avoid JFK terminal 4 at all costs

[disneyholic family]

just back from 3 weeks at WDW - a magical trip to be sure..

the only downside was our connection via JFK in both directions..

we've flown through JFK before and it's never been great, but this was beyond anything i've ever experienced at any airport (and i've traveled around the world several times)...

no matter how cheap a price you're offered, avoid JFK....even if someone offers to pay for your flight, it's not worth it...
avoid kennedy airport like the plague....

.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Was it the immigration lines? I can't believe that they make people wait for hours to get through after coming off such a long flight.

 

[disneyholic family]

Was it the immigration lines? I can't believe that they make people wait for hours to get through after coming off such a long flight.

it was every aspect of it....well i should specify and say terminals 2 and 4...(terminal 2 is delta domestic and terminal 4 is international)..

but you're right, immigration was a nightmare...the worst i've ever seen it there...
they've added the kiosk machines, but it's made it more complicated rather than less...

however, it's not just entering the country...
on our way out, we had to go through TSA both in orlando and JFK...

the JFK security was the worst i've ever seen....and i've seen a lot....
we waited in line at the terminal 4 TSA for over an hour....
and then the TSA people were beyond terrible..

i won't even talk about how filthy the terminal is......and old and not maintained...
you think you're in the worst of the third world...

really embarrassing for the US to have an airport like that..

.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

That's terrible, I wonder how it is for US citizens coming into the UK. Is it as bad as that? Manchester airport is dreary at best when coming home!!

 

[chmurf]

you think you're in the worst of the third world...

until you connect in Paris CDG (our home airport) then you realise JFK is not that bad after all ...

but, yes, JFK is an airport I've been avoiding at all costs for years.

 

[disneyholic family]

until you connect in Paris CDG (our home airport) then you realise JFK is not that bad after all ...

but, yes, JFK is an airport I've been avoiding at all costs for years.

i haven't been in charles de gaulle airport for about 10 years, but it wasn't so great even then....
when flying to detroit (to see my family), i can change planes in either schiphol or CDG....i ALWAYS choose amsterdam...

as for JFK, we've decided to go a different route to orlando next time..
either fly via london and take a flight straight to orlando...
or maybe try a non-stop to miami and then drive up..

.

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

Oh no Beth we're going via JFK both ways ......... doesn't sound to good.

Hopefully as we have Global Entry clearance we won't have to hang around too long on the way out and we're lucky enough to be flying VA upper class on the way back so we can hang out in the lounge.

 

[disneyholic family]

we were also in a business lounge at JFK on the way back home..
unfortunately, our time in the business lounge was limited due the excessive time spent in the TSA line..

when we mentioned the TSA line at the business lounge, the person checking us into the lounge chuckled sadly, saying she knew what we were talking about and apologized on behalf of the airline..

 

[Jon84]

Newark isn't much better, so if you're going NYC for a trip you don't have much choice.

 

[Jon84]

until you connect in Paris CDG (our home airport) then you realise JFK is not that bad after all ...

but, yes, JFK is an airport I've been avoiding at all costs for years.

I've never found CDG to be bad to be fair to it. It's just long!

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

I had a 4 hour layover in JFK three years ago... whilst it wasn't so bad that it would stop me using it if it was the cheapest option (in fact, we are going on a girls trip to NYC in April and going in and out of JFK as it was the cheapest) I definitely don't remember it too fondly. The toilets were dirty, the staff were rude... but the worst part was no free wifi!!! You had to pay if you wanted it! It was like the dark ages for 4 hours!

 

[disneyholic family]

I had a 4 hour layover in JFK three years ago... whilst it wasn't so bad that it would stop me using it if it was the cheapest option (in fact, we are going on a girls trip to NYC in April and going in and out of JFK as it was the cheapest) I definitely don't remember it too fondly. The toilets were dirty, the staff were rude... but the worst part was no free wifi!!! You had to pay if you wanted it! It was like the dark ages for 4 hours!

that's a very good description.....like the dark ages (or the worst of the third world)...

 

[Ceilidhscot]

Newark isn't much better, so if you're going NYC for a trip you don't have much choice.

Really - is it that bad? Going to NY first next year and flying into Newark from Glasgow (and on the way back as having to use United both ways). DH joked that if United want to bump us off the flight on the way back if overbooked, he'd be happy to spend a few extra days in NY as long as they paid a decent amount lol!

 

[Jon84]

Really - is it that bad? Going to NY first next year and flying into Newark from Glasgow (and on the way back as having to use United both ways). DH joked that if United want to bump us off the flight on the way back if overbooked, he'd be happy to spend a few extra days in NY as long as they paid a decent amount lol!

Their TSA is terrible, I endured it on an Internal Flight from Newark to Orlando at something silly like 5am, and the queues were already ridiculous.

My boss just took an International Flight there from Heathrow and suffered similar when he then had to fly down to Tampa.

 

[disneyholic family]

Really - is it that bad? Going to NY first next year and flying into Newark from Glasgow (and on the way back as having to use United both ways). DH joked that if United want to bump us off the flight on the way back if overbooked, he'd be happy to spend a few extra days in NY as long as they paid a decent amount lol!

haven't been through newark in many years, so i can't say...
though i have a friend who flies via newark to avoid JFK, so presumably it's somewhat better..

.

 

[Interestedobserver]

Seeing this thread made me actually join the forum

Having flown from Newark I cannot believe JFK can possibly be any worse??

It simply cannot. Newark airport back to the UK was the worst airport we've experienced in 30 years

What's going wrong with the airports in New York?

JFK used to have a decent reputation?

 

[disneyholic family]

Seeing this thread made me actually join the forum

Having flown from Newark I cannot believe JFK can possibly be any worse??

It simply cannot. Newark airport back to the UK was the worst airport we've experienced in 30 years

What's going wrong with the airports in New York?

JFK used to have a decent reputation?

you're kidding! thanks for posting this...now i'll be sure to avoid both of them...
i was thinking i should avoid both, but your post confirms that belief..

was newark filthy? i was just so shocked at how disgusting terminal 4 is..
and i've flown through JFK a zillion times....
from the time i was a little girl, we always flew to europe and the mideast via JFK....
terminal 4 used to be an amazing place..
but now it's truly worse than the third world (and i've been in the third world a lot, so i have a basis for comparison)..

it's just horrible...dirty...everything broken....toilets, elevators...

but the worst part about terminal 4 were the people working there.....i have never encountered such rude, nasty, unfriendly people in america in my life....

so not what you're expecting in an american airport.....not at all...

 

[disneyholic family]

i just realized i should give positive suggestions to go along with this negative one..

for people who want to make indirect connections to orlando, Detroit airport is very nice....at least in my experience...
relatively new and easy to navigate..
well, the delta terminal is....
i'm not familiar with the other terminal there, though i assume it's also very nice (it's even newer than the delta terminal)..

if you have to choose between chicago, new york and detroit - pick detroit...it's the nicest airport of the three...

i'm not familiar with Atlanta or Philadelphia, though i'm guessing they're ok as well...

 

[Interestedobserver]

Re our experience at Newark

It's scruffy and horrible looking full stop

Horrendous queues

Staff who hated their jobs. There were security issues the night we were there and nobody giving any info at all

By midnight there were still huge backlogs but most of the staff just left the airport (they were working to rule) so despite 100s in queues they just said sorry we refuse to work past midnight and left a skeleton staff to deal with all the chaos

Rugby scrum type queues everywhere

I vowed never to go near the place again!

Sounds like we've swapped one problem for another one though

As we are using JFK at Xmas and New Year!

I think Newark is the airport for budget airlines?

But it's worse than you could ever expect

 

[disneyholic family]

Re our experience at Newark

It's scruffy and horrible looking full stop

Horrendous queues

Staff who hated their jobs. There were security issues the night we were there and nobody giving any info at all

By midnight there were still huge backlogs but most of the staff just left the airport (they were working to rule) so despite 100s in queues they just said sorry we refuse to work past midnight and left a skeleton staff to deal with all the chaos

Rugby scrum type queues everywhere

I vowed never to go near the place again!

Sounds like we've swapped one problem for another one though

As we are using JFK at Xmas and New Year!

I think Newark is the airport for budget airlines?

But it's worse than you could ever expect

yes, the queues were unbelievable!! and so disorganized...
it would be one thing if it was an hour long line and you just marched along and got to the security agents in an organized fashion..
but it was so disorganized...and run by rude employees...
and there were so many people, i was really nervous during part of it...
you're in this mass of people...with no protection at all...
just these few stupid idiots running the line in this higgledy piggledy fashion...
it was so terribly upsetting..
and then when we got to the TSA agents they were idiots too...
completely out of their element and not knowing what to do at all...

The TSA in orlando were frigging geniuses in comparison to the idiots in JFK...

.