thosh

Hi, I'll be coming from delhi to JFK at 11:40 am on 8th June. My connection flight to miami starts from terminal 8 at 13:10 pm.
How should I go to T8 from T4?
Is 1:30 hrs connection time enough to catch my next flight?
Should I take my check-in baggage in JFK?

rkkwan

Let me just answer your 2nd question first. 1:30 is just adequate for a US citizen doing a Int'l-Domestic connection in any US airport, on a good day, with no room for error. If you're a visitor to the US, then you can forget it.

1st question, you take the AirTrain that goes from terminal to terminal at JFK. Ride is short and trains frequent, BUT there is a walk between the terminals and the trains. It's not like the train stops right in the center of a terminal.

You MUST claim your checked-bags at JFK to go through US customs. After you exit customs, if AI's already tagged your bags to MIA, you can drop them off there and then just go ride the train over without luggage. But for whatever reason, AI can't tag your bags to MIA, you need to take them yourself over to AA at T8. And AA stopped taking luggage 30 minutes before your flight, which means there's almost no chance you can make that. This means, you HAVE TO make sure AI tags your bags all the way to MIA.

And you need to check yourself in for the AA flight on-line prior to leaving DEL, or have somebody do it for you.

J62

I agree with rk.

I would not do this as a US citizen if I had checked bag. You will not get through immigration, baggage claim, and exit customs until 12:30 on a good day. Even if you get through immigration quickly (doubtful), you can wait a long time for checked baggage to arrive.

There are frequent flights from JFK to MIA on AA - see if you can get a later flight instead of the 13:10.

rkkwan

Just want to add that the JFK AirTrain runs in both directions. Going from T4 to T8 is one of the few situations that trains from both direction are OKAY, and both are 3 stops and of almost equivalent distance. [The other situations are going from 1 to 5, or 2/3 to 7.] So, just board the very first train that comes into T4, regardless of direction and what the signs say.

P_M

Be sure to pay attention and get on the right train. There is one train that just goes around the airport and another that goes outside the airport. It's really not hard as the signs are clearly posted.

rkkwan

P_M: in the OP's case, either train is fine for T4 to T8.

P_M

After posting I was wondering about that. When I did my transfer it was from T8 to T4 and it looks like the OP is going the opposite direction.

xyz123

Is it all booked on one ticket? Did whomever you bought the ticket from book it through AI or AA making sure it is a legal connection? If it's a legal connection and on one ticket, relax. If you can't make the connection, AA will put you on the next flight. The problem comes in when people, in an effort to save money, use discount airlines for the trans-Atlantic flight and separately purchase the domestic flight. Then you could be in trouble if you miss the connecting flight. I suspect if it's all on one booking, then you can interline your bags.

Rosalind7

On a domestic-international flight, we will have already gone through the
checkpoint, will we need to go through another checkpoint for international
travel to europe?

Thank you
We are arriving at 3:08 in JFK and need to get to 5:30 British Airways.
We will following signs for proper Airtrain.

If anyone know this answer I would appreciate it.

Roz

Are we going to make it in time?

J62

Will your bags be checked through to your final destination or will you have to claim them at JFK and take them to BA?

Will you be checked in on BA before you get to JFK?

There are six separate terminals at JFK connected by the AirTrain. BA uses terminal #7, so you will have to get from your arrival terminal to #7. The airtrain is outside the secure zone, so yes, you will need to go through security as you change terminals.

yes, you have enough time.

doug_stallings

@thosh 90 minutes is just not enough time if you have checked luggage. Even if you are flying on a single ticket, you still must go through immigration, reclaim your luggage, clear customs (which is now the more time-consuming part of arriving at JFK), and drop your luggage at the recheck desk before you leave Terminal 4. Then you must travel from Terminal 4 to 8 via the Airtrain (the train you get on really DOES matter because you want to be on the inter-terminal train that doesn't go to the long-term parking areas ... otherwise, the trip is going to take more than twice as long). Then (assuming you already have a boarding pass for your domestic flight) you still have to go through security.

I'm not comfortable with this time. I'd prefer 2 hours. Of course, international flights can be up to 60 minutes early in some arrival times, and that will help you, but you can't count on it. Your flight could be late, in which case you would never make the connection.

@Rosalind7: It's a completely different thing to transfer from Domestic to International at JFK, and the airline matters. If you are arriving on American and transferring to BA, that's all in Terminal 7, and you'd have plenty of time unless your domestic flight is really late. If you are arriving on a different airline, it might be tighter. But your bags will be checked all the way through, and you only go through security again if you are changing terminals, and you don't say if you are.

janisj

Doug: Tosh asked that four years ago . . .