Dan98

Hi

I have an upcoming flight from Bucharest - Romania (OTP) to Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) (AF 1889)

Connection in Paris : 01h50

transfering to another flight from CDG to JFK TERMINAL 1 (AF 008)

and another transfer to George Town (GEO) departing from TERMINAL 4 (BW 527)

Connection in New York : 04h05


Will this be enough for me to safely clear US immigration and catch my flight to Guyana ?

also taking in account the upcoming strike ?

https://www.airfrance.com/GR/en/comm...air_france.htm

SDQBound

4h05 should be more than enough to go through immigration and customs, take the air train to T4, and go through security. Usually the whole process takes less than 2 hours.

Dan98

Hopefully if my flight won't be delayed due to pre-strike preparations

KLouis

I've heard of delays due to strikes but pre-strike preparations? What are these, and how do they affect flights?

olivedel

More than enough to connect both in CDG or JFK.
Immigration in JFK should be fine as automated machines have dramatically improved the situation for most ESTA / US passengers.

MSPeconomist

What airline is BW for the final segment? If it's not DL operated, you might need to claim your checked luggage and go to the counter on the far side of T4 at JFK to check in.

Is this a single ticket/PNR or not? If not, IMO it's risky, especially given the AF strike situation.

Also, if you're in the back of coach on a large and full aircraft, it could take a while to deplane. By then, you're behind many other people for immigration and customs. From the route, I'm guessing that you have a USA visa (rather than an electronic visa waiver ESTA thingy or whatever it's called) so that you cannot use the machines at JFK, which greatly adds to the risk of delays as well as being sent to secondary inspection.

KLouis

Unless things have changed a lot in the 17 months since my last visit to the USA, an ESTA will not allow you to use machines. You still queue up for anything between 10 and 120 minutes!

MarLim

ESTA does allow using machines together with US and Canadian citizens as long as you are a returning ESTA visitor, i.e. If you have a new passport the first entry into the US is queuing, subsequent visits are machines ... At least that's how it works in ATL

SDQBound

- Only risky if the flight is cancelled, otherwise even with a 2.5-hour delay it should be fine. A few months ago it took me 42 minutes to deplane, go through immigration, collect bags, go through customs, drop bags, take the airtrain, collect connecting BP at the Delta counter, and go through TSA.


Not sure how you can make the determination that the OP doesn't have an ESTA based on the itinerary.

The last few times I've arrived to JFK on an AF flight, returning B1/B2 visa holders have been asked to use the kiosks as well, depending on how crowded the immigration area is. I think at this point only DPLT visa holders (A and G visas) are the ones who cannot use the automated kiosks because when entering on an official or diplomatic visa your picture and fingerprints are not collected and the system is designed to collect this information from all passengers.

Also, having a visa DOES NOT increase the risk of being sent to secondary inspection. I've been traveling to the U.S. with a visa all my life (tourist, exchange, student, official/diplomatic), multiple times per year and even different types of visa on a single week, and I don't remember a single occasion when I (or even a friend or a relative) has been sent to secondary just because of entering the US with a visa.

Goldorak

Correct.

MSPeconomist

My most recent westbound TATL flight, which wasn't into JFK, announced something about repeat ESTA people using the machines and not needing the paper customs declaration form. I would assume that the same rules apply at JFK or in fact any airport, perhaps all of them by now, that has the machines.

Goldorak

Yes, that's it.