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My wife and I recently enjoyed a new travel experience: using the New York City subway to ride to JFK airport! It was relatively easy and much more affordable than a cab or ridesharing. So here’s what it was like and what you can expect if you take the subway to JFK!
“There’s No Subway to JFK!”
Yes, I know. I’m using the term colloquially.
For people scratching their heads, you’ll take a subway to one of two stations:
- Sutphin Boulevard/Archer Avenue station
- Howard Beach
From there, you’ll catch the above-ground AirTrain train to JFK.
Why We Chose the Subway
There were a couple of reasons we opted to ride the subway to JFK.
First, we always wanted to try it. We love public transportation and used trains for transportation to/from other airports. Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), San Francisco (SFO), London Heathrow (LHR), and Portland (PDX) are some that immediately come to mind.
We also use New York City’s fantastic subway system whenever we’re in the area.
Secondly, the ridesharing costs were ridiculously high. A ride from our hotel (the W Times Square) to JFK easily would’ve run north of $100.
Yeah. No, thank you. So we decided this was the perfect opportunity to try taking the subway to JFK!
Finding Our Route
Google Maps was a tremendous help for plotting our subway trip to JFK.
If you travel with more oversized luggage, you might want to use an NYC subway station that’s ADA compliant so you can use elevators as much as possible. Here’s a page that lists those stations.
You’ll need to eventually end up at Sutphin Boulevard/Archer Avenue station in Jamaica. From there, you’ll connect to the JFK AirTrain (which is above ground). Both lines are separate purchases, which we’ll discuss in a minute.
Getting to and Riding the Train to JFK
We decided to sneak in a few extra steps (we had to walk off the pizza and bagels!). So, we walked a few blocks to the 42 St-Port Authority Bus Terminal to catch an E line subway.
New York City’s Metro system now offers a tap-to-pay option for subway fare. You can use a mobile device’s wallet (cell phone, watch, etc.) or a contactless credit or debit card.
We opted for the latter. It seemed more straightforward and less hassle. The ride to Sutphin Boulevard/Archer Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, cost $2.75.
We had some problems getting our luggage through the turnstile. Ultimately, we went through the gate first and left our luggage immediately behind. Then we simply rolled it under the turnstile. (New Yorkers: any tips for this? Please tell us in the Comments section below!)
The ride to Sutphin was about 45 minutes. But if you take the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from Penn Station, your ride time can be significantly shorter. We saw routes that had only two stops on the way; our E line train stopped at about 25 stations.
Nonetheless, the ride time allowed my wife to take a catnap. I did some reading on my phone. Before we knew it, we were in Jamaica! (Jamaica, New York, remember 🙂 )
Don’t worry about getting lost. Simply follow the yellow signs for “AirTrain JFK.” And if your ride is anything like ours, several other people are also going to the airport. So consider following them.
You’ll need to use an MTA card to pay for the AirTrain. Don’t worry if you have one: you can buy an MTA card ($1 charge) while purchasing the $7.75 fare to use the AirTrain.
You can do this either at the AirTrain station or any other New York City subway station.
Then board the train and hop off at your airline’s terminal.
All told, the time from boarding the E train in Midtown Manhattan to stepping on the T4 escalators at JFK took about one hour and 20 minutes. We spent $10 each (or $20 total) to take the subway to JFK.
I paid with my Chase Sapphire Reserve® because it earns 3X on travel purchases — such as the NYC Metro and AirTrain.
Would I Take the Subway to (or From) JFK Again?
Riding the train to JFK certainly wasn’t as convenient or fast as taking a rideshare from our hotel to the airport. But it was only about 20-ish minutes longer. And we saved well over $100.
I absolutely would take the subway to/from JFK. Call me crazy but I actually look forward to doing it again.
It might not be the best idea if you travel with a bunch of luggage — simply because it could be a pain in the butt wheeling it all around.
Otherwise, I recommend taking the train to/from JFK as a cost-effective way between JFK and your NYC destination.
If you have any tips for taking a train to JFK, please share them in the below comments section!
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New Yorker here – great writeup, Chris. To answer your question about large luggage not fitting in the turnstile, you can ask the MTA subway employee behind the glass booth to open the big door for service/wheelchair entry. They’ll ask you to swipe your subway card (or tap with credit card like you did) and they’ll press a button to unlock the door and you walk right through with your luggage. This assumes the station is staffed, but the stations in midtown Manhattan should be
Thanks for the kind words and suggestion!
I haven’t done it in NYC, but I find Chicago to be a similar experience. There are a lot of stops between the airport and downtown, but it is a very straightforward way to make the trip for $5 (it was on sale from $10 a few weeks ago when I did it). I had to visit a client office for an hour in downtown Chicago, so I flew up that morning, hopped on the train, went to my meeting downtown, enjoyed the city a bit, and then caught the train back to ORD for my late evening departure home.
Ridesharing or Taxi might have been a bit faster, but I like the simplicity and general reliability of the train. Money wasn’t an issue as I was being reimbursed for everything. That same pass would have allowed me to ride the L train to other stops or ride the bus to different locations around downtown if I had wanted to. All in all, a super deal.
The best (and fastest) way to get to and from JFK is taking the LIRR – Long Island Rail Road – From Penn Station to Jamaica, and then connecting to the Airtrain. It’s slightly more expensive than the subway, but much more civilized and way faster.
Indeed
Subway only makes good sense if coming from very lower Manhattan and even then it’s a draw
not quite true. the subway makes sense anywhere where the E runs in manhattan. the LIRR is great, but you have to get to Penn station, which is a hassle with luggage. Even if it takes slightly longer, the E gets you there with less transfers. And how is minimum $70 for a cab reasonable (and likely saving no time)??? Compared to $10.50 per person for the subway or around $16 for the LIRR, I don’t see it as reasonable. Maybe if it’s 3 people which is a maximum in a cab in covid times.
I see that I must take another trip to NYC and do an LIRR write-up!
I’m not sure that you’re an actual frequent traveler. By regulation, Taxi’s can only charge $50 bucks between JFK and Manhattan. You saved $30 bucks and had a much bigger hassle for no real reason.
My go to is one of the black suburbans, $50 bucks and no silly dividers plus you get to see over the bridges as you drive into or out of the city.
I didn’t know about the flat rate — thanks for that tip.
Sick burn with the “I’m not sure you’re a frequent traveler” comment.
Lyft or Uber is definitely the worst way to go to the airport. Just, why?
It’s much easier to take the LIRR to Jamaica and get on the AirTrain there. That is much more luggage friendly. That’s the way I do I do, and it’s perfect for me as I am already in Penn Station having taken the train from Springfield MA.
We thought about that, too. But we would’ve had to take another train to Penn Station. Maybe we’ll try that next time!
Would have been easier and faster to do that LIRR route, and a bit safer.
Heck walking to Penn Station from Times Square isn’t bad – only about 10 blocks.
But yeah cabs have reasonable fares.
I’m all for walking 10 blocks. But we had a couple of bigger suitcases with us, so that make it a little more difficult.
There is another route which only costs the price of the subway fare with a Mero card which allows a free connection.
Your can take the the A train to the last stop at Lefferts Blvd. Exiting at the front end of the train, at the bottom of the stairs, you’ll findt the Q10 bus to JFK. Not for anyone with lots of luggage, but more interesting and slightly longer. Once at JFK, you can use the Air Train for inter terminal connections.
why would anyone do this though? last thing you want to do when you’re getting to the airport is to get adventurous with the MTA. stick to the shortest and fastest and most predictable route which is LIRR + AirTrain (if close to Penn Station) or teh E + AirTrain. The A is slow and local in Brooklyn and then getting on a bus, off. The only good bus options are M60 or Q70 to LGA depending which subway you’re connecting from – those are quick and make more sense than a taxi too.
You can ask the agent to open the emergency exit door. You pay and turn the turnstile but don’t go through it and then walk through the emergency exit door with your bag.
Thanks for the tip!
Except there is always weekend closures etc so the original plan with Google maps never works. Add an additional one hour for possible line closures and transfers.
I have done both the LIRR and NYC subway and it depends on how much time you have before flight time. When I’ve longer time, will do the subway to JFK. I’d an international flight out of JFK, I did the LIRR from Penn station.
Google maps are real time now, so it’s fine to go by them.
The least expensive public transportation from Manhattan to JFK is the subway and bus for $2.75.
Take the F train to Kew Gardens-Union Tpke and then follow the signs to the exit for the Q10 Bus to JFK. The bus stop is a 20-second walk from the subway station. It is a free transfer; just swipe your MetroCard again.
The bus drops you inside JFK by Terminal 5. There is an elevator to the terminal where you can take the AirTrain for free.
The “interior” line (gold color on the AirTrain map) runs clockwise and stops at all terminals. Ask the uniformed attendant about the best train to your terminal; it might be the green or red line.
I would not recommend the subway and bus if you have a lot of luggage or if the weather is bad. But it does not take that long—if you are lucky, you might catch the Q10 LTD bus. It runs from 06:30 a.m.- 09:30 p.m. and makes fewer stops.
https://bustime.mta.info/m/?q=Q10#1
You can do the same route in reverse to get from JFK to Manhattan. Happy (and cheap) travels!
PS – Turnstiles are not luggage-friendly. If the turnstile is by a manned booth, you can sometimes ask the agent for help. They watch you swipe your MetroCard card/use your phone to pay and push the turnstile to register an entry (but do not go through). The agent then presses a buzzer that releases the emergency gate to the side. You can then walk through the emergency gate with your luggage. While I have seen this done, it might not be an “official” option.
Thank you so much!!! How long is the Q10 bus ride?
The bus ride takes approximately 35 minutes on the Q10 LTD and 45 minutes on the Q10.
The bus stop next to the Kew Gardens-Union Tpke subway station is “Kew Gardens/80 Rd” on the schedule.
https://new.mta.info/document/6316
To help estimate total trip time, the subway ride from midtown Manhattan (e.g., F train from 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr station) to Kew Gardens-Union Tpke station is around 30 minutes.
Thanks!
Trying to predict travel time to JFK with Uber or Lyft often is futile.Traffic in NYC is very unpredictable and sometimes quite bad. It could take 45 minutes on a good day. Or 3 hours on a bad day.
35 min at 5am from where they went to the airport :). i’ve taken many early flights to the west coast. that’s a dream though after even 630am.
It’s far better to take flat rate yellow taxi from Manhattan to JFK. I was disappointed that the airtrain from Jamaica was not free or had to be paid for separately on top of the LIRR.
most of the time from where they were going it’s the same amount of time and about $50 in savings, if not more with all the new fees they keep adding to cab rides…
Great post. I am usually traveling solo in/out of JFK and if I am going to lower Manhattan I use the subway. Otherwise, Long Island Railroad is the way to go for the rest most of town.
Actually, you’re good to take the E to Midtown and even Downtown. The A is very local in Brooklyn and very slow.
I get one of my aunts to drive me, but then I’m lucky to have family there.
One year we landed at 4pm. I got my family into a rental car and then I hopped the train to get to Yankee Stadium to meet my uncles. The worst part of the trip was going the wrong direction once in the stadium… Those hallways in the old stadium were super hot and the game had started already.
I usually use Google Maps to estimate which of the two routes are quicker – the Subway or the Airtrain/LIRR. Unless I was really desperate to save money or had ample time I wouldn’t take the bus option, and I probably wouldn’t be flying if I had ample time.
Chris, great article.
As an avid subway fanatic and have riden the subway several dozen times to JFK, there are a few items, which haven’t been mentioned.
Depending one where you begin your subway trip, the A train to Far Rockaway and exiting at the Howard Beach Station may be a better choice. (important to take the A train to Far Rockaway not Lefferts Blvd.) From lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn the A train is a better choice as long as it runs Express in Brooklyn. You can pick up the A train in lower Manhattan at the Fulton (formerly Broadway -Nassau) street station. Six other subway lines (2,3,4,5, J and Z) lines have a free transfer to the A train at this station. In downtown Brooklyn, I can pick up the A train at Jay Street Metrotech or the Hoyt Schermerhorn Street stations.
The Q 10 bus from either kew Gardens or Lefferts Blvd has two routes to JFK airport. One route (Limited I believe) will drop you at Lefferts Blvd, near Air Tran’s Lefferts Blvd station. Boarding the Air Train at this station is free and will stop at all JFK terminals. (easier than taking the Q-10 all the way to JFK).
One last choice, if you happen to be in Brooklyn without access to the A train and extra time to spare, the 3 train to New Lots Avenue (last stop) and transfering for the B-15 bus to JFK. Deposits you at terminal 5.
Finally, a great idea is to pick up a subway map which is free at any train station booth. Each subway car contains a map or you can view it online at http://www.mta.info. This is helpful if you need to take one subway line to transfer to the E or A trains. (Not recommended to travel to JFK via subway during rush hour or with loads of luggage).
Thank you, Steve! This is very helpful. We’re mulling over taking our four-year-old to NYC during December so she can see all the fun Christmas stuff. And we’d take the train to/from JFK.
Forget ride shares when going to jfk! NY taxis have a flat fare of $52 plus toll. Much cheaper than what your Lyft was quoting.