Questions about connecting flight--JetBlue at JFK

[Miffy]

For my inbound trip on July 30th, I booked a 1-stop flight (MCO - JFK - SYR).

I've flown only nonstop on JetBlue for years, so this is new to me, but the nonstop flight back to SYR left so early in the morning that I decided on the connecting flight instead, since that way I get an additional park day.

There're 1.5 hours between landing and takeoff of the next flight at JFK, so I'm pretty sure I'll have enough time, especially since I have an EMS seat near the front of the plane and am doing only carry-on.

My questions:

(1) When I get the boarding pass before the flight, will it have both flights on it? Or are there 2 separate boarding passes?

(2) Will the JetBlue app show the gate for the connecting flight at JFK? Or will I have to walk/jog/run around to find a departure board near the arrival gate?

(3) What happens if the MCO-JFK plane is delayed and by the time the plane lands at JFK the plane to SYR has departed? Does JetBlue put me on a flight the next day? I can't imagine there's another JetBlue flight to SYR from JFK late at night.

TIA, you more experienced travelers!

 

[nykelly]

I don't have an answer for you but sympathize with you. We are flying from SYR to MCO and back and was hesitant to do the early am flight as well because I was concerned about getting everyone moving so early in the morning. There was one flight later in the day but dragged my feet too long and the flight's price jumped by about $1,000 for the 6 of us. Everyone agreed it was best to take the earlier one and have the convenience of the non-stop flight and save the money. Wished they offered more options.

 

[sam_gordon]

My questions:

(1) When I get the boarding pass before the flight, will it have both flights on it? Or are there 2 separate boarding passes?

There will/should be two boarding passes. One for each "leg". The app will probably have somewhere to select which BP you want to display.

(2) Will the JetBlue app show the gate for the connecting flight at JFK? Or will I have to walk/jog/run around to find a departure board near the arrival gate?

I'm not familiar with JB, but for Delta, on the BP page, it does show the departure gate. However, I *ALWAYS* double check at least one monitor. Delta has them setup right outside the gates specifically for people on that flight, or I find one of the "massive" boards showing all flights. Gates can change at just about anytime. So it's a good idea to triple check.

(3) What happens if the MCO-JFK plane is delayed and by the time the plane lands at JFK the plane to SYR has departed? Does JetBlue put me on a flight the next day? I can't imagine there's another JetBlue flight to SYR from JFK late at night.

JB should put you on the next available flight. That does not mean the next flight. It depends on how many people were affected and how many seats were available on the plane. If your first flight is delayed for a JB reason (maintenance, crew, etc), JB should get you a hotel reservation and transportation to/from the hotel, if you choose to utilize it. However, if there's been a lot of delays, they may run out of rooms and you're on your own.

As I mentioned, I primary fly Delta but have also used American, and all three answers are the same.

 

[ParrotBill]

sam_gordon is spot on. I can add some.
Late evening at JFK is often full of delays due to saturation of arrivals and departures. If your flight to JFK is late, there is a good chance the SYR flight will also be delayed and you will make it. If not, find Jetblue agents and try not to leave terminal 5 until you get answers about hotel accommodation and meal vouchers.

When I transfer I always research the connecting airport and even print a map sometimes. JFK Terminal 5 has two and a half "wings" and you could find yourself simply in the longer wing arriving and departing. There may not be a departure board. If the next flight gate is near, go look there to see if the SYR flight is on the board, and stay if it is. Otherwise find a departure board by walking toward the center.
Also save a link to the departures web site, and turn your phone off airplane mode as soon as you touch down, look it up before you get to the gate.

https://www.ifly.com/airports/john-f-kennedy-international-airport/terminal-map/Terminal-5-map
https://www.jfkairport.com/flight-tracker?view=VIEW_DEPARTURE&apt=JFK

 

[Miffy]

sam_gordon is spot on. I can add some.
Late evening at JFK is often full of delays due to saturation of arrivals and departures. If your flight to JFK is late, there is a good chance the SYR flight will also be delayed and you will make it. If not, find Jetblue agents and try not to leave terminal 5 until you get answers about hotel accommodation and meal vouchers.

When I transfer I always research the connecting airport and even print a map sometimes. JFK Terminal 5 has two and a half "wings" and you could find yourself simply in the longer wing arriving and departing. There may not be a departure board. If the next flight gate is near, go look there to see if the SYR flight is on the board, and stay if it is. Otherwise find a departure board by walking toward the center.
Also save a link to the departures web site, and turn your phone off airplane mode as soon as you touch down, look it up before you get to the gate.

https://www.ifly.com/airports/john-f-kennedy-international-airport/terminal-map/Terminal-5-map
https://www.jfkairport.com/flight-tracker?view=VIEW_DEPARTURE&apt=JFK

Many many thanks for this!

 

[jimmymc]

(1) When I get the boarding pass before the flight, will it have both flights on it? Or are there 2 separate boarding passes?

You'll get two boarding passes. The app will also have two boarding passes.

(2) Will the JetBlue app show the gate for the connecting flight at JFK? Or will I have to walk/jog/run around to find a departure board near the arrival gate?

The app will show the gate your first leg lands at and where the second leg departs from. They'll probably be near each other, but either way, it will show both.

(3) What happens if the MCO-JFK plane is delayed and by the time the plane lands at JFK the plane to SYR has departed? Does JetBlue put me on a flight the next day? I can't imagine there's another JetBlue flight to SYR from JFK late at night.

If that happens, you should automatically be put on the next available flight to Syracuse. That could mean going the next day if nothing else is scheduled that night.

People connect all the time for flights, and 95% of the time, you'll easily walk to your next flight and make it home as scheduled.

 

[_19disnA]

Haven't flown on Jet Blue, but agree with the above comments. You will get boarding passes for BOTH legs of your trip when you initially check-in for departure. I have never flown on any airline that doesn't do that.

My experience has been that sometimes your boarding pass will show the assigned gate of the connecting flight and sometimes not. If, for example, you check in very early for the first leg of the flight, the next gate may not have been assigned. When exiting the plane at the connecting airport, I ALWAYS check those TV monitors to verify what gate the next flight will depart from. Various things can cause the gate to change even if printed on your boarding pass. Large airports have several monitors so it should be fairly easy to find one and check the status of your connecting flight before walking to the wrong departure gate.

Airline phone apps I have used will also show both legs of your trip once you 'check-in'. I prefer to print a boarding pass before I leave home since it is one less thing to go wrong when traveling. You can also print your boarding passes at one of those kiosks all airlines now have near their departure counters. Other good thing to remember if you don't generally fly on connecting flights is that you should NOT exit the secure area of the terminal once you land to shop/eat/etc. or you will have to go back through security again which can add extra time at your connecting airport.

 

[kylenne]

JFK T5 is big but not as big as 4. Even if you were at opposite ends somehow, I would not worry about making a 1.5 hour connection...IF you are on time from MCO, and that will largely depend on the time of day. This time of year you are virtually guaranteed being delayed flying into the NYC area in the later afternoon/early evenings because of weather either in FL or NY or both. When I came home on 7/6 my roughly 8p flight was delayed nearly 3.5 hours and we didn't take off until 11:30pm. Due to weather delays in both areas.

Have a backup plan is what I'm saying. I don't mean to scare you but I'm struggling to recall a time when I wasn't delayed flying home in the summer from MCO-JFK on the later flights. And looking at my Flighty data, my history of delays from MCO is 62%...roughly an hour on average. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Usually not to the degree I had a couple of weeks ago, but we are coming up on hurricane season starting to peak. I personally would have taken the nonstop in this scenario even if it meant less time at the parks.