Can someone help me figure out NYC transit? I got to go to Albany a whole bunch of times in a past life for work but I’ve never been to New York City.
I’ll be accompanying my daughter next Wednesday on a flight from Chicago to JFK airport for something she is doing. She’ll be going on a shuttle bus, but I’ll be on my own to get from JFK to around Times Square midday Wednesday June 14th.
I’m trying to figure it out. Does an unlimited Metrocard pass get me on the first leg which seems to be AirTran to get out of the airport? Or do I pay for that separately. [[ETA: OK. Not sure why i couldn’t google this successfully before. Seems to be a hard ‘No’]]
I’m not sure if I would get my money’s worth out of unlimited if not. Do I have to bother with a metrocard since subways seem to take any wireless credit card?
Is Google Maps sufficient to navigate around or should I download a specialty app?
My wife will be following a couple of days later but flying into LaGuardia. So I need to help her figure out what she’s doing as well.
Thanks for any insight! I’m well familiar with Chicago transit, but I’m well aware how different it can be in different cities.
The subway has touch to pay, so you can just use your credit card to get around. However, the Air Train only takes Metro card. You’ll need a $8.50 Metro card to get out of JFK. But for the rest of your trip, you can just use your credit card.
Google maps has the transit system implemented. Just input your location and destination, click the public transit option, and it will tell you how to get there. One thing is to make sure you’re on the right platform to get the train going in the right direction. Google maps will tell you the platform you need. An actual, paper subway map is handy. You can get them for free from the metro booths that are in some of the stations.
LGA doesn’t have a train to it. She’ll have to take a free shuttle bus to the subway. Google maps also knows about the bus to get to the subway.
You can map it out now in Google maps to get an idea of what it will be like.
Are transfers handled ok on the credit card? I guess if I have to get a Metro card for Air Train, I can just use that. So if I get a 7 day unlimited card (still debating whether I’d use it enough), I can also add 8.50 to it? Apologies for the basic questions.
On the subway, there’s no cost to transfer. You pay one time to get in the subway ($2.75), then you can ride whatever trains to your destination. The transfers are almost always within the subway.
At first, it might be good to pick the trip which has the fewest transfers even if it’s longer. The transfers aren’t all that difficult, but it’s not always clear which direction of the train you want. They’re named by the final destination. As a tourist, you may not know which one is the one you want. Google maps will tell you. Like if it tells you to transfer to the G, make sure you also see if you’re supposed to be on the platform for Court Square or Church St. That’s really the only hard part. There are lots of signs to help you get to the right platform.
I was recently a tourist l in NYC and found a paper map very helpful for this reason. I could see the train’s endpoint on the map. You can get a map from the booth right at the exit of the AirTrain.
No, you have to buy a separate $5 Metrocard to ride the AirTrain if you’re using it to get to/from the airport and not just going to a different terminal. There will be machines there when you get of the AirTrain at Jamaica where you can buy one.
IMO, the best way to get from JFK to Manhattan is to take the AirTrain to Jamacia, and then take the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station. I mean, you technically can get there by subway, but it’s a long ride.
I always get the unlimited Metrocard. If nothing else it just keeps you from constantly asking yourself if it’s worth it to take the subway versus just walking.
Public transit at LaGuardia kind of sucks, unless it’s changed since the last time I was there. She should just take a taxi.
According to the MTA site you can combine cash value and time – though I believe you cannot do both in one single step.
On the AirTrain you pay at the line termini at Jamaica or Howard Beach whether getting off or getting on (you have to watch for what station the AirTrain you are getting into is headed for); then for the regular Subway you pay only on the way in. As filmore indicated the vast majority of the transfer points are system-internal, though a few do involve going up, down and thru multiple halls and escalators/stairs to get to the proper place.
I can’t speak to public transit but I will point out that anyone who’s not been to La Guardia in the last 1-2 years has no idea what it looks like. It’s utterly changed.
So any advice based only on earlier experience is likely to be fatally flawed.
In any given calendar week, starting on Monday 12am, once you use OMNY more than 12 times, all remaining rides are free until the end of the calendar week (midnight on Sunday 11:59pm). This is known as fare-capping and basically sets the maximum amount you have to pay (12 * $2.75 = $33) to use the subway for a week.
So does this sound right? I spend $9.25 to get a metrocard with 8.25 on it to get on AirTrain. Otherwise I can just use a contactless credit card to use the omny scanners to take advantage of the above. I’ll either spend less than $33 dollars on transit or get capped there.
I guess I should mention I’ll be arriving and leaving within the same calendar week
ETA: But that also seems to suggest I can’t use the same contactless card to also pay for someone else like my daughter if she goes with me on the subway.
Depends on how often you’ll likely take the subway. Last month we just caught an Uber from LGA to where we were staying, then bought the $34 unlimited week pass. It was worth it.
I’m hoping that the OMNY card readers will keep track of the unlimited portion like I quoted above. I can’t really find how it handles additional people. Hopeful, it handles it with some benefit of the doubt to the user.
I am not a NYC native, which is what you really want to answer this question, but I’ve had to stay near Times Square a few times and always had a great bagel at Pick a Bagel on 8th near W 54th.
I think you can pay for multiple people on one card, but you can’t let multiple people ride for free on one card. So before you hit the 12 rides, I think you can pay for one person after another. Then after 12, then you’re only allowed to let one person through. I’m just guessing based on my experience. Sometimes if the person I was with had their hands full, I would use my card to tap for them and then myself. But sometimes when I double tapped I would get an error like “The maximum use for this trip has been reached”. I can’t remember the exact message. At the time I wasn’t clear why it gave the error, but I’m guessing it was because my card was in the free zone. They’re fine with me paying for multiple people, but they don’t want multiple people to ride for free on my card. But this is just a guess. To be safe, assume everyone will need their own payment method.
The MetroCard costs $1 and can be bought and recharged with cash or CC at the many MetroCard machines at the subway. The OMNY card costs $5 and can be bought at convenience stores (not at the subway) and can be loaded with money with cash where OMNY cards are sold, a CC, and maybe a bank account. For the latter two recharge methods, I think you have to setup an online OMNY account. I haven’t actually used an OMNY card, so I don’t know how well they work. For just a short vacation, I would think a MetroCard would be better.
One bit of general advice I would have for the subway is to not rush to make a train. Trains come every 5-10 minutes. If you miss one, another will be coming in no time. If you get on the wrong one, no worries. Get off at the next stop and take the train back the other way. The times I’ve gotten on the wrong train is when I was rushing. One other thing to remember is some tracks serve multiple lines. The trains will have the number or letter for the line on the outside. Even if you know you’re on the right platform, make sure the train you’re getting on is for the line you want.
I’m not sure about the best bagel, but Times Square itself is very touristy. I’m not sure you’ll find the best of anything right in that area. But a few blocks north is the wonderful Bryant Park and incredible NYC public library. There’s some nice eateries in the park. And a few blocks north of that is Rockefeller Center. It’s nice to walk around there and they have an awesome observation deck: Top of the Rock. You should make reservations since it can get full. If you’re going to do a handful of attractions, you can look into getting a City Pass. Top of the Rock is one of the attractions you have access to in the City Pass.