Long Island Rail Road
 

I'm getting the LIRR at Penn Station to JFK. How do you pay for LIRR? Is there an MTA fare machine that takes MTA cards, or do I need an actual ticket that is bought at Penn Station. I know I will use my MTA card on the AirTrain

Pay at Penn Station or online. Don't buy a ticket on the train. It will cost much more. You need a separate ticket for the LIRR portion.

When you go to Penn Station be sure you're in the LIRR section - not that for Amtrak or NJ Transit. the various areas will be marked. You can get an LIRR ticket from a machine or from one of the doxen or so ticket windows.

Just be aware that train platforms (one level down from the waiting/ticket area) are announcced only about 10 minutes before departure so you have to move quickly to and down the stairs (you'll see locals literally running to catch trains to avoid waiting another 30 minutes). Train platforms are listed on the big board you see everyone staring at.

Thank you both. I've taken Amtrak through Penn Station more times than I can count, but never connected to LIRR.

If you want to take the LIRR to JFK, you will need an LIRR ticket to Jamaica station.

Cost = $7 Peak, $5 Offpeak, $3 weekends

Most LIRR trains stop at Jamaica, so you should have frequent departures.

At Jamaica, you will transfer to the AirTrain, which is paid for with a MetroCard ($5) as you mentioned.

On the other hand, at Penn Station you could take the E subway train ($2) to Jamaica as well, and then connect to the AirTrain. This would take a bit more time than an LIRR train.