AS (and VX) Moved to T7 at JFK; New Alaska Lounge (April, 2018)
 

http://blog.wandr.me/2017/04/consoli...irgin-america/

No official AS linky for the announcement, but I suppose @sbm12 is good for it. ;)

I imagine the VX folks will be miffed at losing the VS clubhouse, and the possibility of no Precheck? Yikes.

Sorry about no lounge in SAN yet, SAN Circle of Doom complainers... looks like JFK has got you there.

Official announcement was sent out overnight, it's in the Alaska newsroom:

https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2017-...minal-7-at-JFK

I wonder if the new lounge will accept PriorityPass...

Neil

(1) VX Clubhouse a lot of dough - never used it.
(2) T4 PP lounge has been "acceptable enough" although I think it is on a downhill slide.
(3) I always liked the compactness of T7. Back when UA had a big operation there (almost all of T7 and part of T6), it made for very easy connections, and very quick security-to-gate.
(4) With Precheck and perhaps an airside bus to/from T7, I wouldn't find much downside with this..

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt they will accept PP....I think your best bet is to head over to terminal 1 to use the AF lounge...not sure how long that would take though.

I really, really hope they don't try to launch this without Precheck. OTOH, I won't miss having to walk through the dungeon to get to gate 35 in Terminal 8.

JFK Lounge
 

Lounge option at JFK Terminal 7 seem none, except for BA's First Lounge and Galleries Lounge.

I'm doubting they would welcome AS elites, unless we are connecting to longhaul LHR flights.

2018 AS Lounge opening isn't too far away however.

Jiburi

I may be in the minority here, but I am not too elated about this news... Operating out of T8 is far better than T7 with significantly more connectivity through AA than BA/FI could ever offer to AS.

JFK needs to get their priorities together and move forward with completing T8 construction then having all of OW move under one roof before razing T7 to make room for further terminal developments that will maximize space. Same can be said for T2, but DL just got a new T4 wing so they can wait.

Apparently my dripping sarcasam didn't come through :)

Neil

They owe United a thank you gift for this...

Why would you connect through AA at JFK rather than ORD/DFW/MIA/PHL? JFK isn't a great connecting hub for AA at all. All of the other ones I mentioned are considerably better at having more destinations to connect with...

Well, that plus the opening given to VX at SFO. :D

Just a hunch, but I'd say this bodes well for a premium subfleet better than the newly reconfigured F cabin.

Mainly focusing on Europe connections (hence the BA/FI comparison). ORD is much worse to connect through than JFK IMHO since at ORD you have to schelp from T5 coming back home. MIA/DFW are out of the way for most AS customers (I would take those connections if I was in the premium cabin for longer rest). I really don't get AS advertising better connectivity on BA via JFK from west coast when BA serves almost all AS hubs/focus cities save PDX/ANC.

T8 at JFK is probably the nicest AA intl terminal in the AA system aside from DFW terminal D.

PHL/ORD does not serve all EU destinations that JFK serves on a year round basis. AA's EU route network is weird, PHL serves some unique destinations, JFK serves some unique places and so does ORD. So really, for some destinations you have to connect in JFK assuming a customer wants to keep an itinerary strictly AS/AA.

Bottom line, less connecting options are not good for the customers. T7 is a dump and BA's renovation rendering is disappointing.

There's a market for feeder legs, and AS will likely take advantage of it.

You have to reclear security on the way back anyway, so the major impact of a terminal switch at JFK is only on the outbound.

Which is why I think fretting about a terminal transfer connecting to AA at JFK is.. overrated. Most of AS's connecting traffic ex-SEA/PDX to the EU isn't going to be doing it at JFK anyway, because the timings for AS's flight suck HARD for doing connections. The non-LHR AA Europe departures are in the afternoon and evening. AS's SEA/PDX-JFK flights are redeyes, and the returns are immediate returns in the early morning (which means they miss the inbound EU flights to JFK).

"Great, that 10 hour layover at JFK on the outbound and overnight layover coming home is JUST what I needed!"- said no business traveler ever.

The timing for FI connections sucks too (except for maybe SFO/JFK). For AA/BA there are two LHR flights where you have a reasonable connection on a redeye. Everything else is stupid.

Yeah, I guess AS could connect people SFO/LAX-JFK-LHR... except, um, isn't there nonstop service on BA (and in the case of LAX, AA too)?

There is vacant lounge space in T7. United had a RCC and IFL there until 2015. At one point soon after UA left JFK there was talk of BA taking it over but I've not heard anything since about that.

Depending upon what kind of operation AS decide there's possibility they could use their own lounge.

BA do have other airlines use their lounges (some of them are even Priority Pass) so there is precedence for perhaps BA letting AS use it depending upon flight times. The Terraces lounge is very large but does get quite busy during the run up to and during BA's evening operation.