Originally Posted by
uela
NYC Metro offers a number of different card options.
For a group of 5 ...
[a] visiting Manhattan for 7 days,
riding JFK AirTrain to Manhattan and back,
[c] planning to use the Subway as much as possible ...
Which Metro card would be best:
Pay per Ride
Unlimited Ride for 7 days for a fixed price
Other ... which?
It really depends on how many times a day you plan to ride the subway (or the buses).
Note that the AirTrain does not go to or from Manhattan; it runs between the airport and two subway stations in Queens, where you can catch the subway to Manhattan.
Also, for a group of five traveling together, you should buy a 10-trip AirTrain card for $25, which can be shared. But after four swipes, the card locks up for 18 minutes, so one of your group will need to use a regular pay-per-ride MetroCard to get through the AirTrain faregate, unless one of the station attendants decides to let the fifth person through without a swipe. (The 7-day unlimited Metrocards are not valid for AirTrain travel.)