I recently flew to New York into JFK airport, and being the savvy traveler that I am (read cheap), I decided in advance that I wanted to take the AirTrain. The AirTrain is a light rail system that connects JFK to both the subway system and Long Island Rail Road. There's a bunch of information about it on AirTrain's Site and Wikipedia, but nobody tells you how to buy a ticket. Until now.
I searched around on the web, and really found a lack of straightforward information on how to ride the AirTrain. The most information I found was on Yelp, where people were more concerned with complaining about how much it costs rather than giving any useful information. Yes, it does cost $5 for a 10 minute train ride, while it's only $2 to ride an entire trip on the subway. But, paying $7 to get all the way into the city is a pretty good deal, considering a taxi would cost you at least $40 and take just as long sitting in traffic.
Finding the AirTrain out of the airport is pretty simple, just follow the signs. You'll take an elevator, a walkway, and find yourself at the platform waiting for a train. But how do you buy a ticket? Do you just get on? Those were my worries too, but don't worry about it... just figure out where you need to go. In my case it was to the Howard Beach station, a short 10 minute ride. Since the train circles the airport terminal, it's free to hop around the airport. They only charge you for the outlying stops and they only charge you when you get off. This becomes clear only after you're on the train itself. When you reach Howard Beach, you'll get dropped right off into the subway station and there are ticket machines and overzealous attendants waiting to help you. (I saw one start punching the buttons for a girl....for a ticket she didn't want.) You'll want a $7 combo pass, which will cover the AirTrain ride ($5) and let you ride the subway ($2). Purchasing $7 worth gives you an added bonus of a $1 credit, perfect if you plan on riding the subway later during your trip. Spend even more and you'll get more credit, so take the time to buy yourself exactly what you think you'll need. As for the subway trip, the ride into the city took me about an hour to get to the Upper West Side and was full, but not overly crowded during rush hour. If you don't have a bag that you can stow by your feet or in your lap, this may not be the way for you to travel. Large suitcases will probably make you uncomfortable and make for a long trip, your best bet may be to shell out the cash for a cab or look into a more affordable airport shuttle.
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