I thought I had this all figured out, then by accident I happened to notice a sign the other day in the city. On Saturday afternoon, July 30, I was planning to take the LIRR from Penn Station to Jamaica and then the Skytrain to JFK. But now I see the Skytrain is not operating, and it will have shuttle buses ("expect delays"). The MTA trip planner, doesn't mention this, and still suggests the E train and then the Skytrain. So a lot of help that is!

What is my next alternative? I'm starting at Penn Station only because I'll be coming by train from Princeton, NJ.

http://www.nyairportservice.com/

The bus yk mentions is a good option.

Another possibility that I would consider is the A train from Penn Station to Howard Beach. Howard Beach is a subway station that is at the end of the long-term parking lots at JFK Airport. There will be shuttle buses from there as well, but at least you are on airport property once you get off the A train. From there the bus will stop a few times in the parking lots and then head to the terminals. (Before the AirTrain was built, this subway-to-bus option at Howard Beach was the actual public transport connection between JFK and Manhattan.)

YK's choice is fine here is another one;

http://www.nycairporter.com/

YK's choice is fine here is another one;

http://www.nycairporter.com/

You might also check this bus service which may work for you, direct bus service from Princeton to JFK:

http://www.olympic-limo.com/schedule...princeton.html

You could take the "A" to the Skytrain.

Neo where did you see this? It is called the AirTrain, not the skytrain.

I cannot find any service advisories for the Air Train.

@adu
http://www.panynj.gov/alerts-advisor....html?tabnum=7

The Port Authority link provided by mztery states that the disruption in service is in effect Sun. - Fri. from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. so this should not affect travel on a Sat. afternoon.

Phew. So much confusion. Yes, first of all I did mean Airtrain, not Skytrain (I think I was suddenly mentally in Bangkok or somewhere).

But there is a service advisory posted that the service is interrupted from July 17 to August 19. And elsewhere I saw that "bus service between ____ and _____ will be provided Sunday through Friday 9 to 7". I failed to notice that was PM to AM, not AM to PM, and I was reading that as only then would there be a bus alternative and at other times there would be no service (which would include weekends), since it said that service was interrupted for that entire month long period. I guess if I had thought about the logic, (although I'm not sure what logic has to do with any transportation issues, lol) I would have realized they were saying that only during those times when the buses were added as an alternative would the regular service be closed down, and it would operate as usual the rest of the month.


So I guess I'm back to plan A -- that on Saturday afternoon I'll be fine with the NJ Transit train from Princeton to Penn Station, the LIRR to Jamaica, and then the AirTrain to JFK. That can be done a total of approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, and done for cheap (especially now that I have my reduced fare cards). Much better than those buses which take up to 3 and a half hours for the same overall route. And much better than allowing a friend to do the stressful round trip drive to take me then return home, which could take up to 6 hours all together!

Thanks and sorry for the confusion. Gee I hope the rest of my trip to Russia and beyond won't be any more confusing than the logistics of getting to JFK!

getowt, that link you provided is SO much more clear than the one I read as an advisory on the LIRR site! I wish I had seen your link first and then I'd never have questioned it.

Patrick, even if the Airtrain service were disrupted and bus service at the airport slow, I'd still take that over the New York Airport Service bus in terms of travel time on a Saturday afternoon. I've spent 90 minutes in traffic just getting to JFK on a Saturday afternoon several times, and I just live on the east side of Manhattan. It's usually twice that fast. You'd likely save enough time on the trip to JFK to more than make up for any delays at the airport unless they were truly horrendous (though I don't discount that possibility).

Thanks, Doug. This is why I keep telling Peter NOT to drive me. I'd be a nervous wreck in the traffic all the way from Western NJ -- I know there can be delays of up to an hour sometimes on Saturday just getting through one of the tunnels -- and then there is all of Manhattan and getting to JFK. I also remember a trip by an "airporter" bus that got delayed by nearly an hour in traffic.

Incidentally, it was interesting to find that there are now buses supposedly from Penn Station to the airports as well as from Grand Central and Port Authority, although one of those links above clearly stated from Penn Station, but when I entered my time from there, it came back "there are no trips available for that time and location". Maybe those are only for a couple of "peak" times?

Glad I could be helpful, but I can't take credit for posting the link. You can thank mztery for that!

Ooops. Yes, thank you, mztery.

The buses from Penn Station aren't exactly from Penn Station. They stop out on the street, and I'm not precisely sure where the pick-up points are. In years gone by, when you could still drive through the actual driveway at the top of the station, the buses picked up passengers there. Now it's probably on one of the nearby side streets. It's still kind of annoying, and I don't think all the buses stop at Penn Station ... some only run from outside the Port Authority (though, again, no longer from INSIDE the Port Authority).

Hello Patrick, wishing you a beautiful, comfortable and fun trip, you will be in my thoughts.

I echo LoveItaly's thoughts, Patrick. You KNOW we all will need a trip report!!
BTW, thought of you yesterday when I dined @ Sardi's -- upstairs bar was packed!!