Originally Posted by peersteve

Just a slight consideraton of the LIRR option, from an out-of-towner.....

Around 5pm, there are many LIRR trains from Penn to Jamaica....leaving about every 10 mins, with travel times of 19-22 mins......(Subway E runs 32 mins from Lex/53 to S/A/JFK)

At Jamaica station, the LIRR-to-Airtrain transfer seems like a more direct route, which could be run at full speed by someone with just a briefcase.....compared to the subway-to-Airtran connection which means crossing the LIRR tracks anyway.

Still..... if you're near the Union Square-14th St station, the 6 to the E on one-ticket/one-connection is fantastic for frequency...... and even better if there's a 4/5 express waiting for Union Sq-to-GCT.