jackplum

I flew the same route returning today from LHR in BE.

Leaving out of T2 to DUB was a real mess.

GE was great today as the lines for non-GE were quite long. Adding to that was our eight bags were the first ones out.

But then we had to fly out of T2.

The shuttle was a pain and I ended up guiding several foreign pax who had no clue on where to go. One commented on paying full fare BE and then having to endure the shuttle exit into T2.

Then on to C64/66

Gate 23/25 by any other names are still Gate 23/25. What a mess

menton1

Most of Delta's numerous International flights arrive at JFK between 3 and 6PM. This is "rush hour". If you're lucky enough to arrive in the morning, it's fairly empty.

misterbean

Also, if you're on the early morning arrivals into JFK (before 6am - TLV, ACC, GRU), you'll have the joy of standing in a long line with 2-3 stations open, watching the morning shift arrive and do their best to take their time - walk around, chat, get coffee, start their computer, etc.

Man, it's one of the most frustrating things you can watch, especially when you have a domestic connection.

cdubose98

I've only used T4 since it "opened" once so far but it was a pleasant experience. Arrived at 6 pm for the 7 pm ATL flight and managed to check in, clear security (not pre-check), and make it to my gate in 30 minutes. Was it as nice as AA's T8? Not in my opinion, although T8 can have some long walks in its own right. Was it so much worse than T8 that I will never fly DL through JFK again? By no means. In terms of the physical facilities (not the immigration/customs staffing that's outside DL's control), I'd say T4 is definitely competitive with T8. I doubt many people would say the same about T3.

SRQRoadWarrior

My boss recently came back from a Europe trip on US Air through Philly, and had do the customs thing at Philly, just last month. He said the lines at Philly for customs was "ridiculous". Don't know if it is true, but he said the customs people at Philly were blaming it on the "sequester". Probably some truth in that at everybody airport coast to coast.

brocklee9000

Normally I get in from ACC early, and it's cake. But boy, let me tell you...my one late arrival...that was enough of a motivator to get GE. It was right after the holidays and most of the travelers were American passport holders on their way home...

FlyAO2

Global Entry is worth multiples of $100.... That being said, if you don't have it, I highly recommend you don't sign up - the more people who have Global Entry the slower the lines will go

ClipperDelta

Indeed, it's not just a JFK problem....Per this recent WSJ article, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...566205480.html, this summer will be quite bad at the country's largest international arrival points due to inadequate CBP staffing and increasing number of foreign arrivals. As mentioned in the linked article, MIA has been horrendous, with up to 3 hour waits - authorities have even taken to setting up cots to accommodate pax who missed their connections due to long immigration/customs waits...

bennos

The whole process would have been easier had Delta built the airside connector from T2 that was in the original renderings.

At least the bus transfer, oh sorry, "the JFK Jitney" (it's just like going to the Hamptons!) will become more direct when T3 comes down.

(A nice version would have been to keep the Worldport as a check-in area, connected to both T2 and T4... then all that would have been needed was a T3 - T4 connector. But I can't say it'd have been that practical.)

goodandclassy

on the 'line for Us vs non-Us citizens" and comparisons to T1 and Ad doe example
could it be that the mix of US to non-US travelers is different on a DL vs AZ/AF/etc flight?

Perhaps getting into T4 in the midst of TATL arrival rush will guarantee you a long line of fellow Americans trying to get in?

and, even if the line is longer, does it necessarily mean longer wait? the shorter line might well take just as long to process with all the extra steps needed for foreign nationals...

like others said, Global Entry is the way to go. My personal best was seat to airtrain in 35 minutes, with a 70-lb checked bag

menton1

NO truth in that, Congress waived the sequester and gave back all funding for the TSA within a week after it happened. The Congressmen themselves did NOT want to wait on long lines!

cmd320

That may be very true, however it's CBP that handles customs and immigration and I believe they may have been hit by sequestration.

DJMeatBall

I did my first INTL connection through T4 earlier today.

Is T4 completely new or just thoroughly retrofitted?

How does it suck? Let me count the ways:

1)

instead of how it's done at DTW where INTL flights arrive relatively close to the center of the terminal where immigration/customs are, you can end up arriving at a gate at the far end of T4 which feels like a mile walk. There are long sections that don't have a moving walkway. And once you get to the immigration area you have...

2)

chaos and long lines in the immigration queues. There were 6 - 8 zig/zag lanes deep and maybe only 4 - 5 stands open for US citizens. The lines looked even longer & slower in the non-citizen section. Of course Global Entry was nice and empty.

3)

Unlike DTW, where you go through an exclusive international-to-domestic-connections-only security check to get back into the terminal, you're spewed out the general exit and into the front of T4 where you have to figure out how to get back in right beyond the (also chaotic) baggage recheck.

4)

And once you're past security, the T4 shopping area has minimal airline or gate information. I had to walk a few hundred feet into the B / C gate area before I even saw a board that listed departures. There are no terminal maps posted anywhere in the terminal, as far as I can tell.

5)

I found the much touted new SkyClub near C30. They had all the famous free grossness (super sugar cookies, mushy pseudo-hummus, fake cheese) spread out and mashed into the bar-area carpet, but I gave in and got (real?) roasted red pepper hummus & crud-ites for $7 via the iPad ordering thingy.

At least one nice thing I can report are that there are least 6 - 8 shower stalls in the SkyClub, unlike the always-in-use/long-waiting-lists 2 showers in the DTW & LAX clubs.

misterbean

While I agree with the rest, you can't really compare JFK to DTW on comment 1.
JFK has WAYYY more international arrivals than DTW. They can't all pull in close to customs/immigration. If you can walk, great. If not, wheelchair assistance can always be requested.

mdb

Amen brother