Whats the cheapest way to get from the airport to city center?
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Uber or Lyft is probably the cheapest/most reliable.
The E-2 Bus is just $2. Search for new Orleans airport bus for details.
Public transit, guest told me she rode in for a dollar last weekend.
The Jefferson Parish E2 bus loads on the upstairs departure road. The info booth in the center of the airport will give you times. or google it. Less rides on weekends, daily rides end around7 or 8? Costs $2 to take you into New Orleans.
City bus straight shot on famous Airline Drive
It's 3 bucks for a day pass too I made the mistake of buying multiple passes Until a Lady gave me a day pass/
If you didn't have a lot of luggage it may be better to stop off other places instead of going straight To the Quarter If that's all you see your missing out on a lot of the actual people that live there. The Buses (and Uber or a bike ) are good ways to see some of the different Neighborhoods. There is Tulane University (OAK street) St Charles has street cars, and a different feel then magazine street(bus) going in the same direction (if you like Architecture St. Charles has some large Houses, and Nice cathedral to Visit
Christ Church Cathedral 2919 St Charles Ave, City park
.
Me picking u up would be the cheapest.
I know it's been a while since this question has been answered, however, I will add my two cents if someone like me is still reading a year later. Make sure before you take public transportation toooooo (as in going toward the airport) to you call in advance to make sure you know exactly where the stops are. Also, do not try to get there by bus in a timely manner. It's not going to happen that way. Give yourself a 3 hour window plus your hour that you should be at the airport for departure. So, give yourself a four hour window. Sometimes buses here are late. And sometimes early. The three hours takes care of that, because unlike Chicago, Detroit and Miami we don't have busses going to the airport every 10 minutes. But it is the cheapest and given enough lead time reliable. Otherwise you can take any number of other forms of transportation that will get you to the airport between $25 and $35 plus tip. Coming from the airport you have both a Jefferson Parish Bus - E2 and recently an Orleans Parish bus I think the 202. The Orleans Parish bus - NORTA runs like every hour in the morning and then rush hour in the afternoon. The Jefferson Parish Bus goes like every hour. But neither bus is good for early or late flights. You should have like a 10am flight or at the latest a 7pm flight if you use my 3 hour formula.
Just to update: the bus you catch now is the E-1 on veterans. It goes from the new terminal building where it runs local during the Jefferson Parish portion. Once it enters the New Orleans portion, it runs express through the city (stopping at the Cemetaries, N./S. Carrollton, Norman Francis Pkwy, N./S. Broad Street, Galvez, and in the CBD/French Quarter). The inbound (from the airport to the city) starts at 5am and the outbound (from the city to the airport starts at 6am). The last inbound is 8:18pm (yup, not kidding) and the last outbound is 9:18pm.
Other options include the 202 that runs express until it gets into New Orleans. It has weird hours but is good for early, early departures AND mid-afternoon departures. HOWEVER, it's SIGNIFICANTLY faster in getting you to the CBD/French Quarter and cuts down time it takes for you to get to your host or a hostel/hotel in the core of the city.
Key pieces of advice for the buses: ALWAYS arrive 5 minutes early, but expect the bus to be up to 10 minutes late.
LINKS: https://jptransit.org/route/e1-veterans/ https://www.norta.com/current-projects/new-bus-routes/new-routes-list/202-airport-express