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To start my trek, I jumped on the A Train at Fulton St to head to JFK, where I would eventually connect to the AirTrain. The commute was estimated to be just slightly over one hour according to Google Maps. With a flight that left at 3:40 p.m., I left around 1 p.m., which would give me close to an hour and a half of wiggle room once I had reached JFK. With no checked luggage, a small domestic flight and TSA PreCheck®, I figured I would be fine.
This is where things started to go wrong. While on the subway, I had headphones in and missed an announcement that the A Train was randomly being rerouted to a C Train line. This might sound like I’m speaking German if you don’t live in New York or aren’t familiar with the city’s public transit system. In simpler terms, this meant my train was no longer taking me to the airport. I caught wind of this about 45 minutes into my commute when I noticed we were at an unfamiliar stop.
Not to worry, though. All I had to do was get off that stop, take the C Train back two stops in the opposite direction, and then transfer to an A Train to get back on track. This scenario, on a normal day, would take maybe an extra ten minutes.
I got off the train, caught the subway in the opposite direction and only a few minutes later, I was at Broadway Junction, which would bring me right to the AirTrain to JFK once I caught the next A Train out. However, due to construction, which is likely what made the train reroute in the first place, it said the estimated waiting time for the next train was 24 minutes. This is fairly unheard of in New York, where trains frequently come at least two times every ten minutes. Since I was already cutting it a little close, I didn’t have 20-plus minutes to wait, so I decided to take a Lyft.
I was quite frustrated when I saw that despite a 20-minute drive to JFK, a Lyft would cost me close to $70, a stark difference from my $11.40 public transit commute. Having no choice, however, I sucked it up and put it on my Chase Sapphire Reserve®. This is when the lightbulb flickered on, thinking, This is an annoying situation, but at least I get 10 points per dollar on this car ride. Lyft currently has a promo where, through March 2025, Chase Sapphire Reserve card members get 10 points per dollar spent toward Lyft. The ride ended up being $65, so I got 650 points which I can now put toward hotels or flights through Chase Travel℠, or my personal favorite way to redeem, by transferring out to one of Chase’s travel partners.
To further emphasize that the universe had it out for me that day, ordering a Lyft in New York City usually means a car arrives within two or three minutes. My driver’s estimated arrival time was 13 minutes from the time I ordered the car, and when you’re already running late, every second counts. When I got in the car, he told me he needed to stop for gas, which is when I began to accept I was going to miss my flight.