JFK Transfer - enough time?
 

I'm flying in to JFK on December 21st from Germany, and they have given me a layover time of 1:40 between flights. Both the arrival and departure flights are from terminal 8, and I'm not planning on checking any bags. I'm a bit worried about the timing, though, since the flight I will catch is the last one to my destination that day. Is this enough time?

Need more information from you -

1) Are you a US citizens? If so, do you have Global Entry?

2) What time does your inbound flight arrive?

3) Will you have been able to check-in and get your boarding pass for your connecting flight BEFORE you board your flight from Germany? If so, that will save time. If not, you may not have enough time as check-in lines can be slow moving.

December 21 is the Saturday before Christmas and will be a very busy travel day. Immigration & Customs lines can be long so knowing the answer to question 1 would help.

You'll also need time to re-clear the TSA checkpoint - again you'll be doing so on a heavy travel day.

A connection time of 1:40 is cutting it very close.- it's doable if all the stars align properly - weather delays for your inbound flight, and long lines at immigration and TSA could prove to be your downfall.

We need to put RoamsAround's post in a stickie!

Hi RoamsAround, thanks for the reply!

I am a US citizen; the flight arrives at 3:45 p.m. The flights are all with one airline, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to get all of the boarding passes/check-in before I hit JFK. Thanks so much!

Also: I don't have Global Entry

The two biggest obstacles will be possible air traffic delays that could cause your inbound flight to arrive later than schedules and how many other international flights arrive in Terminal 8 at the same time as yours - both of these are impossible to predict. A lot will depend on how quickly your plane arrives at the gate, how fast yo get off the plane and how long the queue is at immigration.

As I previously stated, you are flying on the Saturday before Christmas which is going to be a busy day at JFK - there's no getting around that. You are going to encounter long lines at immigration and again when going back through the TSA Security checkpoint.

I'll stand by my original response that a 1:40 connecting time cutting it close but is doable if there are no untoward delays.

The difficulty with answering your question is you want people to give you assurances everything will be fine and we can't do that - there are just too many variables and besides you've already told us you are connecting to the last flight of the day to your final destination. that means, there is no back up plan. So the upshot is you are either going to make your flight or spend the night at JFK nothing anyone on this forum can say will change that.

Hint: On your inbound flight, try to get a seat as close to the front of the plane so you'll be one of the first to get off. Don't dilly dally once you deplane - walk at a good steady pace to Immigration (have your passport handy) and pray for short lines - hopefully you'll be through in 30 minutes after deplaning. Customs is usually a breeze for US Citizens so that shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Them make your way as quickly as possible to the TSA Checkpoint - figure on 20 to 30 minutes and another few minutes to get to the gate to your connecting flight. That leaves you a cushion of around 35 minutes but remember, your connecting flight will begin boarding about 30 minutes before scheduled departure so you want to get to your connecting gate without delay - no time to stop for a drink or snack.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the advice! I haven't been to JFK before, and appreciate the tips!