JFK Airport questions

July 17, 2015 6:40 PM

I have two questions about flying out of JFK Airport tomorrow. I'm going to take the E subway from Mahattan, then AirTrain to the airport. (1) Earlier this year, at the AirTrain, I paid $1 for a new card and then $5 for an AirTrain ride. This seemed excessive since I already had two MetroCards (my unlimited monthly card and another one), but I couldn't figure out a way around this on the spot. (2) President Obama and his family are on a personal weekend trip in NYC and are apparently going to fly from JFK to DC tomorrow night. Should I expect this to lead to significant delays (in my American Airlines flight to O'Hare) which should affect my planning?
posted by John Cohen to Travel & Transportation (16 answers total)

As long as you have a card with cash on it, you can use that one. It doesn't have to be an "AirTrain" card but it can't be your monthly. The MTA is annoying.
posted by dame at 6:44 PM on July 17, 2015

Response by poster: But I didn't see any option to do so last time I took the AirTrain to JFK (a few weeks ago). The options seemed to be either (a) buy an unlimited card, or (b) buy a $5 AirTrain card with an extra $1 for a new card.
posted by John Cohen at 6:46 PM on July 17, 2015

(my unlimited monthly card and another one)

Is your second card the type that lets you pay-as-you-go (i.e., not monthly or weekly)? In that case, you should just be able to use that and the AirTrain will just deduct $5 from that.

Can't speak to Obama's visit, sorry.
posted by tickingclock at 6:47 PM on July 17, 2015

Response by poster: Is your second card the type that lets you pay-as-you-go (i.e., not monthly or weekly)?

My second card is the one I bought last time I bought a $5 + $1 AirTrain card (a few weeks ago).
posted by John Cohen at 6:48 PM on July 17, 2015

Just saw your update. I think it's possible that the stations at the AirTrain station will not let you load arbitrary amounts of cash (I do recall something like this being the case, years ago). In that case, just make sure you load up your card at a different station in advance, then when you get to the AirTrain station, swipe as normal.
posted by tickingclock at 6:49 PM on July 17, 2015

... and I just saw your second update. :-)

You should be able to just load the second card with whatever amount you want at any MetroPass station (in your case, $5).
posted by tickingclock at 6:50 PM on July 17, 2015

Response by poster: You should be able to just load the second card with whatever amount you want at any MetroPass station (in your case, $5).

So, I can manually add $5 at the normal subway station near my home in Manhattan as I'm leaving for the airport, and that'll work at the AirTrain — but if I wait till I get to the AirTrain it'll be too late? OK... Weird system, but if that's what I have to do, I'll do it.
posted by John Cohen at 6:54 PM on July 17, 2015

If you look on the Wikipedia page for the NYC MetroCard, it says, "$5 deducted per use on AirTrain JFK." So, yes, if you load your second card with $5, then just swipe with that at the AirTrain station, you should be allowed in.

(Of course the NYC MetroCard has its own Wikipedia page...)
posted by tickingclock at 6:54 PM on July 17, 2015

So, I can manually add $5 at the normal subway station near my home in Manhattan as I'm leaving for the airport, and that'll work at the AirTrain — but if I wait till I get to the AirTrain it'll be too late? OK. Weird system, but if that's what I have to do, I'll do it.

Yes, I think that might be the case. I'm not 100% sure about the AirTrain station not letting you load money, but I'm conjecturing based on what you said (and my failing memory).
posted by tickingclock at 6:55 PM on July 17, 2015

Response by poster: OK, I'm going to go add $10 to my Metrocard (for the round trip) right now.

Anyone have any experience flying out of JFK while the First Family is also flying?
posted by John Cohen at 7:09 PM on July 17, 2015

Regarding the First Family at JFK, it happened to me on two separate dates, both times while my plane was taxiing. There was a "ground stop", and we ended up holding in place on the taxiway for about an hour on both occasions.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 7:15 PM on July 17, 2015 [2 favorites]

You can add dollar amounts to the same physical card as your monthly metrocard at regular kiosks now. The card will always default to the monthly card first, then deduct from the dollar value if 1) there is no time on the card or 2) you're getting on a vehicle that doesn't accept unlimited passes i.e. PATH, Airtrain, and express buses.

There is something odd about the kiosks right outside the Airtrain gates, I think it wouldn't let me refill my monthly maybe? also I have had trouble trying to combine the balances of regular and Airtrain cards. The kiosks inside the Jamaica subway station are standard though.
posted by yeahlikethat at 7:19 PM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OK, thanks. I now have a Metrocard with more than $10 on it, separate from my unlimited card, so I'm sure that'll work at the AirTrain.
posted by John Cohen at 7:58 PM on July 17, 2015

I heard last month from a ground crew member at SFO that the "ground stop" lasts an hour to 90 minutes at the time when Air Force One is taking off. During that time no one is allowed onto the tarmac.
posted by wnissen at 9:10 AM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was in a ground stop on Jet Blue when Obama was flying out once a few years ago. If I remember right, the flight attendants apologized and offered everyone a free drink. No one seemed too put out, and the mood on the plane was fine.
posted by lauranesson at 8:03 AM on July 19, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. My flight was delayed for more than 2 hours — we boarded on time, but then were allowed to deplane because of the long delay. Supposedly this was because of weather in Chicago, not the First Family.
posted by John Cohen at 2:25 PM on July 20, 2015