You Can Now Order Delivery at LaGuardia Thanks to AtYourGate
Founded in 2015, AtYourGate is the first ever airport delivery service, allowing passengers who have cleared security to order food via an app and have it delivered right to their gate.
To use AtYourGate, passengers must download the app (App Store/Play Store) and select the restaurant from which they want to order and where they want their order delivered. It's quite simple and most resembles UberEats or Postmates but within the confines of the secured airport terminal.
The delivery service originally launched in early 2018 at San Diego International Airport (SAN). Now, the service is available at four major airports across the United States, having just recently launched at New York-LaGuardia International Airport (LGA). The app's co-founder, Chris Hartman, believes the infamous New York City airport is the perfect airport for the delivery service.
During my visit to LaGuardia's new concourse on opening day, I came across an AtYourGate representative. That representative just so happened to be Hartman. Hartman was understandably upbeat and enthusiastic as the opening day of the new concourse meant it was opening day for the next AtYourGate location. Amongst the busy backdrop of LaGuardia's new concourse, Hartman and I conversed about the service and why LGA is the perfect airport for the service.
If your travels have yet to bring you to LGA, congratulations. You aren't missing much. To put it briefly, the airport is not ideal for the post-9/11 era. There are three terminals — Terminals A, B, and C — none of which are connected post-security. Though rare, if you are connecting on multiple airlines, you will have to exit security upon arrival and then re-clear security to access your departure gate. Even if your travels limit you to a single terminal, you can only access a dozen or so gates frpm every TSA checkpoint. This is where AtYourGate shines.
Take the example of arriving at Terminal B/Concourse D, Gate D5. Maybe you've lucked out and your connecting gate is D11. While this means you won't have to leave security or take a shuttle to another concourse to access your connecting gate, the restaurants in each concourse at LaGuardia's Terminal B are extremely limited.
AtYourGate delivery reps can leave and reclear the security checkpoints as often as they want. So, for example, you could have Shake Shack delivered from the new concourse all the way to Gate D5 and you don't even have to leave security. Not only do you not have to leave security, but you don't even have to leave your gate.
As convenient as this will be for passengers, the delivery service has not yet been given the green light to operate at every terminal or concourse at the airport. AtYourGate is only available at the new concourse (Gates 40-59). This means Shake Shack is still off-limits to someone departing from Concourse D or C. However, Hartman noted that once the airport gives AtYourGate the green light to serve Terminal B in its entirety, passengers traveling through will finally have access to almost every restaurant in any concourse.
The complicated layout is one of the reasons AtYourGate loves LGA — the same reason why passengers might dislike the NYC airport.
Hartman noted that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Washington-National (DCA) are the airports AtYourGate is working to serve in the future. For now, passengers traveling through Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), Newark (EWR), New York-LaGuardia (LGA) and San Diego International Airport (SAN) can access the AtYourGate delivery service.