NYC Transportation from JFK
 

Normally when we plan a NYC trip we land on the Island and take the train in since frequent flyer miles only go to Islip. However, I think I can also use Jet Blue tickets and I was wondering the best way and cost if we landed at JFK. We need to go to the Times Square area in NYC. Thanks for your help.

I think the cheapest is the airtrain, http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/airport.htm. It's $5 plus $2 for the subway connection into Manhattan.

The most convenient would be a taxi and that would cost somewhere around $40.

I just double checked, taxi is a flat fare of $45 + tolls and tips.

Cheapest depends on how many is the "we' to which you referred and where in the"Times Square area.".

Public transport (AirTrain + subway) is $7 per person and takes about 1 hr 30 mins.

Express bus to Port Authority bus terminal (41st St and 8th Ave, near Times Square) is $15 per person and takes about 1 hr 10 mins depending on traffic (according to the JFK website).

As MFNYC said, taxi is $45 + tolls ($5 maybe) + tip ($7-$10, your call) for up to 4 people and will take 30 minutes if its Sunday morning at 6AM or much more at others times of day. At rush hour you might arrive at the same time as the subway.

Sorry for lack of info. It will be Tuesday mid-day and there will be two of us. Thank you for your info.

So is four people with luggage doable in a taxi? We are also going to 2 different hotels in Mahattan. Is that frowned upon? My parents and my husband and I are arriving at JFK and we were wondering if we'd be able to share a taxi to Midtown Mahattan.

4 people with luggage fits in a taxi. We do it all the time (famioy of 4 and kids are teens). As far as 2 different stops, they'd probably charge regular meter fare for the trip from the 1st hotel to the 2nd. What are the 2 hotels?

Waldorf Astoria and the Sheraton New York & Towers.

Two people ... take a taxi ... $45 plus toll/tip ... it's the only option that makes sense unless you're truly destitute, have little luggage, and time means nothing to you

Gekko..Totally agree. Done. Thanks.

If you want two stops in the taxi I don;t know if the flat fee applies. You would have to ask the dispatcher at the airport.

If it does I would give a significantly larger tip - due to extra time/trouble for two stops and dragging 2 sets of things out of the trunk.

The total with the $45 flat fare and bridge or tunnel toll and tip is about $60. (This would be less then 4 people on a shuttle bus, but obviously more than public transit if you take Air Train and subway option at $7 each.)

Just to clarify, a taxi from JFK is $45 plus tolls plus tip. It usually ends up at $60.

Midday this coming Tuesday will be madness with regard to traffic in Manhattan. I wouldn't be caught dead in a taxi from the airport on that day. You just can't imagine how bad it is in Manhattan right now. I'd take the Airtrain to Penn Station and then if traffic seems reasonable perhaps a taxi from there (but honestly, I'd probably take the subway).

The trip in could take well over an hour by taxi versus 30 minutes on the Airtrain. No contest for me, and it's not a matter of savings. I really hate to sit in traffic, even if the meter isn't ticking.

Only caveat: If you have loads of luggage, then taxi all the way in is probably essential.

I take the Airtrain and the subway all the time, to Grand Central, including a few weeks ago, and it takes about an hour. But round trip is only $12- use a single ticket first, then purchase a $10 Metrocard for $12 value.

I would take the air train ($5) to the Howard Beach subway, then take the "A" train ($2) to 42 St. There's a good article on this issue i just read....(hold on lemme find it again!...ok here it is!--DON'T Take the train to "Jamaica":

http://www.airlinecity.com/2007/11/2...il-experience/

I intend to use the Super Shuttle when we visit next year. I used this in Phoenix and it was excellent.

http://www.supershuttle.com/

Supershuttle has a very poor reputation in NYC (and DC). While it is a model that works in cities without much competition, it appears to be less effective in cities where there are lots of options.

Thanks Mike - now you have me worried!

Yes, SuperShuttle in NYC is a disaster; avoid it at all costs. And it's just as cheap to take NY Airport Service to one of the major transit hubs in town and then continue onto your hotel from there, or better to take the Airtrain if coming from JFK.

wickman wrote: << would take the air train ($5) to the Howard Beach subway, then take the "A" train ($2) to 42 St. There's a good article on this issue i just read....(hold on lemme find it again!...ok here it is!--DON'T Take the train to "Jamaica":>>

I found nothing in the article that warns the rider away from catching the E train at Jamaica, and the E train would take a good deal less time to Times Square, the poster's destination, than the A train.

wildblue,

The problem with the SuperShuttle in NYC is that once you leave the airport and get to Manhattan, you could spend more than an hour in city traffic going from hotel to hotel, dropping off all the different people in the van. That's why even the subway sounds better.

Ah, I see (the dropping off at hotels) Is that the only problem, or is there another reason(s) to avoid SuperShuttle? I'm not sure we'd mind an hour in the traffic - never been to NYC before, so it might be a good intro! We had this when we landed at Phoenix and were dropped off at the Camelback and it was great too get an overview of the city.
We will be arriving at JFK (not til next June) and needing to get to the Affinia Dumont. Didn't fancy the subway with probably 4 suitcases and 3 lots of hand luggage, after a long flight. But thanks, I'll maybe think again.

You may choose to do/not to do SuperShuttle, but with that much luggage, I highly recommend against the AirTrain and subway. Too much shlepping.

Upon the advice of this forum I did a car pick up last time and it was great. I wish I could remember the name. The cost was the same as a taxi and it was waiting for me - so no taxi lines and it "smelled" better. I am the one that hates the hurky jerky drivers.

We were also going to time square.

wildblue,

The hour in traffic I mentioned is IN ADDITION to the 30 minutes or more to get from JFK to Manhattan, depending on traffic.

With SuperShuttle, you also might not leave the airport for a while, driving around the airport to different terminals so the driver can fill the van.

With that much luggage and two people, pay the extra $20-$30 and get a taxi or car service.

Do not, under any circumstances, use SuperShuttle. No exaggeration -- it will be miserable for you.

I found this (on first search!) http://gonyc.about.com/od/gettingaro...ar_service.htm and I think I shall be doing things this way. There will be 3 of us and our various luggage for a month's cross-country trip!
We had a similar pick-up when we went to Prague last year and it was perfect! Thanks all.

"I found nothing in the article that warns the rider away from catching the E train at Jamaica, and the E train would take a good deal less time to Times Square, the poster's destination, than the A train."

Times Square Station on the 8th Ave. Line (so its not technically times square but is one block west) is served by the "A", "C", and "E" trains.

but going to jamaica to catch an "E" takes you out of your way, when the "A" train station is closer to JFK. difference--"E" train heads to manhattan through Queens and approaches Times Sq. from the North (traveling south from 53rd street) and the "A" train travels through Brooklyn, and approaches times square from the South.

wyckman

Please check a map and you will see that even though the A train will approach from the south, JFK is not south of Manhattan. It is east. The E train from Jamaica is 11 stops to Times Square while the A train is 19 stops. The AirTrain site mentioned by MFNYC mentions that the AirTrain ride to either Jamaica or Howard Beach takes about 12 minutes--about the same.

Hopstop.com says the E train would take 1 hour 12 minutes to Times Square and the A train would take 1 hour 20 minutes to Times Square.

If the poster was heading to below 14th St, the A train would be quicker.

Moot point for Dejais, as a taxi is the final decision.

Just this week I took the Airtrain/Subway E train to/from Manhattan. I thought it was the most economical and reliable for time transportation. From the Delta terminal it took about 50 minutes travel time via the Jamaica station.
I would recommend this for 1 or 2 people traveling with limited luggage. I had a medium wheeled suitcase and small totebag. I then walked about 5 blocks to my hotel.
It was extremely easy.
First I would look at the AirTrain website and plot your destination. You can print out the specific directions for the trains and even the walking directions to your final destination. One caution..once you reach the subway/train be sure to watch the signs to take the train in the correct direction.
I thought this was very easy and convenient. It makes flying into JFK much more appealing. I would use this transportation anytime I'm traveling into NYC. You know exactly how long it will take and don't have to worry about traffic, accidents, etc.
Oh, I do value my time/money and I'm not destitute!!

We took a taxi from JFK to 53rd/3rd. It was $45 and no tolls. The taxi driver told me that for trips that are more on upper part of manhattan (sorry, do not know the cutoff) there are no tolls. It took about 25 minutes from the airport to our hotel. We landed late at night - about 11 PM.

<<The taxi driver told me that for trips that are more on upper part of manhattan (sorry, do not know the cutoff) there are no tolls.>>

This is not really true. The Triborough Bridge is in the north of Manhattan and has hefty toll. The other toll for East River crossings is on the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. From JFK to Manhattan, a taxi might opt for the Williamsburg Bridge (downtown) or Queensboro Bridge (midtown), which have no tolls but at times big traffic jams traffic.

Super Shuttle is not an hour in traffic. It's ann EXTRA hour in traffic. Any shuttle will take about an hour to get into midtown Manhattan in traffic. The SuperShuttle will be 2 hours at least - as you trek from one hotel to another.

(Midtown Manhattan when it's busy has an average speed of about 5 mph - frequently walking is faster.)

For people who want to take the Shuttle (and frankly it makes sense for one and MAYBE for 2 - but not for any more) it's much faster to take a shuttle to a central point (ie Port Authority or Grand Central) and walk or grab a cab from there.

Apart from time wasted in Super Shuttle (which can be significant) there have been endless reports of unsafe buses, rude drivers (who've actually gotten lost). Don't use Super Shuttle under any circumstances. If you want to use a bus, use the Express Bus service that makes stops at central locations.
http://www.nyairportservice.com/

As to sharing a taxi from JFK making 2 stops, it's my understanding the flat rate is good up to the first stop (which would be the Waldorf in this case above) and from there, the driver should put on the meter and you will pay whatever additional it is from the Waldorf to the Sheraton. Given it's next week and you'd have to go across town, I think this could be anywhere from $10-20 more.

I nearly always fly into LGA, not JFK, but when a flight was cancelled and they put us on a flight to JFK, we opted for a taxi on arrival. If I had been prepared, we'd have probably taken the train, but we didn't know in advance that's where we'd be arriving.

However, after sitting on the expressway in a taxi for well over an hour due to an overturned tanker that had completely blocked traffic with no way to get out of it, and after taking well over 2 hours to get to our midtown apartment, we really wished we had taken the train! Listening to the taxi driver whine on and on in the stalled traffic about all the money he was losing due to the "new" set fares was not a pleasant experience either. But, of course, that situation doesn't happen every day.

Neo, that situation doesn't happen everyday, of course, but you also never know WHEN it's going to happen. I was one who posted about the Airtrain/subway combo being a little bit too complicated, but the more I think about it, I'd use it again for exactly the reason you stated. I remember once taking the El from O'Hare to downtown Chicago and being able to watch bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Expressway while we happily sped along.

We'll be in NYC for a weekend in February. When returning to JFK from Manhattan is it ok to just flag down a taxi on the street, or is it better to get one at the hotel? We won't have much luggage and we want to be out and about that afternoon (a Sunday).

jnn, makes no difference. A cab is a cab is a cab (unless it's a car service).

Thanks dmlove, I was thinking they may get annoyed at having to drive out to JFK, but I guess that's what they're paid to do.

One fact to remember .. yes, traffic accidents do happen and taxis are delayed ...

BUT public transportation delays are just as likely (or unlikely) ...

Finally, the OP said days ago that he/she has chosen to take a cab.