New York City - Transfer in NYC (JFK connection or JFK/LGA connection)

Hello!

My flight from Frankfurt arrives at JFK at 12.50. From there I need to take a flight to St. Louis (STL) and have following options:

Departing from JFK:
Delta 15.25
Delta 16.35 (via CVG)

Departing from LGA:
Southwest 16.30
Delta 19.00
AA 19.00

It's quite important for me to get to STL as soon as possible, therefore I'd prefer either Delta@15.25 or Southwest@16.30. Taking the time required for getting through immigration and collecting baggage, can I even consider those two options?

With 2.5 hours, you should have no trouble at all catching the 3:25.

2.5 hours from International JFK, collect bags, and taxi to LGA could be really tight, depending upon traffic. Even in the middle of the day there can be traffic jams.

Also, I assume that the two flights are on separate tickets. I'd go for the longer connection time.

2.5 hours from International JFK, collect bags, and taxi to LGA could be really tight, depending upon traffic. Even in the middle of the day there can be traffic jams.

Also, I assume that the two flights are on separate tickets. I'd go for the longer connection time.You've misread the OP's post. The first connection is from JFK, which the OP should have no trouble making.

Take the 1525 xJFK. It's a relatively easily-made connection. No idea what your inbound carrier is, but most likely it will interline with DL, allowing you to drop your bags immediately after CBP.

Trip to LGA is a coin-toss and, if you are on WN, must be booked on a separate ticket. If you misconnect, which is highly likely, you will then deal with the WN nightmare of rebooking.

Thanks very much for your help.

My inbound carrier is Lufthansa which I believe uses Terminal 1. Will it be possible to check in my bags there?

Take the 1525 xJFK. It's a relatively easily-made connection. No idea what your inbound carrier is, but most likely it will interline with DL, allowing you to drop your bags immediately after CBP.

Trip to LGA is a coin-toss and, if you are on WN, must be booked on a separate ticket. If you misconnect, which is highly likely, you will then deal with the WN nightmare of rebooking.I think there's universal agreement that the OP should take the DL flight out of JFK, but I do disagree with the statement that it is "highly likely" that the OP would misconnect to the WN flight. With 3:40 between flights, so long as the inbound flight is reasonably on time, the OP would have plenty of time to deal with customs and immigration, luggage delivery, the typically bad Van Wyck traffic, and security at LGA. As bad as the traffic often is on the Van Wyck, I think FTers routinely overstate how bad it really is. (Yes, it's bad, but it's still exceedingly rare when one can't travel between JFK and LGA in 45 minutes.)

Thanks very much for your help.

My inbound carrier is Lufthansa which I believe uses Terminal 1. Will it be possible to check in my bags there?No. You will need to check the bags at Delta.

No. You will need to check the bags at Delta.

I'm not familiar with Terminal 1, but if the OP can get LH to tag the bags all the way through to STL when the OP checks them in FRA, there may be a place to re-drop the bags after clearing customs at T1 (OP, note that you will definitely have to retrieve your checked bags at T1 before clearing customs--the only question is whether you have to take them with you to the other terminal or whether there's the possibility of dropping them after clearing customs to have the airlines transfer them for you).

That said, even if it's possible to re-drop at T1, I'd probably take the bags with me to the other terminal and hand them to DL myself, as the interterminal/interline transfer introduces several additional opportunities for bags to get lost or delayed.

I'm not familiar with Terminal 1, but if the OP can get LH to tag the bags all the way through to STL when the OP checks them in FRA, there may be a place to re-drop the bags after clearing customs at T1 (OP, note that you will definitely have to retrieve your checked bags at T1 before clearing customs--the only question is whether you have to take them with you to the other terminal or whether there's the possibility of dropping them after clearing customs to have the airlines transfer them for you).If Lufthansa is selling a through ticket to St Louis, the OP will need to find out if there is such a drop-off bag option. The way the OP asked the question, it looks like he/she already has his/her FRA - JFK leg and is trying to figure out which airline to take to STL. With that, I would think that he/she would have to keep his/her bags and go through security at one of the Delta terminals.

That said, even if it's possible to re-drop at T1, I'd probably take the bags with me to the other terminal and hand them to DL myself, as the interterminal/interline transfer introduces several additional opportunities for bags to get lost or delayed.I agree.

I'm not familiar with Terminal 1, but if the OP can get LH to tag the bags all the way through to STL when the OP checks them in FRA, there may be a place to re-drop the bags after clearing customs at T1 (OP, note that you will definitely have to retrieve your checked bags at T1 before clearing customs--the only question is whether you have to take them with you to the other terminal or whether there's the possibility of dropping them after clearing customs to have the airlines transfer them for you).

That said, even if it's possible to re-drop at T1, I'd probably take the bags with me to the other terminal and hand them to DL myself, as the interterminal/interline transfer introduces several additional opportunities for bags to get lost or delayed.

There is a bag drop at T-1 and what the OP will need is to check whether LH and DL have an interline agreement. In which case LH can tag his bag through to STL and he can drop it off at T-1. No need to queue at DL T-3 if he doesn't have to.

If Lufthansa is selling a through ticket to St Louis, the OP will need to find out if there is such a drop-off bag option. The way the OP asked the question, it looks like he/she already has his/her FRA - JFK leg and is trying to figure out which airline to take to STL. With that, I would think that he/she would have to keep his/her bags and go through security at one of the Delta terminals.This is not correct. As long as LH and DL have an interline agreement (and they certainly do), the OP just needs to get the luggage properly tagged when s/he checks in in FRA. The airline should be able to link two separate reservations for this purpose.

This is not correct. As long as LH and DL have an interline agreement (and they certainly do), the OP just needs to get the luggage properly tagged when s/he checks in in FRA. The airline should be able to link two separate reservations for this purpose.Good luck with that especially since the domestic part of the trip hasn't been ticketed yet. In addition, such a transfer has the potential of being late or lost which themicah mentioned.

Good luck with that especially since the domestic part of the trip hasn't been ticketed yet. In addition, such a transfer has the potential of being late or lost which themicah mentioned.

The fact that the domestic trip has not yet been ticketed is entirely irrelevant. The reservations are linked when the OP checks in at FRA. As long as the domestic segment is ticketed by then, the LH agent should be able to link them.

As for the risk of mishandled luggage, I suspect you have no data to support a conclusion (nor do I), but it's probably safe to assume that interlined luggage gets mishandled more often than does luggage handled by a single carrier. That said, I would speculate that, with the amount of time that the OP will have between flights, the interlining of luggage works successfully the vast, vast majority of the time.

If the luggage is easy to handle, I probably would take it over to DL myself, too, but if it's unruly I would interline it without reservation.