salut0

Might be taking an itinerary on a Thursday evening in the summer which is scheduled to arrive at LGA at 8:55pm and the connecting flight departs from JFK at 10:55pm. Do you think that�s doable?

Relevant info:
� Would already have boarding passes for the connecting flight
� Not checking bags
� No TSA pre check
� Might be able to get into the front of the security line at JFK T8 because of status

Blumie

It's totally doable, but it is risky. In addition to the risk of flight delays into LGA, which tend to get worse the later in the day one gets, getting from the arrival gate at LGA to the taxi stand is a bit of a walk (I loved the old LGA, where the walk was three minutes, max), and of course there could be a wait for a taxi. (Someone is bound to pipe in and warn of the risks of traffic between LGA and JFK; yes that's a risk, but not nearly as significant as New Yorkers like to make it out to be.)

So the real questions are, what is your risk tolerance, and what is your Plan B if you miss the connection?

salut0

Definitely don�t want to miss the connection. It�s AA to AY � does that change matters?

And is the quickest way to get from the AA terminal at LGA to JFK in a yellow taxi? I assume something booked on an app like Uber or Lyft would have a pickup further from the LGA terminal which might add time.

Blumie

Unfortunately, while there's a decent chance you'll make the connection, there's also a decent chance you won't. That it's AA to AY doesn't help; you still need to get from LGA to JFK. And again, I consider your flight into LGA to be the biggest risk; if that flight arrives on time, your odds of making the connection improve dramatically IMHO. And yes, a yellow taxi is almost alway (though not always) fastest. If you get to the taxi queue and find it to be unreasonably long, you can open your uber app and see how long that will take. Or you can find a driver hanging around and negotiate an off-the-books deal, which is illegal, but hey, sometimes you gotta make a flight!

Blumie

Out of curiosity, from where is the LGA flight originating?

UKtravelbear

i did LGA to JfK about a month ago. The Uber pick up area was well signposted from baggage reclaim and they have different lanes for cars to arrive in and all well signposted and organised.

IiRC when the ride was accepted the app told me which lettered lane to go to so far less of a scrum than if they all arrived in the same small kurb space like at some airports.

salut0

So this didn�t end up happening � I was actually hoping I�d take a bump on my JFK-RDU-LHR flight yesterday and get AA to reroute me instead JFK-HEL-LHR which was wide open on Finnair, despite the packed nonstops JFK-LHR on BA and AA.

However the gate agents at JFK either didn�t need volunteers or were too harried to figure anything out so I ended up flying to RDU. Once there, I�d figured out that the best way to get back was RDU-LGA/JFK-HEL-LHR but the connection seemed tight.

In the end they didn�t need volunteers or didn�t take my high bid even though RDU-LHR was zeroed on ExpertFlyer. Since RDU-LHR was full I prioritized getting on board early to get overhead bin space and not be forced to check carryon. And I decided that even if I had been able to get the bump vouchers, the better sleep on the JFK-HEL flight, the extra miles and tier points, and the allure of the spa in HEL and the Platinum lounge weren�t worth the significant risk of missing the LGA-JFK connection through a late arriving RDU-LGA flight or Van Wyck traffic.

As a side note, has the TSA experience got worse at JFK T8 recently? It took ages yesterday late morning and seemed like there were very few agents working. Surly as always as well�

dstan

I timed the walk from my AA gate to the Terminal B taxi stand on my last arrival - 6 minutes. (I preferred the "old LGA", too.)

Blumie

That's not bad. But of course it easily could be double that for those in the back of the plane and/or slow walkers.

wetrat0

Apparently OP didn't try this, but I just wanted to add that my vote would be "no". Unless there were multiple backup options, I would even hesitate to book a 2 hour D->I connection in NYC in the afternoon/evening even if it was all at JFK. NYC is the most congested airspace in the country, flights into LGA/JFK are routinely delayed in the afternoons even with good weather, and a single thunderstorm would surely wipe out the entire buffer. Adding the transfer from LGA to JFK eats up 45 minutes if everything runs perfectly, so you're really talking about a 1:15 connection in perfect conditions.

GUWonder

Do-able under those conditions, but needs a back-up plan in case of a material chance of missing the connection. And I wouldn�t count on the AY plane door remaining open past 10:35-10:40pm.

Also, just because there is an AY TATL boarding pass in hand doesn�t mean that airline won�t necessarily want to physically swipe the passport prior to boarding. Earlier this month, the boarding agents working the AY flight wanted to swipe my passport even as I already had my AY boarding passes in hand. They may be less willing to do that after c. 10:30-10:35pm.

lrdpenn

I don't OP should fear getting offloaded if they meet all the check-in and gate appearance requirements. However some airlines have an earlier intl cutoff probably to manage more formalities (e.g., AA's cutoff if 15min for domestic, 30mins for international), not sure what the AY rule is.

In any case I would NOT take this connection. Evening arrival in LGA in summer is probably 60% on-time at best. This is also not within MCT (I think that's 4h?) so you have no protection if you miss the flight.

The only way I'd take a 2h connection...if JFK -> LGA (and I expected to sail through GE), and I was going from LGA to ORD/BOS/DCA so missing my original flight has little risk

awayIgo

Agreeing with #10. I live midway between JFK and LGA. Even at night the road traffic can be horrible and major road construction projects just complicate things further. I regularly fly out of JFK terminal 4 and by 8:30 there are NO pre check lines!I don’t know about terminal 8.