Another interesting route from LaGuardia is a taxi to 61st St./Woodside, and then LIRR to Penn Station. (Just don't expect the cab driver to become your best buddy.)

The limited-stop train to JFK was called the "JFK Express" or the "Train to the Plane". It started at 57th St. & 6th Ave on the B-train line, made several stops in Manhattan, and at Hoyt-Schemerhorn in Brooklyn, and then non-stop to JFK on the A-train line. I could never understand how they dove-tailed this in with the regular trains, since only part of the route has a separate express track.

I never thought this thread would be 1/5 this long. Amazing....

Interesting point. I went back to your original post and noticed that you asked about two passengers. Almost nobody picked up on that, but it's important. Car services and taxis allow two to travel as cheaply as one, but that's obviously not the case for buses and subways. Two express buses from JFK to Grand Central would be $26, very close to a taxi (max $40, with generous tip). The taxi will leave immediately and take you right to your destination.

Bruce

Just a quick follow-up regarding my recent post extolling the "virtues" of Tel Aviv car service, which I have used between JFK and midtown on several occasions over the last couple of years. I flew into JFK last Saturday and encountered nothing BUT problems and have cancelled several pending reservations with them. If interested, you can read about the detail towards the end of the trip report on the following thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/001170.html

Without wanting to sound too snooty, I found over many, many trips that the discounted car services are perfect examples of getting what you pay for. Carmel, Tel Aviv, Allstate, and the like are known for less-than-stellar service. Having a reservation won't assure that a car will pick you up, coming or going to the airport. Many of the cars are dilapidated, dirty, and downright scary looking. In addition, you'll find that many of these drivers don't know the city well. It's bad enough when they're not familiar with the many shortcuts around expressway traffic, but when they don't know that Manhattan avenues run up/downtown and streets run crosstown you know you're in trouble (and I'm not making that up!)...

Recently I picked up a Carmel car at JFK when my flight had arrived hours late and I was unable to notify my regular service. The driver solicited me for a fare and because the cab line was at least 100 people long (something else to consider if you want to cab to Manhattan is the day and time of arrival - cab lines can last an hour or more) I decided to give the guy a shot. The Town Car he led me to was early '80s vintage, though he insisted it was a '97. I told the guy I might be stupid for paying him $80 to ride in his car, but I wasn't so stupid I didn't know a 20 year old car when I saw one. In the end he had a good sense of humor, but we both knew he was taking advantage of a bad situation for arriving passengers.

At any rate, I've learned that if you want a truly dependable and professional car service, it's going to cost about $80 from JFK, $55 from LGA, and $90 from EWR, including tip and toll. Not cab prices to be sure, but well worth it for me after a long week away and a long flight home. For the occasional traveler it might be worth it to hope for the best with the discount services, but I need to know the car is going to show up, be on time, be clean (and preferably less than 10 years old!), and most importantly, that the driver knows where he's going.

Sorry if I've rambled, but around my office the the war stories about car services far outnumber the ones about airlines!