Mid-Atlantic - JHB-JFK-BNA - Some advice for a foreigner!

Hi,

I have book my international flights for my trip, and I am trying to work out the best US internal flights for me.

I arrive in JFK at 6:40 from Johannesburg on the 2nd of January 2012.
I want to get to Nashville, the cheapest way possible.
I am aware that an 18 year old guy travelling alone from South Africa is probably going to sound alarms for immigration, so I want to allow for that. Is JFK immigration extremely strict? How long should it take me to clear it? I am squeaky clean and will have nothing to declare.

This is what I have come up with:

Monday, January 2, 2012
Delta Air Lines 2403 Operated by: MESABA DBA DELTA CONNECTION

Economy
Canadair 900
1hr 45min
331 miles

Depart: 12:45pm afternoon New York, NY New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)
Arrive: 2:30pm afternoon Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh Int'l Apt. (PIT)

Change Airline. Time between flights: 1hr 18min

United Airlines 493

Economy
50% on time
Airbus A319
1hr 42min
406 miles

Depart: 3:48pm afternoon Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh Int'l Apt. (PIT)
Arrive: 4:30pm afternoon Chicago, IL Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)

Change planes. Time between flights: 2hr 0min

United Airlines 5832 Operated by: /UNITED EXPRESS/EXPRESSJET AIRLINES

Economy
Embraer RJ145
1hr 28min
403 miles

Depart: 6:30pm evening Chicago, IL Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
Arrive: 7:58pm evening Nashville, TN Nashville Metropolitan (BNA)

Total duration: 8hr 13min Total miles: 1140 miles

And for the return .... Departing Nashville on Sunday, the 5th of Feb, 2012.

United Airlines 5967 Operated by: /UNITED EXPRESS/EXPRESSJET AIRLINES

Economy
Embraer RJ145
2hr 59min
1022 miles

Depart: 3:50pm afternoon Nashville, TN Nashville Metropolitan (BNA)
Arrive: 5:49pm evening Denver, CO Denver International (DEN)

Change Airline. Time between flights: 1hr 26min

Delta Air Lines 4786 Operated by: SKYWEST DBA DELTA CONNECTION

Economy
70% on time
Canadair 900
1hr 28min
380 miles

Depart: 7:15pm evening Denver, CO Denver International (DEN)
Arrive: 8:43pm evening Salt Lake City, UT Salt Lake City International (SLC)

Change planes. Time between flights: 3hr 2min

Delta Air Lines 1002

Economy
80% on time
Boeing 757
Snack Breakfast
4hr 30min
1975 miles

Depart: 11:45pm evening Salt Lake City, UT Salt Lake City International (SLC)
Arrive: 6:15am morning New York, NY New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)

This is an overnight flight.

Total duration: 13hr 25min Total miles: 3377 miles


My flight back to Jo'Burg departs at 10:40.


What do you guys think?

Is it cheaper to transfer to LGA or any of the other New York area airports? If so it this an easy task, considering I am a country guy?

Also, I hear the weather is miserable in January that side of the world. What are the delays like? Are certain airports definite no gos? What layover times would you recommend, considering the bad weather?

I appreciate any advice!

Thanks,
Brad.

You are taking a lot of flights that you don't need. I would suggest booking from LaGuardia; it's fairly easy to transfer airports - perhaps one of the NYC locals on this forum can give you advice on how to do that.

Onyour return trip, if you look at a map, you'll see that you're flying quite a bit west to doubleback east. My suggestion is flying on Southwest Airlines LGA to Nashville direct. You can only book directly from their website (www.southwest.com) which is why you won't it on search engines like Expedia or Kayak. It will probably be a much, much cheaper than the itineraries you propose. The only problem is that you can only book up to five months ahead on Southwest, so you would have to wait until September or so to book a ticket. I just did a quick search and found that you can get a flight for $169 each way on Southwest from LGA to Nashville. Other airlines might also have better itineraries for you from LGA that will involve fewer stops and transfers.

That being said, weather on the East Coast in January is unpredictable. It can be very cold and there can be snow storms, so be prepared for delays and cancellations.

Hope this helps and best wishes on your upcoming trip.

The thread "LGA to JFK for an underage" currently in the NYC forum discusses inter-airport travel. Using LGA is an option, but may not be that much cheaper than going direct from JFK when round-trip taxi fare is included.

What prices are you seeing for your flights, compared to the direct JFK-BNA flights? Your return trip, in particular, seems hard to justify unless the price difference is substantial.

Incidentally, taking Greyhound (bus) might be cheaper if you can spare the time (and don't mind taking a longish bus trip). (You probably don't want to take the bus, but you did say "the cheapest way possible.")

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Southwest is currently selling seats through January 6, but I am not seeing any bargains on Southwest between LGA and BNA -- and no nonstop flights either.

If the OP's destination is BNA, why is he buying a roundtrip ticket from JNB to JFK, instead of a roundtrip ticket from JNB to BNA, via appropriate connecting point(s)?

Joburg has lots of travel agents. This may be a case where it'd be worthwhile using one.

I also wondered why OP wouldn't book a through-itinerary (even if JNB-JFK-BNA), which could give them the "luxury" of the second airline putting them on a later flight if they miss their connection. Some feel it's best if the ongoing flight is in the same alliance as the first flight (it appears you're arriving on South African Airways, which is in the Star Alliance, along with United, Continental and USAirways). Expedia shows the cheapest roundtrip fare on your dates as $1800, going Air France and Delta (stops in Paris and Atlanta), and returning Air France or KLM.

Once you go through Immigration, get your bags and exit Customs, you should be able to hand your bags over to a transit desk (assuming your second airline has an interline agreement with the first one). That's assuming you've booked your travel all the way to Nashville, and not as two separate tickets (JNB-JFK/JFK-BNA). If you take the bus to LGA, you need to take your bags and check in with the second airline at LGA.

How long it takes to get through Immigration and Customs depends to some degree on how many other flights land when yours does. You can help your own process by having all needed documentation, and being very clear as to the purpose of your trip. If it's tourism, be sure you have documentation of being ble to pay for your trip (as you did when you applied for your visa).

In general, I like to have over 2 between flights, even if at the same airport. And I have a U.S. passport, so don't usually worry about delays at Immigration. For you to allow anything under 3-4 hours would be risky, IMHO. And that's if you've booked your flights together (if booked separately you want to be even more sure you make your connection, since the second airline may be less likely to put you on a later flight without a charge). Snow is a good possibility in January. Chicago and Pittsburgh often get snow delays, probably even more than New York, but that may just mean you get to Nashville late.