Info: taking the subway between JFK airport and Manhattan, New York City (NYC)

This message updates a USENET message thread I initiated almost exactly one
year ago concerning how to take the train to and from Manhattan from JFK
airport. This message is optimized for travelers who intend to stay at the
Hostelling International (HI) hostel at 103rd and Amsterdam on the Upper
West Side, but the directions should work for anyone headed to Manhattan.
None of this is rocket science, but I've tried to point out a couple of
confusing "gotchas" that I've hit in the last two trips.



The short story is that it now costs about $7 to go each way between JFK and
Manhattan. Transit time is about 1.5 hours. It appears a free shuttle
between JFK and the Howard Beach stop is not running anymore, so the trip is
$5 more each way than it was a year ago. IMHO, the ease of this trip makes
the train a much better option than wasting money on cabs.



I understand there may be a faster option involving the Long Island
Railroad; if anyone wants to advise me I'll try it out on my next trip.



FROM JFK to MANHATTAN

Exit the terminal, cross the street, and follow the signs up to the
"Airtrain". Buy a $5 airtrain card; ignore the "unlimited" metro/airtrain
card unless you plan to travel to Manhattan very frequently.



If you're staying awhile, consider going to the machine that sells week-long
Metro passes for $21 or monthly passes for ~$70. Note that you need to go
to a special card machine to buy the weekly/monthly pass.



Pick up a subway map for reference.



Ride the airtrain to the Howard Beach subway station.



Catch the "A" train marked "FaR Rockaway". Do NOT get on any A train marked
"Lefferts Boulevard."



Ride for a long while (about an hour) to Manhattan. At the 59 Street
(Columbus Circle) stop, get off. If you're heading to HI international on
103rd and Amsterdam, transfer to the "1", headed uptown.



Take the "1" local. Get off at the 103rd Street exit. Walk one block to
Amsterdam and you're at the hostel.



FROM MANHATTAN TO JFK



If you're at the Hostelling International hostel on 103rd, go to the 103rd
subway station and take the "1 local" heading downtown.



Pick up a subway map for reference before starting your trip through the
subway.



Get off at the 59th Street (Columbus Circle) exit. Find the "A" Train
platform and wait for a train heading to "FaR Rockaway," NOT "Leffert's
Boulevard." Note that the signage here is very confusing: on most subway
platforms, the placement of the labels on the left or the right tracks
indicates what train is going where, but that's not the case here. Catch any
train heading to "FaR Rockaway" regardless of whether it seems like it's on
the "wrong" side relative to the signage.



Ride the train for about an hour.



When you reach the "Howard Beach/JFK" stop, exit.



Take the "Airtrain" to your terminal. You can figure out which terminal you
need to go to by looking at the information posted on the inside of the
train: it lists airlines with their corresponding terminal numbers. If you'
re going on American Airlines, you'll want to get off at Terminal 8/9.