rove312

In addition, if you have a Wi-Fi capable device, even if you don't pay for Wi-Fi you can see the AA site with more up-to-date gate assignments than the crew will have. Or with cellular data while taxiing.

nrr

I was in pre-check line on Sat. 6/11 at 5:00 AM (JFK T8). All lines were very short. At the end of the P-C conveyor belt a family (5 or 6 people) with LOTS of bags were organizing their shoes, belts (which, of course, they removed) as well as their bags contents; this blocked conveyor belt movement. [P-C is a great system if administered properly.]
I returned on Tues. 6/14 at 9 pm. P-C was closed, lots of LAN pax on long check-in lines. I did notice 2 CBP agents (shirts* marked CBP) were watching pax as they cleared TSA; what were they looking for? [I've rarely seen CBP when I clear security, usually between 2 pm and 5 pm.]
*These agents had dark clothing, don't CBP wear white shirts?

george 3

After not being in T8 for a few months, I noticed several changes in the ticketing area this week, that are of note. Location references are as if you were facing the security area.

1. The J/F check-in area previously in section 1 (left side of terminal) has been dismantled and is now part of a larger AA economy check-in area. The economy check-in area for AA only also encompasses the triangular area taking up the entire left wall of the terminal.

2. Section 2 and 3 are now a larger TAM (including former LAN Chile) and Qatar check-in area.

3. Section 4 is now AirBerlin and Royal Jordanian with what appears to be some use by FinnAir (requires confirmation).

4. Section 5 is now J/F/Priority Check-in. This backs up to F check-in area which remains unchanged.

5. The walkway at the back of the ticketing area by the Jose Valdez coffee kiosk has been closed off so you can no longer access the security area from this direction. When J/F check-in was in its old location you could exit the back opening and walk this way to security clearance.

6. All access to security clearance is via the aisle between 4 and 5. The left line is regular security, the middle line is priority and the right is TSA.

I was at the terminal at 6am for the 7am to SFO this past Monday. Closing the area by the coffee shop removed bottlenecks of pax trying to loop around and onto security clearance lines. Coffee shop sales will probably suffer. The economy check-in line stretched across the front of the check-in areas so that when exiting the escalator, I had to excuse myself to cut through that mega line. Even though there were no TAM/AirBerlin/Qatar flights at the time, the terminal felt crowded. Although I have not seen it at say 4pm, I imagine the congestion of Euro bound fliers (particularly in the summer) in the area is probably pretty bad. Plan accordingly.

Moving around the deck chairs seems to have solved some problems but created others. An agent commented to me that F/J new location is closer to security and this is seen by the airline as a positive. Perhaps, unless you have to walk back out toward the entrance to get on line during times of extreme congestion waiting to clear security. I think squeezing economy to the far side of the terminal with no clear way to manage long lines is a very big negative, particularly as you come up and off the escalator.

For the first time, I felt that the airline has outgrown the terminal and perhaps needs to expand to the east behind the large wall mural.

michalis

Hi guys,

I have a friend flying from London to Vegas with a short connection (80 mins) at JFK with AA (both flights are from Terminal 8). He is travelling on a B-2 Tourist Visa.

Flights are:
- AA107 landing at 20:05
- AA2659 deparing at 21:25

If he travels with a checked in luggage I am pretty sure he can't check it through all the way to Vegas.

The question is, is it possible for him to make this connection?

corporate-wage-slave

It is possible to make the connection if you land on time, T8 is faster than T7. But if you are 10 minutes late you are going to be staying the night in New York. If you are going to Vegas it may still be a better gamble than some alternatives! The baggage will need to be rechecked at T8, but it's just a matter of going from one carousel to another with customs in between. Go HBO to improve your chances in the lottery of life. So if missing one night in LAS is not acceptable, you need to rebook, I'd give you a 70% chance of making it, 80% if HBO.

KARFA

Bear in mind as an arriving international passengers he will have to go through immigration, collect his bag, go through customs, go landside, do bag drop in enough time before the flight (45 mins?), get through security which rarely seems quick at T8 and get to the gate which may well be in the satellite building being a good 5-10 minute walk.

Frankly if I were your friend I would book a later flight to LAS. If I was carry on only and as I have GE I might go for it myself, but certainly not with a checked bag.

MCT for this type of connection is 75 minutes btw just for information.

michalis

Thanks a lot c-w-s! Your advise is valuable as always.

What should he expect in case of mis-connection?
Will accommodation be provided? There are no other early flights to Vegas from JFK and the only ones available are 1-stop options from LGA or EWR.


The good think is that he hasn't booked yet. The bad thing is that he needs to fly after work on the 6th of July (or as late in the afternoon as possible) and be in Vegas by 10-11am on the 7th of July. As far as I am aware there are no other options to enable him to do that (besides doing an overnight in NYC)


I figured it would be tight. I would probably do it (and I would fly HBO) but not sure if he is able to do that.

aidy

its tight, is a B2 visa holder eligible for APC use? if no not, no chance, if so, a slim slim chance

Lefly

Also with one ticket?

KARFA

Do you mean is the process any different if it is on one ticket rather than two? In this instance not really.

As noted by cws beyond customs you can do bag drop instead rather than go to check in and do it there, but in either way you will need to collect your bag and take it through customs.

Lefly

Yes, it was that, thank you.

Of course It was the "going landside if you have a bag to check" part that puzzled me, as I thought there was a bag drop desk airside, so no need to waste time to clear security again.

KARFA

No, the bag drop for connections is post customs and landside, and you definitely need to go through security again regardless of whether you have a bag to drop or not - there is no airside sans-security connection route at JFK (or at any US airport I can think of) for an INT-DOM connection.

corporate-wage-slave

If it was one ticket then accommodation and rebooking should be provided. If it's LGA then it's a fairly easy transfer over but probably a rather short night. AA use Hamptons at both JFK and LGA in this scenario.

Your friend would need to go landside, but at T8 it is reasonably compact given its size, just a lift up 2 levels, there is the usual security, but at that hour it will be swift (in the morning it won't be!). It can be done in 30 minutes if passports and baggage return is swift (gate to airside again). AA ask people to be at the departure gate 30 minutes before departure, and the LAS flight may well be from the T8 Satellite building. Tight, but do-able with an on time arrival.

michalis

Thank you all for your replies.


I will forward him this thread to see for himself and decide whether he is willing to accept that there is a risk of mis-connecting.

Prospero

This thread has been moved from the BA forum into the American Airlines forum.

Prospero
Moderator: BA forum