Personal experience: how to deceive tourists in the subway in New York

Often tourists in big cities are deceived by playing on their kindness. On the channel Leuvik in NY and other places on "Zen.Yandex" describes a typical situation that occurs every day in the subway of New York, and to which tourists are often "led".

Next - from the first person.

Almost every time I fly from New York somewhere, my flight departs from JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport). Quite often, I get to him from work on the subway, and along the way I watch crooks cynically breed simple-minded tourists. When I can, I even intervene and explain to the guests of our city that they are trying to deceive them. It is not good that the last tourist impression of New York was how they got the money because of the simplicity of the soul.

I'll tell you too - if you ever go to JFK by metro, you may find this information useful. Or maybe your friends or family.

The thing is that New York was not lucky enough to be one of those advanced cities where you can simply get to the airport by metro. Instead, a special automated train called AirTrain connects the JFK to the metro. To get to the airport, you need to take the subway to one of the two stations connected to this system and make a transfer there.

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The road from Manhattan takes about an hour and ten to twenty minutes, which is pretty good compared to a taxi, especially in the case of traffic jams. For example, I always always travel from Manhattan to JFK by metro, so it’s more reliable. (Once I tried to fly by helicopter, but it was surprisingly not much faster).

So, scammers are waiting for their victims at transfers from the metro to AirTrain. Imagine that you are the average tourist who has checked out of a hotel and is about to fly home. You push your suitcase through the turnstile of the metro exit, and then some girl or young man comes up to you and insinuatingly asks you to give them your Metrocard:

“You’re flying away, you don’t need this pass, and I, an unhappy / unemployed / homeless / sick / pregnant / mother heroine (this part of the story may change), will be able to visit my mother in the Bronx / sister in Queens / daughter in Brooklyn, etc. "

Metrocard is a subway card system (thanks Captain Obvious!) And even if you are not going to return to NY in the near future, you should not give these crooks your card. You will most likely need it in just a couple of minutes!

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The fact is that you need to pay extra for AirTrain, on top of what you paid for the subway. Now a one-way ticket costs $ 5 (despite the fact that the trip will take only 10 minutes, depending on your terminal). And the whole thing here is that for this fare you can only pay using Metrocard. And if you, in a fit of generosity, give it away now, then in a couple of minutes you will have to buy a new one, losing not only money, but also a drop of faith in humanity.

Some tourists even suspiciously ask these crooks if they will need a Metrocard to train to the terminal. To which these crooks blatantly lie that they will need a completely different travel card, supposedly, a Metrocard version, specially designed only for AirTrain. Many even show two different cards as “proof”, one of which actually says “AirTrain”.

Do not believe them. New York public transport passes often look different; anything can be painted on them, but in fact they are exactly the same. Any subway card with at least $ 5 on it will allow you to board AirTrain. And if the balance on it is less than five bucks, then you can report the rest, and save on the difference.

Even if your Metrocard is "at zero", or is an unlimited travel pass for a week (such are often taken by visitors), it is more profitable to have it than to give it away. Unfortunately, the Unlimited Pass does not cover the AirTrain, and it doesn't even offer any discount on the $ 5 ticket price. However, having any Metrocard on hand will allow you to avoid the $ 1 markup that the vending machine will add for purchasing a new card.

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That is, giving the "unnecessary" travel pass to beggars at the exit of the subway, you are guaranteed to end up on a bag of one to six dollars. And they know this very well, since begging on these transplants is their profession. Why do they need it? Everything is extremely simple. Of course, they will not go to any sick grandmother / hungry sister. Your pass will be immediately used to sell subway rides for cash. Often - for newly arrived tourists.

Do not be fooled. Do not give your Metrocard to vile rogues. Do not spoil in the end your impressions of New York, because it is the best city in the world!