Hello! Quick question. We are flying in to JFk in two weeks. We usually take the train right into Manhattan, this is only the second time we have flown. Last time we take Airtrain to the Jamaica LIRR. This time we are buying an unlimted pass metro card so I figure we may as well take the subway from Jamiaca. Is this a bad idea? How long will it take vs. LIRR? Thanks!!!

Depends where you're going in Manhattan, but figure 45 minutes to an hour on the E train.

If you're going to lower Manhattan take the Airtrain to Howard Beach and take the A train. This will knock about 15 minutes off your travel time.

You should be fine as long as you don't have a lot of luggage.

Agree with previous poster. The subway will take longer and it depends where you're going in Manhattan as to which subway line/connection you should take. Here's the subway map and it shows the 2 different subway connections and the different routes.

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm

Just remember, with the subway you may have to climb stairs with suitcases and it will be very crowded during rush hour times.

We are headed to the Red Roof Inn by the Empire State Building. We each will only have a small rolling luggage. Thanks for the advice. It is so much easier to arrive by train!

With that location, really any of the options will work and they'll all land you in the same place, Penn Station. Both the A & e trains go to Penn (34th st), the LIRR stops there and there are even shuttle buses from JFK that go there. (Most go to Port authority but some go to Penn). Soooo, if you want to try the subway, do it as long as you think you can handle your luggage up and down a flight of stairs if needed.

The "E" is pretty fast, as it runs express through Queens. When the "V" is running, you can switch to it to get to 34th St/Herald Sq. If the "V" isn't running - check its schedule - then get to 7th Ave and switch to "B" or "D".

The A/E trains run along 8th Ave. It'll be quite a walk to the hotel, which is 32nd @ 5th. That's why I suggest switching to the B/D/V.