Nothing says “Welcome to New York” than the fee to use the JFK AirTrain, which has steadily increased over the years. Well, for those who hate that fee, it’s going up.
Again.
$8.25 if you dare to exit at Howard Beach or Jamacia.
As of today, 5th March 2023, that cost jumps to $8.25 for a single fare.
This must be paid by MetroCard (as there is no OMNY or Contactless payment method allowed). As a reminder for those who aren’t New York residents, Metrocards aren’t free and attract a $1 charge for purchasing a magnetic media card.
This applies to exits and entries at Jamaica and Howard Beach Stations. At other points on the JFK property, the usage of the AirTrain remains free.
Of course, no transfers are provided to use MTA services, requiring you to load another $2.75 (or switch to another fare medium) for onward travel on the Subway or Bus (or $10.75 during peak hours or $5 during off-peak hours and weekends) if you want to use the Long Island Rail Road.
For those who are stuck commuting in and out of JFK, there is minor relief, as the 30-Day AirTrain JFK MetroCard ($40/Unlimited Rides) and the AirTrain JFK 10-Trip MetroCard ($25/10 trips) will not rise in price.
A recent history of rises
You still wish it was this low.
In the past, the JFK AirTrain was an “almost” reasonable $5 to use for many years.
However, over recent years, prices have shot up, in the past four years, with the fare climbing to $7.75 in November 2019, $8.00 in March 2022 and today’s rise of $8.25.
Thinking Newark is any better?
Oh, and if you’re thinking of escaping the fee and going through Newark, the exit fee at that airport is now $8 via the AirTrain Newark.
For context, NJ Transit charges $15.50 for a one-way ticket to New York Penn Station, including the exit fee.
It’s a way of pushing people to other modes of transport
By the time a family of three or four starts paying out to use AirTrain + whatever transport method they need, a Yellow Cab beings to make economic sense – even at $70+tip to down Manthann one-way, as it is a one-seat ride, with ease of carrying baggage, without having to deal with cold stations, unfriendly environments and being bombarded with a map that can take time to digest.
Heck, an Uber and Lyft could make sense, especially if you are taking more than four people. For those who are travelling on their own or as a couple, the math becomes a little less balanced, and we’re at the point where you have a choice – suck up the fees or take a cab.
Or a shuttle bus if you hate yourself.
But we’re in an age where we are meant to reduce reliance on private cars and push ourselves to use public transport, lumping further costs to use the AirTrain (JFK, Newark or any other Airport Transit System that requires payment to exit onto a public transport system) it seems the only reason to raise prices is “because they can”, rather than improve the service.
Or dread the thought – lower the barrier to entry into the system.
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If you have time, take AirTrain to lefferts Blvd get off (no charge) and take the 10Ltd stop bus to the Lefferts Blvd A train station. It’s $2.75 to go to Manhattan . Just saved $8.25 so you can buy lunch.
You can avoid the JFK Airtrain exit fee by taking Bus Q10 from Airtrain Lefferts Blvd Station and then transfer to Subway A or E with the free transfer.
Jacking up fees on public transport makes no sense. Why don’t they charge a pickup or dropoff fee at JFK for passenger vehicles instead?
Leave it to the MTA to make services for visitors as painful as possible.
The OMNY website says MetroCard is scheduled to be phased out by the end of 2024, so relief from that part is on the horizon.
But another fare increase…oy vey. When AirTrain first opened it was $5, and (at least at Jamaica) at peak times when the lines at the card machines were bad they’d station employees at the exit and just take $5 in cash (ones or a five) to let you through.
If only there was some contactless payment method that would allow passengers to pay and walk through a fare gate.
Nah. Silly thoughts
The MTA is not known for adopting new technology quickly.
And that’s the most understated thing I’ve said in as long as I can remember.
I only take airtrain if it’s dumping outside or super hot or cold. Otherwise, it’s lefferts, quick walk or bus to nearest subway station and with 15-20 mins extra time it costs 8.25 less each way. Most of any incremental individual visitors lost will not go rideshare or taxi. Groups went to Uber a while ago. Too stupid expensive to Uber if you were thinking transit to begin with. And the extra fee for airtrain-specific card which I need to remember to bring everytime I’m in town and lack of contactless payment at airtrain is the extras needling extra motivation to just alight at lefferts.