tailsock

Hi all. I secured a very cheap deal to visit London on JustFly and wanted to know what I can expect when I connect in JFK today. here are the details:

RDU > JFK 2:37PM - 4:19PM
(arrive in terminal 8)

JFK > LHR 6:30PM - 6:40AM
(leave through terminal 7)

These 2 flights were not connected by the same ticket/airline. My wife (a frequent traveler) advised against this should the 1st flight be delayed or something. So does this seem like a reasonable amount of time to make it to my gate in JFK? Will I leave the secured area and reenter security? Will I have to talk to a British Airways agent? Sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure I'm clear.

RoamsAround

Terminal 7 and 8 are NOT connected 9and not really near each other so you'll have to exit the secure area.

Use the AirTrain "tramway" to travel between Terminals 7 & 8.. Trains every 3 minutes. Assuming you have only carry-on and/or any checked luggage (see more comments below) has been checked all they way through to JFK you should allow about 30 minutes from the time you exit your inbound aircraft until the time you arrive at Terminal 7. If you have to claim and recheck your luggage at JFK you should allow an additional 20 to 30 minutes for you bags to arrive at the carousel.

If you will have checked, contact your RDU/JFK airline now to see if they have a baggage handling arrangement with your JFK/LHR airline (I gather it's BA). If so at RDU have your bags checked through to LHR. If not, you'll have to collect your bags upon arrive at JFK and recheck them with your JFK/LHR airline (BA?).

If you've checked in for your JFK/LHR flight online and already have your boarding pass proceed directly to the TSA checkpoint in Terminal 7, clear security and walk to your gate. If you don't have your boarding pass for your flight to LHR you'll have to check in with BA(?) upon arrival at Terminal 7 and then clear TSA.

Your flight to LHR will begin boarding about 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure so you effectively have just under 2 hours to make your connection. your connection is doable but you don't have much wiggle room. As your wife has advised, if your inbound flight is delayed and you miss your connection you will be considered a "no show" and have "no protection". It this happens your so called bargain airfare might end up costing you much more.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I'll add one thing to RoamsAround's excellent summary:

Assuming this is AA to BA, American will not check your bag through to your British Airways flight if you are on separate tickets. Even though AA and BA are OneWorld partners, they eliminated that convenience last year. Do ask when you check in for your first flight at RDU, but you should be prepared that the answer will be no.

Bottom line: This will be a lot simpler if you can travel with only carry-ons.

tailsock

Thank you both. I forgot to mention that I won't be checking any bags.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

That's good. Then good luck to you, and don't dally when you arrive at JFK.