george 3

I think your 75 minute experience is great, however, much depends on weather, time of day, construction activity at LGA, traffic incidents, immigration at JFK and whether you are in B or C terminal at LGA. A rainy day with an accident and a long immigration line (if a pax does not have TSA/Global Entry/Clear) can be two plus hours door to gate. I don't mean to imply that 75 minutes isn't do-able, but there are risks in cutting it too close.

Cowtown77

Quick question for anyone that has been through Terminal 8. I am flying in on the overnight Transcon from LAX in business soon. I know that I have access to the Flagship lounge, but I have checked baggage. Would I have time to stop in for a quick shower before I go collect my bags? Some airports are quicker at getting baggage out, and I'm not sure I want them sitting at the pick up spot for too long. Any insight would be appreciated.

shek3112

Similar to above post, I'm also looking for advices on layover in jfk.
Travel in from Bermuda, stopping in jfk before heading to lax, all flights in AA business
1) what's the minimum connection time?
2) if I'd like to try out the flagship lounge, how long should i allow in jfk?

Many thanks!

Global321

No way to know how long it will take. Too many variables on any given flight. Go to lounge, get the key, go to the shower room, shower, back out... I think almost certainly your bag will be waiting for you. YMMV

1. Two hours. (See the wiki)
2. Depends on what you want. But one hour of club time is plenty for some food and/or a shower. Good lounge, but not worthy of hours.

shek3112

Thanks a lot @Global321 ! I'll get an around 3 hours layover in JFK then!

chenalex

Do I have to pick up and recheck bags going from lax-jfk-zrh? I have a 2.5 hr connection but not sure if I need to stop by baggage claim and then security after I arrive at jfk

Global321

All OW? All one ticket? No need to exit security or recheck bag. They will be checked through and you do not reclear security.

Not one ticket, the new policy is you must pick bags up and recheck, which of course means going back through security.

bisonrav

I'm coming in on AA101 from LHR to JFK on Saturday, scheduled 13:25, then out AA2183 at 14:55. This will be business class/domestic first and I have Oneworld Emerald

Both are terminal 8. I'm travelling hand baggage only, and I know I need to clear immigration and customs. I don't (yet) have TTP status, so travelling on passport and ESTA (UK citizen).

This seems a little tight - it's all on one ticket so I'm not particularly concerned, but what can I expect on arrival? Will I have a fast track through immigration/customs, and is there anything specific I can do to speed myself through. I'm fairly well experienced in the automated entry machines at other airports in the US but have never been through JFK.

Any hints or tips welcome, thanks!

rossmacd

There is no fast track immigration in the US, based on the cabin of travel. GE is the best fast track possible, and takes about 20-25 seconds on the automated machines.

In any case, you will be able to use the APC machines on arrival, and could have a little bit of a wait (couple of minutes, I'd expect).Typically when the 101 arrives there is not a huge amount of traffic flowing through T8 immigration in my experience (the 101 is how I access the US most frequently).

Through Immigration then customs (no need to collect baggage, of course), and out and up the stairs to AA Flagship check-in which is to the far right of the check-in hall. Go through there and have your BP checked for your DCA flight (just a formality normally) and then there will hopefully be someone at the far end of Flagship check-in who will escort you to the front of the TSA queue (happens most times, just not all the times I've been through).

Overall, fairly simple. And based on the good reliabiltiy record of AA101, I don't see you having a problem. You should get a little bit of time at the Flagship lounge - go through TSA then head to the elevators to the left side of the concourse in front of you.

nrr

There are usually AA agents at the end of the jetway calling out connecting flight cities. They have special cards. That is all I've seen--do those cards give you priority access through CBP?
PS: I've arrived from ZRH (several times on AA 64) at approx. 1:30 pm, normally CBP is empty--but a few times several flights (delayed(?)) had also arrived = huge lines.

ckendall

There should be people somewhere in between where the plane lands and where you head into the customs hall that will be looking for travellers with tight connections (I also fly to DC from Europe). The red card gets you a bit of help at passport control/customs (if you do not have GE) and again upstairs at the TSA check (if you do not have pre-check).

My one word of advice is to go up the escalators after you exit the customs hall and to skip the elevator, which can be quite slow.

JJeffrey

1.5 hrs. should be plenty here, even without any kind of fast track or tight connection card. I wouldn't worry. Worst case scenario there are 2 later JFK-DCA flights, so you'd just get rebooked onto the 5:29pm flight, with an extra 2 hrs to kill in the Flagship Lounge for some drinks and/or a shower.

Often1

For those who haven't memorized the schedule, AA 2183 would presumably be the JFK-DCA segment of AUS-JFK-DCA.

First, if you do misconnect, there are two later AA services, not to mention DL and any number of other surface options as backup. So, absent a Cat. 5 hurricane, you will make it to WAS.

Second, you should be fine absent delays on your inbound or a problem at CBP (not time, but admissibility). These latter two are something for which you cannot control, so not to worry, especially because there are options.

bisonrav

Thanks for the advice everyone, very helpful.

AA Flyer

Flying Thursday 4/19: MIA-JFK-NRT (Biz class).

My Mia - JFK (AA 942) flight lands at 10:00am. My JFK-NRT (AA 8495: operated by JAL) departs at 11:30 am.

(I have checked with AA..... and my bags will be checked thru... both flights in 1 PNR)

Questions:
1) What is the best way to get from Terminal 8 to Terminal 1?
2) About how long will that take?
3) I realize I will need to go thru security again. I have TSA pre check. Does JAL (Terminal 1) have a TSA pre check line?
4) With 1.5 hours between flights..... will that be sufficient time to make the transfer?

thanks for all your expert advice.