Hi All,

I hope i have posted this in the right section. We (Travelling party of 7) are arriving at JFK T7 on Friday 18th September at 22.30 with Cathay Pacific.

We are on the first flight out of JFK the next morning to Orlando with JetBlue at 6am.

Would anyone have any idea (rough estimate) of how long it will take to clear immigration at that time of night and transfer over from T7 to T5? The tickets are booked seperately so we will need to collect baggage and re-check it with JetBlue.

I am assuming that we will have little or nothing to do while we wait for 8 hours overnight.

Any ideas of what we might be able to do will be most welcome, full charge on the Ipads for the kids will be a must.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

You won't be able to check in at jetBlue until their terminal reopens in the morning so you'll be stuck with the bags for a few hours there. Also, neither T7 nor T5 is especially comfortable for waiting outside security. T5 does have free wifi, so that's mildly helpful.

The terminal transfer is one stop on the "All Terminals" AirTrain and even with waiting for elevators because of the bags and such that shouldn't be more than 15-20 minutes to move. But I'd also consider going to T4 rather than T5 for a good portion of the time. There is a diner downstairs in T4 which will likely be much more comfortable than sitting in the few seats T5 has to offer.

There's also luggage storage at T4 right by the diner, although I don't know what the hours are.

T4 has the Central Diner in the arrivals area near the taxi stand and it's open 24 hours. The reviews of the food, unfortunately, aren't so good but I'm sure it's still a decent place to relax and be waited on. Not sure where you're from but a good rule for diners is to just order eggs if you're worried about food quality. Here's a link:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/central-diner-jamaica

Another option might be the pre-security food court in T1 - on the second level balcony above ticketing. A blog recently reported that there is a dunkin donuts cart there that is open 24 hours:
http://blog.sleepinginairports.net/2.../#.VRv38PnF-Ig

The blog post above also notes that there are pax trying to sleep at T5 landside and it gives a good description of the area. As others have noted T5 has free wifi provided by JetBlue, unlike other JFK terminals.

I can't figure out what time T5 airside / post-security closes and re-opens, but as the last poster mentioned you won't be allowed back through security until it has re-opened. My best guess would be that it re-opens around 4am.

CX 846 is usually on time but it'll take about 2 hours to clear immigration at that time of the night because there is usually a BA flight arriving the same time. Sometimes two.

There is very little to do at T7 and T5 is basically shut after midnight but there is a Dunkin Donuts and wifi is free, however, there are no charge points. The only 24 hour terminal is T4 but with the redesign much of what is available is post security.

T5 opens around 4/4.30 but there is a crowd early at T5 so get there early.

Unfortunately there is nothing much to do around the airport and it will take a while to get into Manhattan.

As you are only looking for a place for 4-5 hours, it is worth calling around to various JFK hotels (call the properties themselves, not their reservations lines) and asking specifically what rate they might provide for a check-in at midnight and departing by 4:30 AM. Depending on the property and its capacity, you might find a very enticing rate.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will certainly have a look at the hotel option for the time we are there, i think we would need to book 2 rooms which i thought might be cost prohibitive for such a short time.

Just unfortunate timing with us arriving so late on CX 846. A couple of hours delay leaving HKG might come in handy.

That would be even worse!! T7 immigration is slow and I could just imagine them making you sit on the aircraft because CBP has gone home for the night.

That wouldn't happen; after-hours arrivals would go to T4. But CX tends to be quite punctual.

I don't know about two hours, but I have come into T7 on that last BA flight of the day from LHR, landed about 1100p IIRC, and certainly waited more than an hour for C&I in cramped unpleasant cattle-line conditions. It's not much of a welcome to the States for tired people late at night, sorry to say.