brocklee9000

This. Just because it's "Delta's" new T4 doesn't mean they have exclusive access to it, not does it mean they can control CBP or TSA wait times. At some times of the day, only one big flight comes in; at others, several can arrive all at once. I've only had one bad experience, and this was several months before the renovations were even completed. A flight left late and we couldn't make up for lost time, so we landed behind two other widebodies. It just so happened that the US immigration line was longer than the non-US line, because our flight from ACC, the DL flight from somewhere in Italy, and the El Al flight were mostly US citizen passengers (we arrived on the 6th of January, so it was the end of vacations, the day before school/work started up again). An hour and a half in the line was agonizing, but at least our bags were already pulled from the carousel and had been cordoned off against one of the walls. The customs queue was equally bad, as all those people you were just behind were in a line again.
But that was only one time. Every other T4 experience has been good. No more than a few minutes in each line, and I got through so quickly that I actually had to wait a good 10 or 15 minutes before bags even started showing up on the carousel. Now on peak travel days, GE is definitely your friend. It's $100 for five years, but even if you only use it for several international trips, it pretty much pays for itself. You can turn a 1 hour+ wait into minutes. Yes, it's not a free pass to bypass everyone and everything. But it expedites the process. I don't know which days and times are the worst, but a bit of proactivity can give you a hint. Here is CBP's tool to help display average wait times (you can search by airport, per month, and even per day) or checking somewhere like flightaware.com and looking for international arrivals, what time they are arriving, and how close they are to each other.

adamj023

I for one am glad T4 was completed and it surely will get better over time.

In regards to baggage handling being messed up and in terms of security lines, both these facts can be corrected easily and are not flaws of the terminal itself.

So I wouldn't knock T4 or Delta for any of these.

alee0729

The hike to get out of the terminal after deplaning at T4 to the taxis is a bit extreme. This is my biggest annoyance there. In shape, and hauling ... down the concourse, I still can't get out of that terminal in less than 15 min.

DrMaturin

Another problem is the long time it took us to transfer from T4 to T2 a few weeks ago to make our connection. It took almost half an hour, what with waiting for the shuttle, the slow speed of the shuttle, etc. If we had had a tight connection there was no way we'd have made it.

adamj023

Terminals at JFK are getting larger across the board.

benzemalyonnais

Global entry is extraordinary. I just made it through what looked like a 1 hour+ line at IAD in 2 minutes. The best part is watching the kettles look at you as you cut all the lines.

Alpha Golf

This. +1

mersk862

I got off a flight in SEA from HND and was sitting on my connecting flight to LAX within 6 minutes the other day due to Global Entry (hooray making what would be a scheduled 21 minute international to domestic connection!)

At JFK a few weeks ago, the line for US citizens looked to be a good 500 people long...again with GE, I was on the curb within 10 minutes of leaving my BE seat.

Long story short...get GE. Best time saver that's out there.

adamj023

I concur on GE. My problem is it only lasts for a few years and the fees are high.

cmd320

I completely disagree. I don't by any means think of myself as wealthy, but $100 for 5 years is quite a value in my opinion. Especially since it almost guarantees Pre Check along with it.

Gargoyle

I think it's cheap- In the first year alone, twice I made connections that I would have missed without it, each time getting me home 3 hours earlier than I would have. The other times I've used it saved me a good 15-20 minutes each time.

In May, from when the plane reached the gate until my wife met me with her car was maybe 10 minutes, 8 of which was the walking time at ORD.

As to checked luggage, I try to avoid that at all costs.

cerealmarketer

2 observations...

1. Coming in from LHR at T4 I was surprised at the length of the...CUSTOMS line.

Passport control was reasonable for non-Global Entry. Fortunately I had Global Entry to skirt the customs line, which was about 15-20 minutes long. Never seen anything like that. Wait for your bags, then get another 15 minute wait must be infuriating.

2. Terminal 2 is now even worse than before.

There was a net loss of gates in this change, and I think they are putting more wide body int'l departures out of T2 than before. Flew to DUB out of there and the lines at Starbucks and Wendy's were each in the 10-15 minute range, stretching well beyond their respective perimeters. SkyClub was jammed, as were all gate areas. Really bad experience.

Crazyhotelguy

+1

cfischer

+1 unusual situation the OP is describing wrt luggage wait.

tonypct

My only experience with T4 was on a Saturday night coming in from Mexico City. Mixed bag. First the bad. Our gate was the absolute furthest one possible from Customs. Even with moving walkways, it took 12 minutes to get to Customs. I know I timed it.

The other bad news was a 50 minute wait for luggage. And don't get me started on the useless "Priority Tags." My luggage, tagged with the yellow Priority tag, was among the last to come out.

The only good news was Global Entry. Took me all of about 5 minutes to get through customs with the kiosk.

But then I had my 50 minute wait for luggage.