NYNOVA

Any indication when the mess at JFK will be cleared up? I flew JFK-SFO a couple of weeks ago and the irony of Delta's "No Lines" campaign here in NYC in light of the nightmare lines at JFK was almost too much to bear. Even the kiosk lines were atrocious and there was no dedicated Medallion line (I was kicked out of the First/BE line quite curtly for asking if there was a Medallion queue).

While LGA seems to move along swimmingly (especially the Shuttle), JFK is a nightmare. I sat on a "D" train today slathered with the "Hate Lines?" campaign and couldn't stop giggling. Any idea why JFK's check in area is so small and/or when it'll be bigger? Or, is this the normal course of events at JFK (I'm a loyal LGAer domestically)?

number_6

JFK has been like this for years with only minor fluctuations. The BE/First line is available if you are Gold Medallion or above (or flying BE to SFO), so presumable when you say "Medallion" you mean Silver and as you have discovered that silver is bottom tier status -- don't expect too much! If staying in the BE/F line is all you want, just fly a couple more times using high MQM tickets and you'll be GM in no time. I doubt JFK will ever change ... it has been this bad every year for the past decade (and worse prior to the PanAm purchase).

obscure2k

--NYNova--Welcome to FT. How long did it ultimately take you to check in? Were you traveling in BizE?

jeffreyt

I just booked JFK today. I fly in there every month and never seem to notice a problem. I guess what I really like about it is the fact that I can use the Business Elite Check-in.

NYNOVA

I was flying in coach (of course) and am Silver; Preferred check-in is allowed at other airports (or maybe I'm just lucky), and I figured the same would hold out of JFK. I certainly didn't mean to "expect too much," or ruffle any feathers here for having the gall to suggest that a Silver Medallion should expect some sort of benefit (upgrading is impossible).

Nonetheless, it looks like I'll take my unwanted business on Delta to AA for long haul and CO/US for NE travel. Delta's transcon product actually isn't that bad, but frequencies are awful on the two routes I care about (JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO). I thought I'd give them a try since I use them weekly on the shuttle and monthly to MSY. Looks like its back to AA for me out of JFK.

I just thought JFK was hillarious in light of Delta's awfully prominent (tops of cabs, subways, bus shelters, etc.) campaign bragging about the lack of lines at its NYC airports. It's all the more amusing knowing that JFK is perpetually a mess (even the "no lines" products like kiosks).

Points Scrounger

Which line were you kicked out of? As a Silver coach passenger, you should certainly be allowed to use Priority Check-in and Boarding, but not expedited security.
I haven't been to JFK since they "enhanced" operations there. However, I have checked in at the Medallion counter there as a Silver - warning from the ticket agent on duty "If it turns out you're not Medallion, you'll have to wait online [in the cattle bin] again to check in" - notwithstanding.
Then there was the time in Lyon with two Silvers and a General Member on the same PNR with the dragons demanding the latter go with the cattle and the poor counter agent trying to get their attention to tell them she has his boarding pass available now along with the two Silvers.

DENROC

For years JFK has been an abomination and IMHO it appears to be getting worse--what a welcome to our country and the NY metropolitan area.

NYNOVA

I was most certainly kicked out of the check-in line, not security. And when I say kicked out, I mean that I asked a redcoat if the sign was incorrect in front of the elite checkin line (It simply read "B/E and First Class Checkin) or if it also served as the Medallion line. She barked that the sign meant exactly what it said and "...medallion or not, if you're assigned to sit in coach, you have to wait in line with everyone else..." I waited in the coach line for a kiosk for 15 minutes and finally gave up; I walked outside and found an idle skycap who exchanged a quick check-in for a nice tip upfront.

Security was another story--Barbara Walters was being expedited through right before me (along with handlers and hangers-on) which delayed an already tumultuous process. Thankfully, the flight consisted of about 30 other pax throughout the entire cabin and I brought plenty of DVDs to distract me from the showing of _Simone_. I would have been a wreck had I had to sit in a middle seat in coach for five hours after dealing w/ the mess @ JFK. I'll never do it again.

NYNOVA

Forgive my ignorance of this board, but is there an edit function? I just read my last post and picked up a glaring syntax problem: I do not, in fact, have anything even remotely regarded as "handlers or hangers-on." They belonged to Barbara Walters. And there were a lot of them.

GG

Let me add my welcome to FT. Anyone who worries about syntax is a great addition to the mix here.

You can edit your post by clicking on the notched rectangle/pencil icon at the top of the post you want to edit.

I'd say something about Delta's mess at JFK, but I used to fly TWA.

edited because I can't even remember the icons properly after all this time. Embarrassing.


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[This message has been edited by GG (edited 03-03-2003).]

jeffreyt

Silver Medallions can use First Class to check in. That's one of the benefits of the program. Is this different at JFK?

Ezra

It's just a dream of mine, but I think Delta should help AA out with some of its cash woes by engineering some sort of terminal swap at JFK and thereby inherit AA's new, gleaming, spacious facility.

akhullar

BE/First check-in is at the upperlevel in the old PanAm worldport. Most of my JFK trips tend to be international flights so I normally just have the car take me to the one on the upper-level.

It is however painful to lug your carryon to gates 6-12, which are way on the other side.

DL_flyer

You mean the open, then closed, then open, NOW CLOSED upper-level? When I was there last Thursday morning (Feb. 27) I had to check in with the mass of dis-organized humanity on the lower level.

Cheers.

bdschobel

Well, how about OPEN again? I used the upper front entrance on Friday, 2/28, at 1:30 p.m. for a 2:50 flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

Bruce