Originally Posted by
jcaitsith
Well eventually I realised this, and being the connecting time 85 minutes I thought that it might have been a good idea to check if it was sufficient for going throught the whole process at JFK or else ask DL to re book me on a following connecting flight to LAX ... YOU KNOW, just for peace of mind and have no surprises with hotel reservations and car rental in Los Angeles.
Guess what, after writing tons of emails to DL's customer service, calling DL Italian reservation number, and DL's international reservation desk all I got as an answer, after making clear my concerns, was "It's a guaranteed and scheduled connection, we sell it, therefore you shouldn't worry" or " we can't help you". That really didn't convince me much, as one of the delta customer reps regretfully admitted that my connection was illegal, but the she also stated that MCT does not apply to same ticket itineraries! ?!?!?!?!?!?!?! is it me or it's simply bonkers?!?
Just FYI. You're itinerary was not "illegal". The MCT for Delta International-to-Domestic flights in JFK is 70 minutes.
As for the immigration problems, I think DL should've been more proactive in accommodating the overflow of customers. They cannot do much with immigration because that is all in the hands of Customs & Border Patrol. However, hopefully they were working with CBP in trying to get passengers processed faster.