bgriff

This is atypical -- I have gone through T4 before the expansion many times and the US citizen line was almost always shorter (as I breezed past them on my way to Global Entry), though both lines are often horrific. With the expansion there are a bunch more booths than there used to be, though I don't know how staffing levels compare to what they used to be, and plus sequestration has had some negative effects.

Perhaps in this case your travels in the vicinity of the 4th of July holiday may have resulted in a longer US citizen line than usual, since more Americans would have likely been on vacation? In theory the employees should be re-adjusting the lines and distribution of agents to match the passenger distribution, but as anyone who's watched TSA agents shuffle line stanchions knows, this is rarely executed all that well. And Delta has very little, likely no, control over this part.

The foreigners line also takes longer as they get fingerprinted and asked more questions, so in the more typical case where the citizens line is long and the foreigners line is REALLY long, then the people in the foreigners line are waiting even relatively longer ... welcome to America! (What an embarrassment for welcoming visitors to our country.)

All that said, the answer is Global Entry. It is worth it even if you fly internationally no more than once or twice per year, especially since it gets you pretty dependable access to Precheck, which is an equally delightful experience relative to the normal lanes as GE is. GE can't help you if the delivery of bags to the carousel is delayed (which *is* Delta's fault, but happens from time to time in all sorts of terminals, not just JFK T4, and considering the frequent breakdowns of the clunky old baggage carousels at JFK T2 and T3, T4 should represent real improvement on this front), but GE does also get you priority access to the agent taking customs forms as you leave the baggage claim area when arriving in the US, where there is sometimes a line for regular passengers.

TrojanTraveler

My own two cents...I travel a lot internationally (and generally enter the US at JFK), and based on the lines I've encountered at immigration, I've never seen the need for GE. For T4, on two occasions there has been no line (and I don't check bags so don't wait for baggage), but most of the time there is a huge line. As a result, I've finally broken down and am getting GE, and for anyone going through JFK more than a few times, I'd highly recommend it.

T3 could also get not-short lines, but never to the extent as T4. T4 can have enormous lines. And for whatever reason, the customs lines can be long. While my max wait at customs has been about 15 min, at T3 there was almost never a wait.

currentjer

Maybe, Delta should have consulted the guys at Changi when they were (re)building T4.

hazelrah

I flew out of JFK in 1987 on Pan Am to Shannon. I was struck by how JFK was an absolutely third-world experience. Evidently nothing has changed.

TrojanTraveler

Well there are lots more windows now.

benzemalyonnais

I always wonder if the problem with US immigration lines - besides the fact that they ask you a ton of questions - is the fact that everyone is led into 1 big area.

At Schiphol there are a few different places to clear immigration after arrival and it doesn't ever seem like there's this huge mass of people all in one place.

I know that LHR has similar immigration issues and from my experience only has one big immigration checkpoint.

GE is a huge lifesaver.

honeyclair

after reading this thread my worst nightmare might come to pass. my daughter and i will be coming back through jfk from lhr in july. she has only 1hr44mins to clear customs and change to terminal 2. (our tickets are frequent flier and rep assured her that she could make connection..) i haven't gone through jfk in 30 years on purpose and have a question. when she picks up her bag, does she have to take it to terminal 2 and recheck it? if so, where does she do this?

MSPeconomist

What do you mean there's no AitTrain between T2 and T4? AFAIK AirTrain is still in operation and the T2/T3 stop wasn't connected to either terminal, so it shouldn't be affected by the demolition.

Wingtipflyer1

I second that!^

honeyclair

i want to apologize. i should have tried to highjack thread to ask question. will post new thread.

cerealmarketer

She has three options.

1. Recheck it in Terminal 4, clear security there, then take the bus to T2

2. Recheck it in Terminal 4, take the AirTrain to T2, then clear security there

3. Take AirTrain to Terminal 2 (it has full check in facilities), check the bag, and clear security there

My guess is rechecking it in T4 first is the best option. Then can make the call on whether taking the Airtrain to T2, or clearing security in T4 will be faster.

bgriff

There is a "quick connections" express line at T4 passport control -- look for the signs and/or Delta employees who can give you a pass to that line.

If you have a smartphone, check your onward flight status while you are taxiing from the runway to the terminal (no phone use allowed in the building until fully through passport control and customs). There's an outside chance you get lucky and your onward departure is from T4. If it's from T2 (a "C" gate), rechecking bags in T4 and then taking the AirTrain to T2 (take the "All Airline Terminals" train one stop) is probably the best bet, but if your connection is tight your bag may well miss your flight, though it would almost certainly get put on the next one.

bgriff

The OP definitely does have a point though:

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transporta...oms-lines-jfk/

Delta should really consider comping GE for Diamonds and perhaps Plats -- United does it for 1Ks, and the more Delta fliers that have GE, the shorter the customs lines will be for everyone else.

rylan

Things are just going to get worse in T4 especially when the RJ octopus gates move over there eventually. Have fun going through the packed and still 3rd-world immigration and customs and then have a nice long walk to your connecting gate. Or enjoy arriving on an RJ and getting to walk to the other end of T4, which will likely be 3/4 mile.

kcmd

Looks like a big problem is the security lines and rechecking bags, GE would be the way I go in the future once I get my processing done. My port of entry to the US has been JFK lately, but I really hate flying back into NY. I'm traveling through next week so we'll see how crazy it gets.