A yellow cab from the Terminal B or C taxi line is the simplest one-seat ride in the corridor: walk out, take the next car, pay the meter. The thing to know — and the thing most visitors get wrong — is that LaGuardia has no flat fare. JFK has its famous $70 flat to Manhattan; LGA is metered, plus a stack of airport and Manhattan surcharges. The all-in number lands in the same neighborhood as a budget black car, without the reservation.
Riding it
- 1Follow "Taxi" signs to the dispatched stand outside Terminal B or Terminal C — taxis use the curb; app cars and car services do not.
- 2Take the next cab in line; the meter starts at $3.00 plus the airport add-ons.
- 3Tell the driver your cross street and whether you are going below 60th — it changes the surcharge.
- 4Pay by card or cash at the end; tip 15–20% on the metered total.
Runs best when
You want zero planning and a real receipt, you are one or two people, and traffic is light enough that the meter behaves.
Runs rough when
Stop-and-go rush hour — the meter charges by time when crawling, so a Midtown Tunnel jam quietly inflates the fare past what a flat quote would have been.
What it really costs
Yellow taxi (metered)LGA → Manhattan
| Metered fare, LGA → Midtown | $30–38 |
| LaGuardia airport surcharge | $5.00 |
| MTA state surcharge | $0.50 |
| Improvement surcharge | $1.00 |
| NYS congestion surcharge (below 96th St) | $2.50 |
| Congestion Relief Zone (below 60th St) | $0.75 |
| Tolls (if via RFK or Midtown Tunnel) + tip | extra |
★ metered — there is NO flat rate from LGA, unlike JFK
Service notes
- The $5 LaGuardia surcharge is unique to this airport and is added on top of the meter — it is not a scam.
- A trip ending below 60th Street adds the $0.75 Congestion Relief Zone taxi fee; ending above 60th (UES, UWS, Harlem) does not.
- Only use the official dispatched taxi line. Anyone approaching you in the terminal offering "taxi?" is illegal and unmetered.