avoid JFK terminal 4 at all costs

[Wakey]

I'd fully agree with OP having the misfortune to fly via JFK in August;
1. Huge queues in on immigration. I was in fast track as previous Esta. Took me nearly 2 hours. Queue snakes around different queues, until finally get to machines in middle.
2. Nowhere to even sit or for food or drink when waiting for check in desk to open in terminal 4. People sat all over floor.
3. Bizarrely Wi-Fi won't work on Android devices, only Apple (had 4 Android) and it tries to install bloatware. Horrible.
4. Agonisingly slow security queue coming back out of T4. I had premium economy so blagged going into business queue but still took 45 mins- normal queue twice as long.
5. Nightmare to drive to past Coney Island etc. Dual carriageway, last 12 mikes took 1.5 hours of queuing traffic.
If you are going to NY or via NY go via Newark.

 

[disneyholic family]

I'd fully agree with OP having the misfortune to fly via JFK in August;
1. Huge queues in on immigration. I was in fast track as previous Esta. Took me nearly 2 hours. Queue snakes around different queues, until finally get to machines in middle.
2. Nowhere to even sit or for food or drink when waiting for check in desk to open in terminal 4. People sat all over floor.
3. Bizarrely Wi-Fi won't work on Android devices, only Apple (had 4 Android) and it tries to install bloatware. Horrible.
4. Agonisingly slow security queue coming back out of T4. I had premium economy so blagged going into business queue but still took 45 mins- normal queue twice as long.
5. Nightmare to drive to past Coney Island etc. Dual carriageway, last 12 mikes took 1.5 hours of queuing traffic.
If you are going to NY or via NY go via Newark.

yes that immigration line was a nightmare....exactly...snaking around to the middle...and the middle was a complete mess - like a free for all......

i was shaking by the end having to stand in line for so long...
the most insane thing i've ever seen...

.

 

[Ceilidhscot]

Oh dear, doesn't sound good for either of them does it? Was listening to Air Lingus advert on the car radio driving home tonight and they mentioned flying via Dublin to "beat the line in NY". But that would only work one way I guess and our flights are already pre-booked for next year so will just have to endure the torture and hope NY is worth it (or my DH will never hear the end of it as HE wanted to go there first!!).

 

[disneyholic family]

Oh dear, doesn't sound good for either of them does it? Was listening to Air Lingus advert on the car radio driving home tonight and they mentioned flying via Dublin to "beat the line in NY". But that would only work one way I guess and our flights are already pre-booked for next year so will just have to endure the torture and hope NY is worth it (or my DH will never hear the end of it as HE wanted to go there first!!).

well if you're actually going to visit new york, then it makes sense to fly to new york, no matter how bad the airport is...
i love the city, so i'd be willing to make the airport sacrifice to visit new york..

as for flying from dublin - yes, you'll avoid that insane immigration nightmare, so that's good....

.

 

[Ceilidhscot]

well if you're actually going to visit new york, then it makes sense to fly to new york, no matter how bad the airport is...
i love the city, so i'd be willing to make the airport sacrifice to visit new york..

as for flying from dublin - yes, you'll avoid that insane immigration nightmare, so that's good....

.

Yeah we're staying in NY for 4 nights then flying from Newark down to Orlando for 10. We have to fly back to NY then to Glasgow as for type of ticket we have to use the same airline there and back and there are no direct flights with that carrier from Orlando to Glasgow.

Guess I'll be spending a few hours in Newark airport then (I'll get a couple of good books I think).

Unfortunately it's not Air Lingus we're using either but United.

I'm sure it'll be an adventure and it'll beat being at work for 2 weeks lol!

 

[disneyholic family]

Yeah we're staying in NY for 4 nights then flying from Newark down to Orlando for 10. We have to fly back to NY then to Glasgow as for type of ticket we have to use the same airline there and back and there are no direct flights with that carrier from Orlando to Glasgow.

Guess I'll be spending a few hours in Newark airport then (I'll get a couple of good books I think).

Unfortunately it's not Air Lingus we're using either but United.

I'm sure it'll be an adventure and it'll beat being at work for 2 weeks lol!

4 nights in NY is fantastic!!
have you been?
if not, i highly recommend doing the double decker bus tour around manhattan...
i know it's terribly touristy, but it gives you a nice overview of the city...

DH and i lived in manhattan years ago, but then when we brought our kids back to see it, we did that bus tour and were surprised at how much we enjoyed it (despite having lived there for 3 years)..

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[Ceilidhscot]

4 nights in NY is fantastic!!
have you been?
if not, i highly recommend doing the double decker bus tour around manhattan...
i know it's terribly touristy, but it gives you a nice overview of the city...

DH and i lived in manhattan years ago, but then when we brought our kids back to see it, we did that bus tour and were surprised at how much we enjoyed it (despite having lived there for 3 years)..

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No, it's our first time. DH has always wanted to see The Big Apple so decided to combine a trip their with Disney World for our daughter (who will be 8 when we go).

Was thinking about ordering one of those New York cards that give a number of attraction entry. DD wants to see the Natural History Museum as she watched "Night of the Museum and wants to see the monkey and dinosaur!

I'd like to do Top of the Rock and see some of the architecture (like the Flatiron Building, Empire States etc) and DH just wants to soak in the atmosphere of the place so it's me that'll plan where and what we see (I'm the holiday organiser in the family having pulled plans together for round the world trips etc).

Will have a look at the bus trip though as might be something my DD would like (she's already noted the Disney store at Times Square!).

 

[disneyholic family]

No, it's our first time. DH has always wanted to see The Big Apple so decided to combine a trip their with Disney World for our daughter (who will be 8 when we go).

Was thinking about ordering one of those New York cards that give a number of attraction entry. DD wants to see the Natural History Museum as she watched "Night of the Museum and wants to see the monkey and dinosaur!

I'd like to do Top of the Rock and see some of the architecture (like the Flatiron Building, Empire States etc) and DH just wants to soak in the atmosphere of the place so it's me that'll plan where and what we see (I'm the holiday organiser in the family having pulled plans together for round the world trips etc).

Will have a look at the bus trip though as might be something my DD would like (she's already noted the Disney store at Times Square!).

the double decker bus is one of those hop on/hop off buses

i think there are two different companies.....maybe..
anyway, we went on the bigger company.

but we didn't hop on/hop off...we just rode it all the way around manhattan..
it really gives you a good idea of new york...and you can see well from up there...

my kids LOVED the museum of natural history....but they were teens when we went to new york (a long time ago - right before 9/11)..

we were supposed to go to the top of the trade center (and see DH's old office in the trade center), but we took the ferry to the statue of liberty and both DD and i got very seasick...
so we skipped the trade center....i said, "that's ok...we'll do it next time we come...it's not going anywhere"....that was 12 days before 9/11

anyway, new york is very much a walking town...

another thing an 8 year old might like....the central park zoo...

let's see..what else...

what time of year are you going?

 

[disneyholic family]

i just googled... there are at least two of the hop on/hop off bus tours..possibly more
grayline and the big bus are the ones i'm familiar with...

we took the grayline hop on hop off...we all enjoyed it....not sure about what an 8 year old would think of it though...

.

 

[Ceilidhscot]

i just googled... there are at least two of the hop on/hop off bus tours..possibly more
grayline and the big bus are the ones i'm familiar with...

we took the grayline hop on hop off...we all enjoyed it....not sure about what an 8 year old would think of it though...

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Sorry, was really late last night to reply (I'm in Scotland so past my bedtime!).

We're going in October as that's when the kids get a couple of weeks off school for half term (though having to take her out for 2 days as flying out on the Thursday). Summer just looked too hot as both myself and my daughter are very fair skinned (pale blue as they say!). Hoping it would be a bit cooler and so want to see Mickeys Not so Scary Halloween Party as well as that looks amazing!

 

[disneyholic family]

Sorry, was really late last night to reply (I'm in Scotland so past my bedtime!).

We're going in October as that's when the kids get a couple of weeks off school for half term (though having to take her out for 2 days as flying out on the Thursday). Summer just looked too hot as both myself and my daughter are very fair skinned (pale blue as they say!). Hoping it would be a bit cooler and so want to see Mickeys Not so Scary Halloween Party as well as that looks amazing!

if it was late for you, it was super late for me....i'm two hours ahead of you (so when it's midnight youre time, it's 2 am my time)..

october's a nice time in florida....certainly nicer than the killer summer months..

new york will be cold......but probably not as bad as scotland in october...
still you need to bring layers...even for florida, you should have light layers...

you're right about the fair skin..
when we were there a few weeks ago, it was scary to see the deep cherry red color of some of the fair skinned guests..
i wanted to go up to them and tell them to get out of the sun!!!

DS is terribly light skinned...he has two colors....white and red....
he stays very covered up when he's in orlando....his hat covers his neck...he uses a hiking hat - looks stupid, but does the trick...

and he wears long trousers....and slathers his arms with very strong sunscreen....
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[steve_rob]

My experiences with JFK have been wildly different basically depending on which terminal I've arrived/departed from. Luckily I've avoided Terminal 4 so far, which seems to have been the one that most people have had the worst experiences with on here.

Flew BA from Terminal 7 just a few months back and the landside portion was dreadful, looked like it was stuck in the 70's and there were huge queues everywhere. Then I got airside and it was a LOT better - had clearly been updated quite recently and looked like something I'd actually like to use. However I was lucky enough to have the rights to use the BA lounge for that particular flight (which was also very good, with better food than the one at Heathrow T5 that I'd used to fly out a few days previously) so didn't really bother exploring the facilities that much; just headed for the lounge via the duty free!

I've also flown in and out of Terminals 5 and 8, although both of those were before major refurbs so maybe it's not fair to comment on those as what I would have to say is probably massively out of date. I did remember thinking at the time that both these terminals were quite small and poky for such a big airport and that they'd probably be best in having less, but bigger terminals and it looks like that's what they've done (I think 5 & 6 merged and so did 8 & 9 ?) but whether that's made them any better, is another matter!

 

[disneyholic family]

My experiences with JFK have been wildly different basically depending on which terminal I've arrived/departed from. Luckily I've avoided Terminal 4 so far, which seems to have been the one that most people have had the worst experiences with on here.

Flew BA from Terminal 7 just a few months back and the landside portion was dreadful, looked like it was stuck in the 70's and there were huge queues everywhere. Then I got airside and it was a LOT better - had clearly been updated quite recently and looked like something I'd actually like to use. However I was lucky enough to have the rights to use the BA lounge for that particular flight (which was also very good, with better food than the one at Heathrow T5 that I'd used to fly out a few days previously) so didn't really bother exploring the facilities that much; just headed for the lounge via the duty free!

I've also flown in and out of Terminals 5 and 8, although both of those were before major refurbs so maybe it's not fair to comment on those as what I would have to say is probably massively out of date. I did remember thinking at the time that both these terminals were quite small and poky for such a big airport and that they'd probably be best in having less, but bigger terminals and it looks like that's what they've done (I think 5 & 6 merged and so did 8 & 9 ?) but whether that's made them any better, is another matter!

i've revised the title of the thread to specifically say "terminal 4", which is the worst of the terminals at JFK..

 

[disneyholic family]

Oh dear, doesn't sound good for either of them does it? Was listening to Air Lingus advert on the car radio driving home tonight and they mentioned flying via Dublin to "beat the line in NY". But that would only work one way I guess and our flights are already pre-booked for next year so will just have to endure the torture and hope NY is worth it (or my DH will never hear the end of it as HE wanted to go there first!!).

i just checked the list - Air Lingus seems to use terminal 5....so you should be ok...terminal 5 was fine in comparison to terminal 4..

,

 

[disneyholic family]

here's the list of airlines and which terminal they're in...
https://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-airlines.html

the worst terminal by far is terminal 4..

terminal 2, is pretty awful, but not in the league of badness that 4 represents..

from what i remember, 8 is a nice terminal, but the TSA line there was just as bad as the other terminals...but the terminal itself wasn't too bad...

terminal 5 is bad but not in the terminal 4 league...we spent several hours here on the way to orlando....jet blue kept changing the gate....terminal 5 is really big, and not very comfortable in my opinion...but still it's domestic, so not as bad as terminal 4...

i haven't been in terminal 1 since it was rebuilt (i think it replaced the twa terminal? or maybe not...) anyway, i don't know a thing about terminal 1...

terminal 7 is relatively new, so possibly in decent shape...i don't know..

i think that's all the terminals...there were only ever 8 terminals i if i remember correctly....they tore down terminals 3 and 6 a number of years ago...
i don't remember terminal 6, but i flew through 3 a lot...i don't understand why delta tore down 3 and left 2....2 is much worse than 3....but they left 2 and tore down 3...i remember them saying at the time that they were going to build a new terminal 3....but so far nothing...

 

[disneyholic family]

for fun, i went over to skytrax to read the reviews of JFK...pretty funny actually...

some examples:

"very inefficient"
31st August 2017
Horrible System! Arrived at 11am didn't get out until 12:49 pm. 2 hours. Very inefficient system of scattered scanners, people having difficulty and staff refusing to help people. Then you wait in a disorganized line for customs control. Asked me if I brought anything and I replied that I didn't bring food whereby he rudely lashed out "that's not what I asked you". This is no way to be welcomed back to the United States regardless of being citizen or not. We are supposed to be a leader in technology and friendly country yet first impressions by every face I saw was one of misery, fear of complaining and disappointment. Luggage area has videos playing yet no info on which flight suitcases are coming from. Very disappointing.

"all have very bad attitudes"
27th July 2017
The passport control employees at immigration control are beyond horrible and rude. Most of them around the entry queues can barely speak English. They all have very bad attitudes and will offer no help. If you go through there, be sure to take your blood pressure medication beforehand.

"there was no help at all"
23rd June 2017
I've never experienced an airport with ruder staff, from the staff scanning to the customs staff to the McDonalds staff. Not a smile, not a conversation. It was my partner and I's first time in America and there was no help at all to make the situation any easier.

 

[steve_rob]

i think that's all the terminals...there were only ever 8 terminals i if i remember correctly....they tore down terminals 3 and 6 a number of years ago...
i don't remember terminal 6, but i flew through 3 a lot...i don't understand why delta tore down 3 and left 2....2 is much worse than 3....but they left 2 and tore down 3...i remember them saying at the time that they were going to build a new terminal 3....but so far nothing...

There were ten terminals at one point: 1 through 9 and also one called the Tower Terminal (which was separate to the rest and so didn't get numbered).

T3, T6 and T9 were knocked down - where T3 was is now just extra airplane parking for T2; where T6 was is now an new additional wing for international arrivals at T5; while both T8 and T9 were dismantled and rebuilt as one new extra large building which they called T8 again.

 

[disneyholic family]

i've been flying through JFK for 52 years....
i don't recall using terminal numbers in the early years...
i remember always referring to terminals by their names...
or perhaps their nicknames...

we used the 'international terminal' a lot - now only referred to as terminal 4
we used the TWA terminal a lot - i haven't a clue what terminal number the TWA terminal was....i assume this terminal was torn down at some point..
we used the pan am terminal a lot...i don't know which terminal number it was.. i think it too was torn down, but maybe not..

as a kid, we never flew domestic into JFk..
we always flew into la guardia and took a helicopter over to JFK...
so i never was in any of the domestic JFK terminals until i was older...

by the way, this was all back when i lived with my family in detroit....i only became an expat as an adult..

.

 

[TavieP]

I'm sad to have to agree with this thread. I just got back from a vacation in Russia, and coming home through JFK's passport control was absolutely horrible, as it always is. It's just gotten worse since they added those passport kiosks; no attempt made by the employees to guide people into lines or give people any idea where to go, which results in a mass of people, pushing and shoving. Awful all around.

As a NYer I'm incredibly embarrassed whenever I fly somewhere else and have to come home to any of our local airports. Just shameful. Surely we can do better than this?

 

[Interestedobserver]

To the guys going to NYC with kids

We think it's the best city in the world

Add Times Square and hells kitchen to your must dos. We recommend 5 napkin burger on hells kitchen for a great burger experience

Try and watch a basketball game at MSG

Top of the rock or Empire State are both incredible

And "the ride" (we've not done it yet but will at xmas) looks amazing and a must do for families now