You might want to check out the
New York Airport Service bus.
It's hit or miss which would be faster at that hour, given the reverse commute and reduced lanes at the tunnels in your direction but at least the bus is a one seat ride to Grand Central.
I'd pretty much given up on the bus, since I live on the west side and the AirTrain avoids crosstown traffic, but if you are just going to GCT, it's worth looking at.
They one caveat about the bus is that the worst part can be the stops at each terminal at JFK- depending on where you get on, it can be more than 45 mins before you leave the airport. Once you're on the road it's not bad at all though.
Unfortunately I can't tell you which terminal is the last stop before exiting. I feel like they've done it randomly sometimes. Maybe someone else has better tips.
For your return, I would definitely take a cab or walk down to the LIRR at Penn Station to Jamaica.
There is a lot of track work over the weekends these days and E service has been affected for the last few weeks. But even if there wasn't, I wouldn't want to count on the E train at 6AM on a saturday.
Have fun.
Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
Am flying in Thurs for the Freddies (land at 3:10pm if flight is on time) & to save $$, would like to do the Airtrain/Subway combo, and same on return early Sat a.m.
I know how to get the airtrain & buy the combo pricing, but no clue on which subway (preferably an express) to take to get to the Hyatt Grand Central (or which direction to walk when I do come out of the subway). Also, I think I'll be staying at the Times Square Hilton, so need to know what subway (and where to pick up) to head back to JFK (flight is at 8:55am Sat).
Any info apprecitated. Cheers. Sharon