Does anyone know the best way to take an MTA bus to JFK? I will be leaving Penn Station at noon, and my flight leaves JFK at 3:30, so will there be enough time?

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What time do you need to be at the airport? What day of the week will you be traveling? Do you want to make the entire trip by public bus, or are you willing to travel from Manhattan to Queens by subway?



Traveling from Penn Station to JFK entirely by public bus will require at least three buses, unless you are willing to take an express bus (fare=$5.00) from Manhattan to Queens.

I don't see how taking the bus is worth the small cost savings given your short time window. These are better alternatives:

Option 1 (Fastest):
Long Island Railroad (Penn Station - Jamaica) - $5, 20min
Air Train (Jamaica to terminal) - $5, 15min

Option 2:
E Subway Train to Sutphin Blvd - $2, 40min
Air Train (Jamaica to terminal) - $5, 15min

Noon till 3:30 the same day? That's not enough time if you are asking to take the MTA all the way, it's like two transfers (or more). I would spend the few extra dollars and take either the Airtrain or the airport bus from Penn station.

If you have your heart set on it, hopstop.com will give you stop by stop details for the bus, they estimate it's 1 hour and 40 minutes (if you start off with the express bus, which will cost a few dollars more)

the flight is on tuesday afternoon, and I am not checking any bags. I dont need to go all the way from Penn to JFK on a bus,I can take the subway into queens, but I just want to save a few bucks by not taking AirTrain.

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Then take a Queens-bound E train to Union Turnpike/Kew Gardens, and transfer to the Q10 or Q10 Limited bus. Allow about 90 minutes from Penn to JFK Terminal 4, from which you can ride AirTrain, free of charge, to your desired terminal.