Flights via JFK. Help needed please!

[ellataylor]

We have just found out that our flight time from JFK to MCO has been brought forward an hour so instead of a 3 hour stopover in JFK we have just 2 hours between flights . We are flying BA from Heathrow to JFK and AA from JFK to MCO. They codeshare so i think this means no need for baggage reclaim at JFK or check in??

Has anyone had experience of flight connections at JFK or experience with moving between terminals? Do you think 2 hours is enough time or do I need to lose more sleep over the idea of running around a large,unfamiliar airport with our 4 children?!

Any help or advise would be very welcome. TIA

 

[Elise79]

You will have to collect luggage to do customs & immigration however if you are ticketed right through the have a speedy connections thing - we didn't use it but it was mentioned on our flight for connections under 3 hours.

I do know AA operates from a different terminal to BA as AA have their own terminal at JFK.

 

[chmurf]

you will need to collect your bags after immigration and before customs, then you'll drop them off at the connection counter, it's done in a matter of seconds if you already have your boarding passes for your next flight (they should be issued at LHR or printed after online check in)


you will need to take the airtrain to change terminals, and you'll also need to clear security.
2hrs at JFK is tight but doable.

worst case scenario, you miss your flight to MCO, but if you're booked on the same ticket AA will put you on the next available flight. But you should be ok.

 

[flortlebap]

Immigration took us 90 minutes at JFK last month, but our friends who flew out the following day cleared it in 20 minutes. So I guess it depends when you land - they landed around 12:30, we landed at 16:30 and the queues were awful. Worse than orlando.

2 hours is your minimum time so you should be ok though. If not then they ought to put you on the next flight (as long as you booked the correct layover time).

 

[disneyholic family]

as someone has mentioned, there is a speedy immigration line at JFK for people who are connecting to another flight.

as you leave your airplane - just outside the door of the plane (well not actually the door, just outside of the jetway that leads from the plane) - there should be a person handing out a speedy immigration card - i don't remember the official name on the card....my family refers to it as the JFK immigration fastpass, but that's not the official name.

although, i don't know how it works now that they use the automated kiosks at JFK.

But look for that special pass as it puts you into a special bypass line rather than the regular line.

the last time i was there (before they introduced the automated kiosks) there was one speedy connection line for both US citizens and aliens (non-citizens)...
we got into that line and then within a few moments we were at the head of the line where the person asked us if we were citizens or aliens. since one of us is an alien, we were sent to the alien side -right to the head of the line.

so we were next in line for one of the immigration windows and were through that really fast.

Then we had to wait for our luggage and take it through customs.
This is where there was a problem as there was no fastpass for customs.
and there was a VERY long line waiting to clear through customs.

so i just raced us all with our carts full of luggage to the head of the line, asked the people there if i could cut in front of them as we were about to miss our connection. They said sure and let us go in front of them.
We went through customs with no problem, raced our carts to the connecting desk, handed off the luggage there, then raced to the air train to get to terminal 8 (american airlines)....

we truly raced the whole way....what i call the JFK mini-marathon...

our problem was our two flights weren't on the same ticket, so we had to check in a second time.
if your two flights are on the same ticket, you'll be ok.

when you get to terminal 8, you'll have to go through security a second time.
Don't be shy, if your flight is soon, tell the security people and ask them to push you to the front of the line.
When we first asked, the stupid security person wouldn't move us up.
But i asked again and she realized her stupidity and grabbed me by the hand to lead us to the front of the line (much to the ANGER of the not so nice americans waiting in line - we got lots of "you should have come to the airport sooner" to which i responded - we flew in - i wanted to add "you dolts' but didn't)..
anyway, we made it.. and that was with only an hour to our connecting flight (our plane was 2 hours late getting into JFK - thus the short connecting time).

anyway, bottom line, you can do it.
Check for the "fastpass' through immigration when you get off your plane and don't be shy at customs about asking to go to the front of the line.
And don't be shy at security either.

one question - are your two flights on the same ticket? this is important, as if you miss the second flight, if they're on the same ticket, the airlines will take care of you. if they're not on the same ticket - then i don't know what happens...

 

[ellataylor]

Thanks so much guys for your experiences and advice. I feel a lot less stressed about it now and willing to take the attitude of what will be,will be!

Beth you made me smile with your comment about running the jfk mini marathon, this is exactly what i am imagining! The flights are both on one ticket and our TA assured us we would not have to check in again at JFK so hopefully this will make it possible. Mind you he also told us we would check in our luggage at heathrow and it would magically appear at MCO. I thought that sounded a bit too magical!

I will take all your advice with me and hope for a little sprinkling of pixie dust on the lines at immigration and if not just be happy we are still on our way to WDW! Thanks again x

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks so much guys for your experiences and advice. I feel a lot less stressed about it now and willing to take the attitude of what will be,will be!

Beth you made me smile with your comment about running the jfk mini marathon, this is exactly what i am imagining! The flights are both on one ticket and our TA assured us we would not have to check in again at JFK so hopefully this will make it possible. Mind you he also told us we would check in our luggage at heathrow and it would magically appear at MCO. I thought that sounded a bit too magical!

I will take all your advice with me and hope for a little sprinkling of pixie dust on the lines at immigration and if not just be happy we are still on our way to WDW! Thanks again x

sounds like it will be ok...
and if you miss the second plane, the airline will arrange for another flight for you...
(we've even been moved to la guardia by an airline when our flight arrived late and we missed the last plane out of JFK - that was exciting.....a race from JFK to la guardia!! but the airline arranged for everything...DD and I were on that trip together....it was us and another mother and her son.....just the 4 of us on a huge bus taking us from JFK to la guardia)..

by the way, i ALWAYS fly into JFK - it's not the nicest airport in the world, but it's not the worst either...
AA's terminal (terminal 8) is pretty nice (as compared to Delta's terminal -terminal 2 - worse than anything you've seen in the third world)...

i'll check to see which terminal BA uses...

i was thinking about it - i believe the pass is called the "connecting flight" pass...again - you get it just as you step out of the boarding jetway ....there is usually a person sitting there handing them out..
the last time i got one, it was a huge orange card...

 

[disneyholic family]

i just looked it up and i see that BA uses Terminal 7 - so now i don't know if anything i wrote to you is true..

everything that i wrote about the 'fastpass' is true for terminal 4 (VA uses terminal 4)..

BA uses terminal 7..

ok - i just looked up terminal 7 and i see there are also multiple airlines there - so it stands to reason that they also have a special 'connecting flight pass'
but i don't know if they have it or not....
when you step out of the jetway from the plane, take a quick look around to see if there is anyone there from immigration - if there is, ask if there is a special line for short connecting flights..

even if there isn't anyone there - pay attention to the various lines.....there will be one for citizens, one of non-citizens, one for airline crew (possibly one for handicapped) and maybe one for people with short connecting times....but maybe there won't be.....but it's worth a look..

sorry i've never been through terminal 7...(i've only used 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8)

 

[disneyholic family]

here is the map of kennedy airport.

you can click on "terminal 7" and it will take you to the map of terminal 7

same for terminal 8.

http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-airport-map.html

 

[ellataylor]

Thanks so much Beth...you are a legend and stopped my stress levels rocketing!! Your info and experience of JFK is sooo helpful.