I'm not willing to take the chance to save $30 in the middle of the night in a strange city- any strange city. If you are somewhere unfamilair, you should not attempt to save $30 when it could mean the difference between safety and an unpleasant encounter. Unless you know the situation, you know the neighboorhoods, and are familiar enough with the public transportation system to know how not to get lost, there's no way I'd trust that after rush hour. To me, it's just not worth $30.

I've taken that train from the city to brooklyn in the middle of the morning and it was one of my scariest experiences ever!

As to whether EWR offers easier access to Manhattan than JFK, I for one will take JFK every time. Backups at the Holland and Lincoln tunnels from 6am to 9pm are the norm, and there are unfortunately not any really viable alternate routes for downtown or midtown. JFK, on the other hand, can be accessed from many different roads so when there's a backup or accident on one you can easily divert to another. I myself avoid EWR like the plague! ;-)

I'm not a big fan of EWR, but I have to disagree with one of the previous statements. During the morning rush hour, buses have a special, dedicated lane to and through the Lincoln Tunnel (which they use to get to the Port Authority Bus Terminal). They zip past the traffic.

Bruce

Oh yes there ARE alternative routes, and they have no traffic!

It's called the PATH train! $4 express shuttle to Newark Penn Station. $1 for PATH train to World Trade Center or 33rd Street.

Inexpensive and NO tunnel or bridge traffic. I'd take EWR over JFK anyday!


Mac


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Via con Dios!

Tiny suggested improvement over the previous post: Take the #62 public bus to Newark Penn Station for $1. Save $3 over the express bus. This really is a good way to get to the World Trade Center, but it's very slow to Midtown -- and goes only as far as 30th Street and 6th Avenue.

Bruce

Yeah, you can take the #62 to Newark Penn Station, and yeah, I have done it. In fact I have taken that bus probably more than the express bus, but:

a) it is slower (slightly)
b) all type of riff-raff inhabit that bus

there are also mostly decent hard working human beings on it, but it is NOT for the squeamish! You think taking the A-Train through Brooklyn late at night is bad??!!?!?

Try taking this LOCAL surface bus through Newark late at night!!!!!!!!

Also, the PATH train DOES go to 33rd street, not 30th (Herald Square, Macy's et. al). It's slow, but now excruciatingly so. For those who are going further uptown or want speed, just go to the World Trade Center and catch ANY subway you want for an extra buck-fifty!

Mac

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Via con Dios!

In my experience, most of the people on the #62 bus are airport and airline employees. I've never seen anyone scary on that bus. And buses are inherently safer than subways anyway, because the driver is right there and escape is possible (to the street).

To get to 33rd Street on PATH, you have to change trains in Journal Square, which is time-consuming in itself, then the second train makes too many stops. It does go to 33rd Street, technically, but I always get off at theback of the train, which is at 30th. Not a big difference (780 feet!).

I guess everyone is entitled to his own opinion!

Bruce

Everyone should decide what is best for them.

For some reason, JFK scares me. It's big, under contrucation and it take sforever for buses to get to Terminal 7 for United.

LGA is better, two real main terminals. Traffic can be good or bad. My recommendation if traveling during MOST hours of the day:

Take a cab to the Astoria Boulevard Subway Station. (7-8 dollars)
Take the N train to midtown Manhattan (1.50.)

If time's a factor the cab fare is generally around 12-15 dollars.

As for EWR:

AIRLINK is teh bus that takes you to Penn Station. Runs an average of every 20 minutes.
MY advice: take the tram (as long as it's running) if you are at Terminals B or C to A and get the airlink tehre. The buses and luggage area can fill up fast.

$4 is the fare. best if you don't have too much luggage.

The #62 is also a decent option. But be wraned: the bus drivers insist that you put your luggage under the seat and out of the aisle. SOme can get angry since this bus does fill up with people, students, the elderly. It's also the SAME bus that goes to Woodbridge Center, one of the state's biggest malls.

As Fleetwood Mac sang: You can go your own way..

I wanted to make a note on the subject of the A train through Queens and Brooklyn. Some people may recall that the MTA used to run (until 1989 or so) a special express train with no stops except in Manhattan and at JFK along the A train tracks. It eliminated some of the concern of danger at the local subway stops, but it still required connection to the terminal bus in a remote JFK parking lot.

New York's easiest connection to any airport is probably via the Jamaica Queens station - a short and inexpensive cab or bus ride from LGA and from JFK. And frequent LIRR trains into Penn Station.

Unfortunately, none of the three airports have truly unimodal public transit links to the city. Usually, taxis are the way to go, but you have to know your bridge and tunnel options in advance.

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!