New York: Arrival and transfer to Manhattan

We left from Lamezia Terme with an Alitalia flight to Rome Fiumicino and then again with Alitalia another flight from Rome Fiumicino to New York J. F. Kennedy airport. In Italy on May 13, 2019 the temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius. In New York around 9 degrees Celsius with rain … we were prepared, the weather information provided just that.

Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

We got off the plane in New York, went to the passport control and after about 15 minutes we went to the exit. To go to the center from the airport there are several solutions. Taxi, Uber, bus, shuttle, or a combination of AirTrain (a surface train that connects the terminals) and the subway. We chose the fastest and cheapest solution, therefore AirTrain and the subway also because we had no bulky luggage. The hotel where we stayed, the Hotel Wolcott is located in Manhattan so we took the AirTrain to terminal 1 to get to Jamaica station.

AirTrain.

The AirTrain to move between the various terminals is free. To exit the station you must use the metrocard, a rechargeable electronic ticket that can be used simultaneously by four people. It costs $ 1.00 and then you need to top it up. Exit from the station for each person costs $ 5.00.

The purchase and recharge of the metrocard are made directly at the automatic ticket machines in the station. You pay either in cash in dollars or by credit card. Then just insert the card into the turnstile and the first person passes, the card is inserted again and the second person passes and so on. We recharged $ 10.00, we left the Jamaica station and following the signs for the metro we went to the Sutphin Blvd-Archer Av-JFK S station.

Subway.

Here we bought the metrocard for the subway always at the automatic ticket machines. Since our itinerary includes continuous use of the metro, we purchased two specific metrocards for the metro. The cost is $ 1.00 each plus $ 33.00 each for unlimited travel for seven days in all areas of New York.

In this case, the metrocards are individual and cannot be used by multiple people such as AirTrain. You can choose different versions of metrocard based on the time of stay, all the information on the official website. We took the metro line E towards World Trade Center to Union Turnpike – Kew Gardens Station. Here we got off to change trains and take the subway line F direction Coney Island – Stillwell Av to 34 St – Herald Sq Subway Station. Leaving the station, the hotel is about 400 meters away and finally after about an hour and twenty minutes from the airport, we arrived at our destination.

It seems like a long time, but in reality it is the fastest and cheapest method compared to taxi, Uber or bus. The simplest method to know the lines, the directions to follow, and the stations to get on and off in the metro is the use of google maps on your smartphone, just type in the destination and you will have all the detailed information. We use it everywhere.

Arriving in the hotel room, thanks to the rain and the tiredness of about 12 hours of flights, we decided not to go out and rest.

City Pass.

We had purchased the New York CityPass C3 online with 3 out of 10 attractions included. Basically it is a pass that at a cost of € 78.84 allows you to visit 3 attractions of your choice on a list of 10 within 9 days of the first use. There is no need to choose the attractions at the time of purchase, you can easily decide later on, just present the QR code at the ticket office entrance. With this pass we visited Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 museum and the Rockefeller Center “Top Of The Rock” observatory. More information on the official website. Obviously there are many other versions of City Pass just do a quick search on any search engine.