AirTrain to JFK because of construction
July 19, 2024 12:07 PM Subscribe
So because of the construction at JFK, the advice these days is to take the AirTrain. Have you done this? How long did the AirTrain portion take? Which station did you take the AirTrain from? Any general tips? Thanks!
If my destination is on the A train (Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, Upper East Side), I take the airtrain to Howard Beach and transfer to the subway.
If my destination is in Queens or Grand Central/Midtown, I take the airtrain to Jamacia and either get the subway to Queens or LIRR to Manhattan.
And vice-versa.
I just drove to JFK the other day via the Van Wyck (um, "I-678") and it was indeed a shitshow with construction. It kind of always is. But sometimes you need to use a rental car (I was upstate visiting family) and that's what you get.
posted by niicholas at 12:48 PM on July 19 [2 favorites]
If my destination is in Queens or Grand Central/Midtown, I take the airtrain to Jamacia and either get the subway to Queens or LIRR to Manhattan.
And vice-versa.
I just drove to JFK the other day via the Van Wyck (um, "I-678") and it was indeed a shitshow with construction. It kind of always is. But sometimes you need to use a rental car (I was upstate visiting family) and that's what you get.
posted by niicholas at 12:48 PM on July 19 [2 favorites]
If you're going to or from Midtown Manhattan or higher or Queens, I'd take the AirTrain to Jamaica, and then either the subway or Long Island Railroad into the city. (Official page about AirTrain options from the MTA.)
Unless I've got a really strong reason, I almost always take the train. Even taking a taxi from JFK at 3am can be a slow and ponderous journey, due to random late night road construction. The AirTrain itself is probably about 20 minutes or so from Jamaica station. Because of JFK construction, it probably still isn't doing the normal loop and does have some round about ways to get to some terminals, but it is still better than getting there by car.
They also FINALLY allow you to use OMNI or NFC debit on your phone or watch, which can cut an extra 5-20 minutes waiting in line for the card machines if you don't have enough money on your MTA Card, or need to purchase one at Jamaica. It is always better getting the MTA Card before arriving at the station that connects with AirTrain.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 12:51 PM on July 19 [1 favorite]
Unless I've got a really strong reason, I almost always take the train. Even taking a taxi from JFK at 3am can be a slow and ponderous journey, due to random late night road construction. The AirTrain itself is probably about 20 minutes or so from Jamaica station. Because of JFK construction, it probably still isn't doing the normal loop and does have some round about ways to get to some terminals, but it is still better than getting there by car.
They also FINALLY allow you to use OMNI or NFC debit on your phone or watch, which can cut an extra 5-20 minutes waiting in line for the card machines if you don't have enough money on your MTA Card, or need to purchase one at Jamaica. It is always better getting the MTA Card before arriving at the station that connects with AirTrain.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 12:51 PM on July 19 [1 favorite]
I've been in New York for almost a decade and have taken the AirTrain to/from JFK every single time I've used the airport, barring one time that I had luggage too heavy for one person to comfortably manage. Your questions are very general, so I would recommend starting by looking at the official website to get a sense of the system map and payment options. Are you comfortable / familiar with New York-area transit, in particular the NYC Subway and/or the Long Island Rail Road?
On the airport end, there is a station for each of the 5 terminals at JFK. Some of the stations (e.g. Terminal 4) are better integrated into/have a shorter walk to the terminal building than others (e.g. Terminal 5).
At the airport there are typically two services. One runs clockwise and only services the airport terminals, going from Terminal 1 > 8 > 7 > 5 > 4 and then back to Terminal 1, and is usually signposted IIRC as "All Terminals" or maybe "Airport Terminals".
The other service runs counterclockwise and enters/exit the airport. There are two non-airport endpoints as below, which is also how the trains are announced ("this is a train to Jamaica" or "this is a train to Howard Beach"). Your choice of endpoint will depend on your onward travel destination.
- Jamaica, where you can catch the subway (E, J/Z) or LIRR to Penn Station or Grand Central Terminal.
- Howard Beach, where you can catch the subway (A).
In terms of payment, you only have to pay if you exit the AirTrain system at Jamaica or at Howard Beach. There are no faregates at any other station, so if you exit at Federal Circle or Lefferts Blvd for rental cars / long term parking / shuttles, or just use the AirTrain to travel between terminals, there is no charge. There is now contactless payment so I wouldn't bother with a MetroCard unless you already have one -- just tap any bank card that supports tap payment.
Finally, the AirTrain is available on Google Maps so you can use that to estimate travel times.
posted by andrewesque at 12:55 PM on July 19
On the airport end, there is a station for each of the 5 terminals at JFK. Some of the stations (e.g. Terminal 4) are better integrated into/have a shorter walk to the terminal building than others (e.g. Terminal 5).
At the airport there are typically two services. One runs clockwise and only services the airport terminals, going from Terminal 1 > 8 > 7 > 5 > 4 and then back to Terminal 1, and is usually signposted IIRC as "All Terminals" or maybe "Airport Terminals".
The other service runs counterclockwise and enters/exit the airport. There are two non-airport endpoints as below, which is also how the trains are announced ("this is a train to Jamaica" or "this is a train to Howard Beach"). Your choice of endpoint will depend on your onward travel destination.
- Jamaica, where you can catch the subway (E, J/Z) or LIRR to Penn Station or Grand Central Terminal.
- Howard Beach, where you can catch the subway (A).
In terms of payment, you only have to pay if you exit the AirTrain system at Jamaica or at Howard Beach. There are no faregates at any other station, so if you exit at Federal Circle or Lefferts Blvd for rental cars / long term parking / shuttles, or just use the AirTrain to travel between terminals, there is no charge. There is now contactless payment so I wouldn't bother with a MetroCard unless you already have one -- just tap any bank card that supports tap payment.
Finally, the AirTrain is available on Google Maps so you can use that to estimate travel times.
posted by andrewesque at 12:55 PM on July 19
If you go to Jamaica, you do have to trail around on the street for maybe 50 yards between Airtrain and the subway (you're walking around the LIRR station). Even though it's signed and a bunch of people with suitcases are walking the same route, this is perhaps mildly disconcerting the first time.
I can't remember which one is longer, but the distance to Howard Beach and Jamaica from the terminal is not equal. In my head, AirTrain is about fifteen minutes, but check Google Maps. Unless you're going to Brooklyn or lower Manhattan, going via Jamaica will probably be faster, but when I lived in Washington Heights, I'd often just not want to bother with transferring from the E and went via Howard Beach even if it was slower.
posted by hoyland at 3:45 PM on July 19
I can't remember which one is longer, but the distance to Howard Beach and Jamaica from the terminal is not equal. In my head, AirTrain is about fifteen minutes, but check Google Maps. Unless you're going to Brooklyn or lower Manhattan, going via Jamaica will probably be faster, but when I lived in Washington Heights, I'd often just not want to bother with transferring from the E and went via Howard Beach even if it was slower.
posted by hoyland at 3:45 PM on July 19
If you go to Jamaica, you do have to trail around on the street for maybe 50 yards between Airtrain and the subway (you're walking around the LIRR station). Even though it's signed and a bunch of people with suitcases are walking the same route, this is perhaps mildly disconcerting the first time.
There's an easier way to get from the subway to the AirTrain at Jamaica. Go to the bank of elevators outside the subway turnstiles, and go up to the LIRR mezzanine (the top level). Then you just walk across the mezzanine, enter a set of glass doors, and you're in the outer portion of the AirTrain station.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:36 PM on July 19 [1 favorite]
There's an easier way to get from the subway to the AirTrain at Jamaica. Go to the bank of elevators outside the subway turnstiles, and go up to the LIRR mezzanine (the top level). Then you just walk across the mezzanine, enter a set of glass doors, and you're in the outer portion of the AirTrain station.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:36 PM on July 19 [1 favorite]
I take the AirTrain from Jamaica to JFK pretty much every time I fly out of JFK. It's vastly easier than taking a car to the airport. I think of the Jamaica AirTrain station as essentially a tendril of the airport itself. Once you get inside the AirTrain turnstiles, the system will take you right to your terminal. It's about a 10-minute ride, and before that, you may have to wait up to 10 minutes or so for the train to arrive. But it's still way better than dealing with the Van Wyck Expressway.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:39 PM on July 19
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:39 PM on July 19
Response by poster: Thanks for all the replies, folks. Lifelong New Yorker here and very familiar with NYC transit. We wound up taking a car all the way to the terminal. Our driver assured us there would be minimal traffic (this was at about 7:30 AM on a Saturday), and he was correct. I was glad, because we had very heavy bags.
In fact, our driver told us that he makes airport runs frequently and hasn't had any real issues with construction-related traffic at any point. There was a small slowdown just before Terminal 5 but it lasted just a few minutes.
posted by DavidNYC at 5:50 PM on July 21
In fact, our driver told us that he makes airport runs frequently and hasn't had any real issues with construction-related traffic at any point. There was a small slowdown just before Terminal 5 but it lasted just a few minutes.
posted by DavidNYC at 5:50 PM on July 21
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posted by humuhumu at 12:15 PM on July 19 [1 favorite]