How much time do I need?
 

I have a DL flight arriving from FRA at 445p JFK on a Tues and was wondering how much time do I need to clear immigration US citizen, no global entry. Trying to book a connecting to Washington DC... What time should I try to book at? There is a JetBlue leaving at 530 to IAD... Is that cutting it close?

Some days, I worry about making a domestic connection in 45 minutes - international to domestic (with a carrier change) in 45 minutes sounds like a recipe for disaster. I believe the international to domestic MCT for JFK is 105 minutes or something.

Also, if you misconnect, you are screwed, because your connection is on B6 and FRA-JFK is on DL.

4:45 to 5:30 DL int'l to JetBlue domestic is an impossible connection - even without checked luggage. You'll hafto change terminals either by a very long walk or AirTrain ride, re-clear security, etc., not to mention immigration and customs lines.

I don't think I'd do this with any less than 2 hours - absolute minimum without checked luggage - longer WITH.

45-min would be an illegal change in JFK even if you were on the same airline and same terminal.
Since you are talking about seperate tickets, unless the IAD connection is on a fully-refundable ticket, I would leave at least 1.5hrs with 2hr or 3hr a better idea since you are on seperate tickets.

You will need to clear immigration during the end of the prime European arrival window, wait for your bags (if you checked one), clear customs, change from Terminal 3 to 5, re-check/drop bag (if you have one), clear security and get to the gate. Never going to happen. Keeping in mind that you will need to be at the gate in the required amount of time for Jet Blue (I don't know what it is though).

Thanks all for the feedback I'll be booking the much later 730p flight...hate feeling rushed.