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"gt;>

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.