can i make my connection. HELP!
 

I am scheduled on a July 18 Delta comair flight into jfk that arrives at 5:50pm. My connecting Delta flight to Rome departs at 7:20 pm. That gives me only 1 1/2 hours to make the connection. I think the Comair Flight arrives in Terminal 3 and Rome flight departs terminal 4. I am new to this so am not sure if I got correct info. Can I make this connection?. The Orbitz people assured me it is no problem but now I am starting to panic.
Also how can I get accurate info regarding arrival, departure, gates and terminals?

You shouldn't have any difficulties. On a Delta > Delta connection, the airline is responsible for getting you to your connection, so even if you missed it (highly, highly unlikely) they'd have to provide alternate transport to Rome.

Here's the layout of Delta at JFK. Looks like there's a shuttle bus from T3 to T4 that is probably inside security, so should be very quick. http://www.delta.com/traveling_check...ewyork_jfk.jsp

If you miss your Rome connection, no matter what Delta does, you'd probably have to wait a whole DAY for the next flight.... Not too many alternatives to Europe on a late evening.

I'd take an earlier flight to JFK. Why worry? The weather can be good in your area, but bad in New York, or somewhere along your plane's route.

Thank you for your quick replies. I believe there is a later flight out to Rome that evening. Gardyloo, the map is very helpful. i was looking for something like that to have on hand. I feel a little better.

I would have no concern booking the 90min layover for myself. On a normal day it's definitely a non-issue, and if there are severe weather or mechanical problems then all bets are off, so a 90min, 2hr, or 3hr layover may make no difference anyway.

If there's a later flight to Rome then that's even more reason to be ok with the earlier flight.

The later flight isn't a Delta flight. It is actually an Alitalia operated flight. With some prodding if anything goes wrong with the initial flight Delta would probably put the op on this flight.

You are nuts thinking that a 90 minute connection at JFK will be doable-try to get on an earlier commuter flight and you will be less stressed. Even if there is an Alitalia flight later,chances are that that flight is totally booked so you won't be allowed on. FCO is always a full flight no matter what airline in the summer so seats will be limited.( am a veteran Rome crewmember and cannot tell you how many thunderstorms,mechanicals and sitting on the tarmac have caused passengers to miss their flights.)

Please don't panic and don't be too worried at dutyfree's warning. I think there's a pretty good chance that you will make that flight unless your Comair flight is very late. Dutyfree is correct that summer thunderstorms cause passengers to miss flights at JFK, so there is always a small chance you won't make the flight.

However, Delta has gates at terminals T2, T3 and T4, and the shuttle is within the secure area. I'd plan on 20 to 30 minutes for the transfer. The terminals are right next door to each other, but I'm not sure how often the shuttle runs.

The only difficulty will be if you have checked luggage and have a tighter than expected connection; if you arrive with less than an hour between flights, I think there is a very good chance your luggage will not make the connection to Rome. But if you are either on time or no more than 45 minutes late you yourself should be able to make the connection, even if your luggage does not.

Therefore, I would recommend doing carry-on only for this flight just to ensure that you and your bags make it to Rome together. On the way back, you can check your bag. While I'd feel more comfortable if you had 2 hours or more between flights, I do think this is possible.

If there are severe thunderstorms and delays that day, then all bets are off even if you have a 2- or 3-hour window between flights.

I'll add that if there is bad weather at JFK, it will affect all flights, many of which will have passengers connecting to your Rome flight. In that event, it's likely DL will hold the Rome flight for a reasonable time (30, maybe 60 minutes) to get most of their connecting passengers on board. They are unlikely to fly that plane half full knowing where the missing passengers are.

As someone who has worked for a major US international airline for over 36 years and has also flown as a regular person on various airlines from ORD to NYC for connection to overseas flights,I disagree with both Brian and Doug.

Airlines no longer "hold" flights for passengers especially for 30-60 minutes due to gate space;crew legality;connections on the other side of the pond;traffic flow and spacing over the "pond"-trust me those days are long gone.

JFK is notorious for sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off or to get into a gate-1 1/2 hours is really not much especially if you want to walk to the next gate,do a bathroom stop and possibly get a magazine.

I am just stating something that is a given to most airline people-allow more than enough time at JFK for connections to international flights.Good luck!

Thank you for all your replies. I am not a frequent traveler so do not know how difficult it is to try to get an earlier flight. I will look into this. If unable I will have to take my chances.

I agree with Dutyfree.

Last week I was flying CO via Newark to Stockholm with a scheduled 3.5 hr layover. Due to thunderstorms SW of the NYC area, multiple flights from the Southeast and Midwest were diverted and all of us sat on the ground in Baltimore, Allentown, Harrisburg etc. on our planes for a couple of hours. When we arrived at Newark 3.5 hours late, my plane had left along with any other of their Europe flights on time. Planeloads of us were rerouted through any available European city with connections. I arrived at ARN 9 hours late having made my first trip to Scotland. Some people never left Newark that night. Some people missed train and boat connections in Europe. The plane they put me on waited 15 minutes for one flight that had 10 passengers connecting, but if a fewer number from your feeder flight were on any one plane to Europe, they did not hold it.

I think I'll put up a separate post when I have time--the trip when I violated all my own travel rules and I was reminded why I have those rules. It ended up costing me a lot of time. money, and stress at the beginning of my 3-week visit to Scandanavia.

I'm with dutyfree on this one. Just how often does a flight arrive on time? Also flights scheduled later in the day have a greater chance of being delayed. Another important thing to remember is that the arrival time is when the flight lands not the time you actually exit the plane. This can easily amount to an additional 15/20 minutes.There is also the problem of any checked luggae not making the flight. If possible get an earlier flight especially if planning to check any bags.

I agree with dutyfree too. JFK is notorious for flights arriving late. We had a similar situation in April and I ended up changing our shuttle flt into JFK and taking an earlier shuttle flt into JFK. We had 4 hours in JFK, but our originally scheduled later flt into JFK never did make it in b4 our flt to MXP left. If u can get an earlier flt into JFK I would switch.