flying out of the New York area, the week around it is the hardest of the fall: the roads are at their worst on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the airports are at their fullest on the Sunday after.
We've been driving Connecticut and Westchester families to the airports every Thanksgiving since 2007, and the pattern hardly changes. This guide puts it in one place — which days to avoid, how much extra time to add, and what time the car should pick you up from your town.
The rule we use for the holiday week is simple: take your normal pickup time and add 45 minutes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. On Thanksgiving morning itself you can usually go back to the normal time.
This is the pattern we see year after year on the routes from Connecticut and Westchester to JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and HPN. It's a guide, not a promise — weather and accidents change things on the day, and your chauffeur will always take the fastest route at the time.
| Day | Traffic & crowds | What to expect | Extra time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 20 | Busy | Many boarding schools start their break; normal Friday rush on I-95 and the Hutchinson. | +30 min after 2 PM |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Moderate | Steady airport crowds, lighter roads. | Usual timing |
| Sun, Nov 22 | Moderate | Some early holiday travelers; roads quiet in the morning. | Usual timing |
| Mon, Nov 23 | Moderate | Normal commute traffic plus early departures. | +15–30 min at rush hour |
| Tue, Nov 24 | Very busy | College breaks begin; afternoon and evening traffic builds on every route. | +45 min after noon |
| Wed, Nov 25 | Busiest roads | The heaviest traffic of the year in the New York area, from late morning into the evening. | +45–60 min all day |
| Thu, Nov 26 | Light | Thanksgiving Day: the quietest roads of the week. The Macy's Parade closes streets in Midtown Manhattan in the morning. | Usual timing |
| Fri, Nov 27 | Light to moderate | Roads stay light; airports are calmer than earlier in the week. | Usual timing |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Busy | The return wave starts; airports fill up from midday. | +30 min |
| Sun, Nov 29 | Busiest airports | One of the busiest air-travel days of the year. Arrivals are packed and roads back into Connecticut and Westchester are slow in the evening. | +45–60 min |
| Mon, Nov 30 | Busy | Morning departures and the Monday commute overlap. | +30 min before 10 AM |
Below is how long before your departure the car should pick you up on the busy days — Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday of Thanksgiving week — for a domestic flight. We take the longest normal drive from each town, add the time you need at the airport (2 hours at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, 75 minutes at HPN), then add the 45-minute holiday cushion and round up.
Flying internationally from JFK or Newark? Add one more hour. Tap any time to see the full route page for that town and airport.
| From | JFK | LaGuardia | Newark | HPN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenwich | 4 hr | 4 hr | 4 hr | 2 hr 45 min |
| Stamford | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr | 4 hr | 2 hr 45 min |
| Darien | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr | 4 hr | 2 hr 45 min |
| New Canaan | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| Norwalk | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 45 min |
| Westport | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 45 min |
| Wilton | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 45 min |
| Fairfield | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 30 min | 3 hr |
| Ridgefield | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 45 min |
| Trumbull | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 30 min | 3 hr |
| Milford | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 30 min | 3 hr 15 min |
| From | JFK | LaGuardia | Newark | HPN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Rochelle | 3 hr 45 min | 3 hr 30 min | 4 hr | 2 hr 45 min |
| Rye | 4 hr | 3 hr 45 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| Scarsdale | 4 hr | 3 hr 30 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| White Plains | 4 hr | 3 hr 45 min | 4 hr 15 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| Armonk | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr | 4 hr 30 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| Chappaqua | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr | 4 hr 30 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| Bedford | 4 hr 30 min | 4 hr 15 min | 4 hr 45 min | 2 hr 45 min |
Times are how long before a domestic departure to be picked up on the busiest days of Thanksgiving week. On Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after, the normal times on each route page are usually enough.
JFK. The airport is busiest in the late afternoon and evening, when the international flights leave, and the Van Wyck Expressway is the slow part of almost every route. If your flight is after 4 PM on Wednesday, don't trim the cushion. JFK routes →
LaGuardia. Almost all domestic, so 2 hours at the airport is enough — but the approach on the Whitestone Bridge and the Grand Central Parkway is where Thanksgiving Wednesday hurts most from Connecticut and Westchester. LaGuardia routes →
Newark. The airport itself moves reasonably well; it's the crossing into New Jersey — the George Washington Bridge or the Mario Cuomo Bridge — that decides your timing. Your chauffeur picks the bridge that's moving. Newark routes →
Westchester County Airport (HPN). One terminal, short lines and no bridges from most of our towns. If your airline flies from HPN, it's the calmest way to start the holiday. HPN routes →
Islip (ISP). A good alternative for some domestic routes, but the Long Island Expressway is heavy on Wednesday afternoon. Allow the full cushion. Islip routes →
Teterboro (TEB). Private aviation has its own peak: the FBOs are busiest on Wednesday and on the Sunday after. Give us the FBO and the tail number and we'll go straight there. Teterboro routes →
Boarding schools often break for the whole week, starting on Friday, November 20 or Saturday, November 21, while most colleges break on Tuesday or Wednesday. That means two waves of student pickups — and on both days every student at the same school wants a car at the same time.
Parents can book for a student and receive the confirmation and driver details too. Tell us the dorm or building, the number of bags and the flight number; if the school changes the dismissal time or the flight moves, changing the pickup is free.
Boarding schools we serve: Hotchkiss School, Salisbury School, Kent School, Taft School, Westover School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Loomis Chaffee, Avon Old Farms, Miss Porters School, Suffield Academy, Pomfret School, Millbrook School, Trinity Pawling, Lawrenceville School, Hun School, Peddie School and Blair Academy.
Colleges and universities: Yale University, Quinnipiac University, Wesleyan University, Trinity College, UConn, Connecticut College, Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University, Vassar College, Princeton University, Columbia University, NYU, Fordham University, Adelphi University, Hofstra University and Stony Brook University.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is when arrivals are most crowded: full flights, long waits for bags and packed pickup curbs. Book the ride home when you book the ride out.
We track your flight, so if it's late, the car is late too — and the 1 hour of free waiting starts when you actually land. Your chauffeur meets you at the arrivals curb of your terminal (or at the FBO at Teterboro).
The drive back into Connecticut and Westchester is slowest on Sunday evening. If you land after 4 PM, expect the trip home to take closer to the top of the usual range — or a little more.
Flat rate. Flight tracked. Driver confirmed instantly.