Last time I flew to JFK, I took the longest subway ride to get to the upper west side. Is there a faster way to get there that is cheaper than a cab? Anyone know if there is a bus that I can take?

Well, you can take the Airtrain (5 dollars) to Jamaica Station then take the LIRR (5 dollars) to Penn Station or take the subway to other locations in Manhattan.

A cab will be about $55 plus tip.

Thin

I believe that you can take a helicopter. Might be a bit more expensive than the subway ride.

You might take one of the airport shuttle buses to Grand Central.

Did you take the E last time? If you jump on the D train at 53rd/7th ave (once you're in the city). I would think you'd be on the upper west side in just under an hour.

Forgive me if that was the long subway ride you were referring too---I just had a friend complain about something similar who had taken the A train all the way through Brooklyn from JFK and I was wondering if maybe that happened.

Perhaps you made the mistake of taking the A train which is like the slow boat to China to get to the UWS. Have a look at the map

http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

Thanks everyone. Last time, I took the airtrain to the A subway all the way to Columbus Circle and then switched to the 1. Since the helicopter is out of my price range, i am thinking some of the other suggestions may work better for me.

Katie_H, are you suggesting I can take the airtrain to the E subway? Then, I can get on the D from there? I hope that would work - it does look so much shorter!

Thanks.

You can get a shuttle bus to Penn Station for $15. From there you can get a cab to the upper west side - probably another $15 - depending on traffic. So - about $30 for one person. For two people - this would be the same as a cab ($45 flat fare plus toll and tip totaling about $60.)

Fastest public transit is Air Train ($5) to Jamaica, then LIRR ($7) to Penn Station, then subway ($2) to upper west side for a total of $14 - and about an hour in time - depending on how fast you make the various changes schlepping your luggage with you up and down stairs, though stations and along passageways.

Can you, please advice how far from the "A" train to the airtrane, and from the "E" train to the airtrain. Is it a lot of walking, as we have a luggade ? From Port Authority bus terminal, what is the best way to get to the JFK by train ?

From Port Authority Bus Terminal, the best choice is to take an airport express bus--costs $15 per person, but will be door to door with no shlepping of bags up and down stairs.

Both A and E trains stop at Port Authority Bus Terminal. And at the airport end both have equivalent connections to the AirTrain--both have elevators and escalators and similar walking distances. I think the trip from Port Authority on the E train would be about 10 minutes quicker than the A train. (E train plus AirTrain costs $7 per person)