Transportation from JFK to Newark

Steve writes:
The AirTrain JFK peoplemover connects the airport to the Howard Beach – JFK Airport station and the LIRR and the subway at Jamaica. You still have to connect to the A train at Howard Beach, so the subway is not "direct."

The Howard Beach/JFK station is at the long term parking lot on JFK property. Thus it is direct service. Jamaica station is in the middle of Queens.
No different than the direct rail service to Newark Airport. One goes from Penn Station to the Newark Airport rail station then the Newark Airport Airtrain monorail/people mover to the terminals.

Steve writes:
While the train does come close to the airport you still have to transfer to another train to get to where you want to go. Saying that is "direct" is a misnomer.

Using that logic Zurich airport also doesn't have direct rail service. Technically the rail station is across the street underneath the parking garage, and one has to use an internal rail system to get to the terminals.

I know nothing about Airporter, or even what it is, but it might be a good deal. The only thing I've ever done is by two-leg bus trip with the transfer at the Port Authority bus terminal -- it's been a while, but real close to thirty bucks sticks in my mind.

If you do elect to go though Newark, have some popsicle sticks to put in your mouth. I went back and forth through there in May and my teeth were just about ground down to the gum line.

Okay Ed does the popsicle stick reference refer to the flight or the area? My husband is a very nervous flyer. We would be on an American Eagle plane which is probably pretty small.

Don't sweat the planes. I've been a pilot for more than fifty years and sleep all the way. It's the damn Newark aiport and the jerks that run it -- never seen anything so screwed up in my life.

The only nice folks were the TSA crowd who were just about rolling on the floor from my wife's harassment when I was going through my fourth randomly-selected-detailed-search on a six-leg trip. They wound up taking our misdirected-by-everbody-else selves by the hand and getting us pointed in the right direction.

Steve writes:
"There are no direct trains from JFK to Manhattan."

The A subway train line travels directly between JFK and Manhattan.

Airport Connections

Since you're spending the night in Newark anyway, and there's no rush, take the buses and forget the train. You might hit traffic, but it really doesn't matter in this case.

If for some reason you do decide to take the train, don't take Amtrak from Penn Station to Newark Liberty station, take New Jersey transit instead. Many more trains and much more frequent.

Thanks for the replies. I downloaded the brochure and will check out that option as well. Right now I just wanted to make sure that connecting from JFK to Newark would not be an issue before I ticket our flight from Rome.

"don't take Amtrak from Penn Station to Newark Liberty station, take New Jersey transit instead. Many more trains and much more frequent." And much cheaper, to boot.

Being that I have never been to New York I'm going to have take some time to look into this. I am very familiar with mass transit but like I said I have no familiarity with New York. Thanks for all the good suggestions.

What about if there's a moving sidewalk somewhere along the way? Does that kill the direct idea since it's another means of transportation? Or what if you've got a busted leg and hitch a ride in one of the golf carts? This is really getting hard to follow.

Yes it does sound like a lot of connecting, that's why I was thinking of the Airporter service which would take us directly to Newark for $30pp

Ah, I miss the good old days when you could make quick connections between the 3 NYC airports via helicopter.

I once was checked in for my flight at LGA and the flight was cancelled shortly before it started boarding. The airline had a flight to my destination leaving in about 40 minutes that they offered to put me on - but it was departing from JFK. It was either that flight, or sleep in the airport and catch one the next morning. It was rush hour, so making the trip from LGA to JFK via the roads was not realistic. I told them to put me on the JFK flight, and I ran over to the NY Airways Helicopter desk, booked a seat on a 'copter to JFK that was about to leave, and got on it. 15 minutes later, after a scenic low-level flight from LGA to JFK, I was checking in for my outbound flight, with time to spare. Ah, buzzing about in helicopters - such a bright future we were looking forward to.

Sadly, those days are gone.

As for spending a night in Newark and connecting between EWR and JFK by bus or train - ugh, sounds awful to me (and I'm willing to put up with some crazy routings to use my FF miles). Are you SURE you have exhausted every other option? I'd certainly opt for a direct flight from Heathrow. Call me crazy, but if I had to choose between spending a night in London and Newark, it would be an easy choice. And while I'm as cheap as the next guy, but I'd be willing to pay a bit extra to avoid a night in Newark and schlepping between the NY airports after a long flight.