Don't Get SCAMMED when Arriving in NYC (Airport Mistakes to Avoid!)

We landed in New York in the middle of the night in December 2017. There were multiple people holding an uber sign. One of them insisted and called us and we obliged. We had an eight months old baby with us. I and my wife walked through the patch of snow as it was snowing outside, to the parking lot. The temperature was really low for us and we were literally shivering. The baby was swaddled very well though. We had travelled eighteen hours from south east Asia. They took the luggage and stashed them in the boot. All the while I was asking them the price, and he said it’s the same. I did not know what that meant. We got in the car thinking it was uber and the price was legit as with any taxi. I was completely ignorant about Ubers then. We were travelling to east Hartford. The driver was on the phone with someone and that made me a bit unnerved and I called up by brother and told him that we were on the way on this particular car, loud enough so he could hear.. He started the vehicle and we were off on the highway. That was when he said the price was six hundred dollars. I tried negotiating. I said it was less when I checked online but he told me that was it. We couldn’t do anything but go along, it was out of question to stop and get off. We were already in the middle of some highway in the middle of the night with snow outside. We knew we were trapped, and being ripped off at least a hundred dollars. He looked to me to be from South Asia, probably India. I grew up in India and I know what an Indian looks like in any country with any accent. I asked him where he was from and he said he was from some Latin country. I knew we were in some real trouble. A lot of things were going through my mind. I was working out, what to do in case something horrible was to happen. I was confident in that. We made it to the destination around 2 am and we made the payment as we had already decided. This has taught me a lesson which I will never forget. If I ever travel to new York again I am sure I am not going to be so naive or ignorant. It’s much easier in Asia to deal with such people but in NY. I felt helpless.

They should put a train or railway system from the airport to downtown

Thanks a lot for this video 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I encountered fraud on July 1st when I was transferring at JFK Airport.

At 12 noon, I was informed by a uniformed staff at the arrival exit of T1 that Delta Airlines provided a shuttle service to another terminal. He then asked a driver to take me to T4. On the way, the driver took a photo of my boarding pass and said need to be provided to the airport. After 6 to 7 minutes later, teh car arrived T4, he forcibly charged US$97. I had to pay by credit card. I asked for receipts and transaction documents, but the driver refused to show them.

The driver's vehicle is a black AUDI Q8, and the license plate number is: LLP 5410. Today,I checked the bank account and found that US$116.40 was actually deducted, and the payee was SQ*TAXI QUEENS USA.

It is unpleasant to see a fraud incident involving uniformed staff at JFK Airport. An online search found that many similar fraud incidents occurred at JFK Airport. The airport authorities have the responsibility to prevent similar fraud incidents from happening again

Awesome!

Bruh iigh
NYer here
A trip to Manhattan shouldn’t ever cost 60+ dollars
If landing in LGA take free bus to Jackson Heights and take the E straight to Manhattan either Time Square or Port Authority for $2.90 (yes Apple Pay is accepted and so is tap cards at the turnstiles NO COINS NEEDED)
JFK: Airtrain to Supthin Blvd and then E straight to wherever you wish. This will be about $10
EWR: 😂😂😂😂😂 no one goes there buuuuuuut if you do land in Jersey take the NJ Transit to Penn Station pretty cheap and leaves you in Manhattan
It’s not that hard

You have just landed in the world richest country but it feels like you just landed in New Delhi. That has got to be the most depressing feeling in the world.

Even a 3rd world country like Indonesia has a much better transportation system compared to NYC 😂

Avoid Italians in NY.

Go Airlink is also a good travel option from Newark.

NYC, the Rotten Apple 🍎is one Gigantic SCAM 😝

Video record the agreed price BEFORE you ride

tipping in the US stresses me out. I am from Europe, live in the UK where tipping is 100% discretionary if you're over the moon with the service. If you're just happy with the service you say "Thank you". That's it. Can I refuse to tip in the US? Honestly I don't want to be doing math in my head 20% etc.

I'm a Disabled Brit & solo & on a tight budget. I land JFK with luggage & hotel is in Times Square, a bus would be great but not sadly. Is there a taxi disabled rate?

i got scammed at the airport and end up paying 400$ JFK to Manhattan :(

Incredibly helpful. Thank you so much.

I got a fake taxi once. ;)

☺️

Seeing this video changes my perspective about New York from a wealthy city to "Welcome tourists! Now give us MONEY!"

It is not required to tip using ride share.

Easiest way to mid-town Manhattan: Air Train to Howard Beach, then the 8th Avenue Express (A Train) to Penn Station or Times Square.

900...I would've laughed

Why would you even go to any of these cabs or Ubers they everytime I’ve come back home to the city cost more than the actual Uber app like bro don’t fall for it so fake lmfao and not even worth it cause it actually costs MORE lmfao

I fly into Newark even though it costs around $185 round trip by Uber round trip

why not call the cops

Sorry, but I am not tipping on a $100 car ride.

I’d like to thank you for this public transportation tip @HereBeBarr it was perfect to go from JFK Airport to Manhattan by air train + LIRR, even late at night we felt safe and it was cheaper and faster than metro or taxi/Uber option. We visited in October 2024 and the contact less payment method was working properly, we paid by apple pay and google pay and both worked very well.

Spot on! I'm a NY'er for 50 years and use public transportation all the time, and everything mentioned is 100% accurate.

Can you do a video or a guide on how to get from languardia airport to midtown via public transportation like the subway?

Can you do a video or a guide on how to get from languardia airport to midtown via public transportation like the subway?

I worked at jfk and if the tourists were rude I made sure they took a taxi to the city at expensive prices. If they were nice I’d even give them step by step directions on the air train to the E or A trains

My wife and I visited NYC last October for our 40th wedding anniversary our first holiday for 10 years..we flew in got a yellow cab he drove us to Manhattan and asked me at the destination was I paying by card or cash, I said cash he promptly said he loved cash and charged us 200 dollars for a 20 minute ride his name he told me was Mr Singh...I'd call him a con artist to be honest it was not a pleasant start to our holiday.

At JFK it's dangerous, -
I knew I had to go out and stay in line, getting my number. I knew this! These guys are wearing a cap and kind of a uniform and they issue you a paper......, so - Just at the door a man looking exactly like a legit taxi line man asked me and gave me a ticket with a number. I was a young woman - alone.
It all went very fast.
He took my luggage and walked - I followed - well, I knew it was a scam when he walked to a parking lot and not to the taxi line. My luggage was in his trunk very fast. I should have got out of there very fast - never mind my luggage. But I actually got in the car. I knew this was dangerous if I did not keep silent! I gave him my hotel adress and I was very lucky he drove me to Manhattan.
He stopped a block from the hotel - demanded 600$ - I paid without a word and immediately got out. He gave me my luggage, but actally I was grateful to be alive.
I was lucky bc I had the cash with me. This can go very wrong, believe me, - be very very careful!!!!

Since then I only fly to Newark -
much easier everything there, not as full, not that dangerous.

If the 5 boroughs (queens, manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Bronx) are nyc then why is manhattan called NY,NY?

I arrange transport beforehand with my travel agent. Use to be a tour operator. Always take travel insure in addition to the the free insurance on your credit card. To prevent loosing my luggage i buy cheaper luggage. Always a black suitcase then i use glow in the dark road paint with my name. Address , phone number and email. You wouldn't want my luggage. No my house isn't vacant. I always have a house sitter. My transport will definitely find me.

We got "scammed" by one of those unlicensed cabs. But to be honest, he didn't charge us too much more than cab fare (maybe $10) and he drove us directly to where we needed to go.

From JFK to downtown u can make it for $3 , if u travel light just carry on , I had a long layover, u don’t even need a travel card a wireless credit card will do, there’s a public bus and a change to a train

Thank you so much for the Video! Without it, I would have fallen for the scam at JFK. Be aware, the scammers changed tactics. When I went to NY last week, they did not try to catch me within the airport building but waited outside right next to the taxi dispatchers. When a person approached me - while standing already in line to get a taxi - I thought it was just another taxi dispatcher helping me to get a taxi more quickly. Only when that person entered a grey Tesla, I realized they were trying to rip me off and I got back into the official taxi line.

Best thing to happen at JFK is the air train that connects to the LIRR that takes you either to Grand Central or Penn Station. Easy to do and cheap! Maybe if you have a lot of luggage it’s not so easy but otherwise, this is the best infrastructure change to NYC and JFK.
Cost one way from Grand Central: $13.50 (including one senior rate from GRand Central)
Cost of cab from JFK to Grand Central: $110 + tip
Note: the cab rate was cheaper than Uber by $10 so that’s why I chose the cab.
These rates were from June, 2024

Best thing to happen at JFK is the air train that connects to the LIRR that takes you either to Grand Central or Penn Station. Easy to do and cheap! Maybe if you have a lot of luggage it’s not so easy but otherwise, this is the best infrastructure change to NYC and JFK.
Cost one way from Grand Central: $13.50 (including one senior rate from GRand Central)
Cost of cab from JFK to Grand Central: $110 + tip
Note: the cab rate was cheaper than Uber by $10 so that’s why I chose the cab.
These rates were from June, 2024
The Air Train costs $8.50, one rate for everyone

Wich airport is this one?

So, if I’m traveling with my 1 y/o, hubby and teenager..do I have to pay these fees pp or as a group?

I’m planning my first trip which just so happens to be a solo trip. I think I’m more confused now but I like all the gems about cost of taxis and ride shares. I’m going to do more research

I remember my first time in NYC with my now wife, we arrived outside to get a taxi, we're waiting and a guy pulled up and said are you going into manhattan, I said yes and he said get in. There was already a girl in the car but we got in anyways. Looking back now, what a stupid stupid idea that was as anything could have happened. We didn't get ripped off, it was a decent price, the guy and other passenger were perfectly fine and talked to us the whole way although she didn't speak too much English. If we travel to NYC now we usually book a private car before we travel, to and from the airport

In my last trip to NYC I was about to take a TownCar Service but my Travel Mate though that a regular Transfer Bus would be cheaper, BIG MISTAKE! The TownCar Service asked for U$D 55 while the Shuttle service was U$D 38 (per Pax)... then the Driver was quite moody, he came across two separate incidents while driving towards MidTown and upon arrival left us 3 blocks from the Hotel due to "delay onn schedule"... Take a Limo/TownCar Service instead the Shuttle Bus Service.

FYI. From the UK I got a 3 (Three, the mobile provider) Pay As You Go SIM. When you top it up with £15 you get 12GB roaming data which includes the USA, plus the usual unlimited calls/texts. It actually comes with 75GB local data, but that wasn't important to me, since I'll only be using the SIM while in NY. The other benefit of getting this PAYG SIM is that the top up is valid for a month, whereas the other 'holiday' SIMs I see are usually only for 6 or 7 days and becomes very expensive for more days.