snaxmuppet

My flight arrives at JFK terminal 1 at 11am (JL from HND) but my connection does not depart until 10pm same day from terminal 7 (BA to LHR). Silver travelling in J. HBO.

I am at a bit of a loss what is the best thing to do for the best part of 10 hrs at JFK? Would I be allowed that early and for that long in the lounge at T7? Would I want to!!! Would I have time to leave the airport and visit anything at all outside the airport? Is it worth trying to get a day room in a hotel and if so any suggestions - I have never got a day room before so I don't know? In fact, I have never considered leaving an airport where I have a connection as I have always felt it a bit risky should I be late getting back!

Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated

rossmacd

You will be climbing the walls if you wait at JFK for 10 hours. Personally, I would be heading into Manhattan and meet friends (I am in NYC frequently so have many people to spend time with), but failing that there are plenty of museums, restaurants, shopping and sightseeing to be done.

Since New York is a fantastic city with so much to do and see, it would be madness to stay at JFK for that long. I suggest to look at the NYC forum for plenty of advice and recommendations:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/new-york-city-465/

SWISSBOBBY

You will have plenty of time for a day in nyc...

Jump on Airtrain and then Subway from Jamaica (Sutphin BLVD) to the midtown.
Go to the Rockerfeller Centre, visit the Top of the Rock for a great veiw of Manhattan.
From there you can head up to Central Park and visit the Metropolitan Museum or the Museum of Natural History on either side of the Park.
Then I would head downtown towards the Brooklyn Bridge and walk over it to Brooklyn.
Go and have something to eat in North Williamsburg or DUMBO

Chance to go shopping too if you like
good walk is the "High Line" from the Meat Packing district up to Hell's Kitchen
leave central manhattan about 4.5 hours before your flight.

SB

rossmacd

Some great suggestions SWISSBOBBY, however leaving Manhattan this early before your flight is much too long to spend at T7.

Taking the LIRR from Penn to Jamaica then the AirTrain to T7 can take as little as 35 minutes (if you are lucky with connection at Jamaica), so leaving central Manhattan 2 hours before the flight still gives ample time for the formalities at JFK. I would recommend bypassing the Club dining (it is low quality) and eat in town for a much better meal thus keeping your time at the airport to a minimum and sleep time onboard to a maximum.

Iamnotlost

Another vote for leaving the airport.

I had a similar scenario last March. My cunning plan was to get the subway into Manhattan and then return via the ferry to Rockaway and subway back to the Howard Beach station for the airtrain. I was thwarted by unseasonably cold weather so I did Highline, Brooklyn Bridge and some shopping instead.

You will save a fair bit of time using the LIRR though it is more expensive. Depending on what else you want to do it could be well worth it though.

The only thing I never figured out was stashing my carry on somewhere. As I was using a duffle with backpack straps it wasn't too bad to lug about but a wheely bag would have been a pain. I think there was a left luggage in T4 but it had such awful reviews I didn't investigate. I remember reading that some people have left their carry on at a hotel in exchange for some folded paper money.

Be interested to know how you get on - especially with your carry on - as I think this is a great way break up the journey.

msm2000uk

Definitely leave the airport.

I used a left luggage place after an AA domestic flight into JFK, and it was brilliant.

Saved me taking my bag round NYC, and just made life a lot easier.

M

snaxmuppet

WOW! I just hadn't considered that I could do so much in such a short (relatively) time in NY.

What to do with the carry-on is an issue. It will be a rollaboard case so not something I want to lug around all day.

Is getting back to JFK less than 2 hrs before departure long enough? I have always worked on 3 hrs before an international flight into or out of USA? Am I being madly cautious with that then? What is the min amount of time you would be happy with given I am HBO? I don't have Pre-check/Gobal Entry BTW but being in J I should have any priority security that might be available. Not flown into JFK since the 80's so I have no idea what is possible/sensible.

Thanks for all your help.

APUBleed

If you like aviation, go to the air and space museum and visit the BA Concorde!

If you're on a Matinee day (typically Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday) see a Broadway show.

Otherwise, any of the other suggestions in this thread. There is so much to do in NYC!

Iamnotlost

Did you use the one at JFK or is there somewhere else? The bag got heavier as the day progressed even without me buying anything to put in it......

rossmacd

More than long enough - unless you are one of the people who like to spend more time than necessary in airport lounges just because it has a bit of 'free' grub and booze I think you are being overcautious, particularly since you are on one of the last BA services out of JFK and T7 will be quieter after the peak earlier in the evening. I would rather spend my time in the city, than at JFK.

Last summer there was an occasion I left Penn exactly an hour before departure for the last departure of the night (usually about 23:00/23:15, but sometimes can be later), as I knew my flight was delayed by about 30 minutes from the inbound. I still made it with about 10 minutes to hang around at the gate before boarding. I do know Penn, LIRR, AirTrain and T7 and T8 very well so this does help.

Enjoy your day in NYC

SavvyTravel

Another vote for leaving the airport. We did an 8 hour day trip... for which my wife was a little apprehensive but it really was extremely easy.
Arr o/n from LAX on AA and took it leisurely (shower and breakfast in the arrival lounge) and got the AirTrain/subway to Ground Zero (this was longer than expected - about 90 minutes all in; but at $7.75 the cheaper option than the LIRR)
Hit Ground Zero and the museum then headed up the Rockefeller centre - zero queue in January (and IMHO the better view of Manhattan than from the Empire State Building). Late "lunch" at Grand Central; and some window shopping on Fifth (very disappointing!).
Then back to JFK on the subway and we were back for our BA flight to London nearly 3.5 hours ahead of departure. WAY WAY too early (in J) as a 2 minute queue and into the lounge, where dinner wasn't even being served yet. Subway fares less than $20 each.

And a great day out to tell friends and family!

PS the matinee idea is a very good one too

corporate-wage-slave

Some of NY's museums and galleries have locker or bag check provisions, a quick internet search should give options. You could head their first and make sure you recover the bag before too long.

Another approach is to head to a reasonably upscale hotel, and have brunch (or whatever) meal there. Check the bag in with the concierge and fat tip will prevent you having any problems there.

SWISSBOBBY

I would go with what you are comfortable with.
I like to be at the airport early with a little margin. My timing of 4.5 hours before the flight was based on taking the Subway.. which I normally count 1 hour from the mid-town line E - UPTOWN and QUEENS to Jamaica then Airtrain time.
I too like time at the airport.
Subway is a lot cheaper than the LIRR.
Each journey costs USD 2.75 on the Subway with a MetroCard.
LIRR USD 7.50 one-way offpeak and USD 10.25 Peak (Peak arrive Penn Station 06:00 - 10:00 Depart Penn Station 16:00 - 20:00)
Airtrain USD 5:00 each way also payable with a metro card
Metrocard of over USD 5.50 gets a 5% bonus so pay USD 10.00 you will get a value of USD 10.50

NYC MTA Fares

UKtravelbear

Many museums won't take luggage. I recently saw two - MOMA and Met refusing to take roller boards. For example MOMA's maximum bag size they will accept is 14 x 22 x 9” (36 x 56 x 23 cm).

There is a service - using an APP - where many shops will store baggage which would be much cheaper than tipping a concierge

There are threads about it on the NY destination board where there are also dozens of existing threads about what to do in NYC on a layover including tips on transport to and from downtown,

snaxmuppet

Thank you so much!

I know there is a lot to do in New York. I worked there for a year in the 80's and lived in New Jersey so although things will have changed a lot I know NY is a great city to visit. It was more about the time and whether I'd have enough time to go into the city, do anything worthwhile and get back without risking missing the flight. Clearly I have plenty of time and thank you for giving me the confidence to do it.

I really fancy visiting Ground Zero so I will include that in my plans and now I will look at the day very differently... before I was thinking it might be just a boring day in the airport... now I am looking forward to it in its own right.

FYI - this leg is part of a Round the World TP run. Well, I say TP run which is what it started out as but I have chosen a route to suite my interests and so the price per TP is not working out as cheap as I had first planned. I will have other stops long enough to do stuff... an overnight in Delhi when I plan to do a day trip to Agra (long day but probably worth it as I may never get back to India again given my interests)... an overnight in Tokyo where I switch from NRT to HND. Your comments are making me reassess what I can do at those stops too!

Many thanks again. I have some research to do