I have a few options in NYC on my way to Paris for which I’m soliciting suggestions. I will be traveling to Paris/London with my two kiddos (12 & 14) in March of 2011 and will likely subject us all to some craziness prior to boarding our flight to CDG. Because we will be using A/A miles, we are flying from DFW into LGA at 10:20 a.m. and by design, flying out of JFK at 9:00 p.m. All A/A mile options to Paris involve flying into LGA and flying out of JFK so I had to book under these constraints. My thought was since the kids haven’t been to NYC that we could see Times Square and possibly grab a bite at a NYC landmark before our later departure. I figure, to be safe, we would have at least 5 hours to mingle before flying out later. My problem stems from what to do with our carry-on bags. A minor detail I failed to consider prior to booking flights.

• Would you take a shuttle from LGA to JFK, check-in, and then go to Manhattan? We could check our carry-on bags thus not having to carry them with us around Manhattan but that defeats the purpose of having a carry-on and saving the ridiculous American Airlines bag fees. There isn’t a way to store our bags at JFK to pick up later is there?

• Avoid the craziness and take the shuttle from LGA to JFK, enjoy lunch & or dinner in the airport, maybe try to catch an earlier flight, and relax before we hit the ground running in Paris.

If AA is like UA and others, you won't be able to standby for another earlier flight if it is the international leg.
I also don't find airports relaxing so I'm not sure spending 5 hours there w/ out paying the fees for admittance to the admirals club would be all that fun.

In my experience FF flights DFW to LGA are relatively easy to come by as there are basically hourly flights. What I would do is keep looking for later flights into LGA to minimize the layover and then head directly from LGA to JFK.

Any plan that involves going LGA to JFK then into Manhattan then back to JFK will be too much craziness for me.

It used to be the case that you could change AA FF flights at no cost. If that's still true I'd keep looking for availability and change to a later flight into LGA. 6am is an early departure out of DFW.

This is maybe too crazy! But... If you can't change the plane tickets and want to go into Manhattan... There is a left luggage desk at Penn Station; I believe it's about $3 or $5 per bag. <b>The caveat</b> is that you have to show you're using Amtrak. So my crazy suggestion is that you could: go to Penn, buy an Amtrak ticket, check the bags, <i>enjoy your afternoon</i>, return to Penn, return the ticket, pick up your bags, then take public transit (LIRR to AirTrain) to JFK.

It definitely adds a layer of complexity to your day! But at least getting from Penn to JFK is quite straightforward, albeit it would be at rush hour. There aren't a lot of NYC landmarks near Penn other than the Empire State Building. But it's also fairly straightforward to get to, say, Rockefeller Center, where you could have timed tickets for the Top of the Rock (as opposed to waiting in line for the ESB), lots of casual lunch options, NBC Experience, St. Patrick's Cathedral, etc.

You can try contacting this place, they store luggage by the day:

http://www.schwartztravel.com/

Or, if you are staying at a U.S-based chain hotel in Paris such as Marriott, Sheraton, etc, I'd call one of their NYC hotels, explain the situation, and ask if you can check your luggage with them for the day.

This is going to be a super long day and I wouldn't make it worse by trying to trek to and fro Manhattan - even dropping luggage at Schwartz.

I would just sleep late, take a later flight to LGA and then head straight to JFK from there.