JFK 10:30 pm flight on a Monday - when should we leave for the airport?
 

Planning on staying downtown this trip (probably Hotel Andaz on Wall Street). We'll be out and about all day with our luggage stored at the hotel after check out in the morning. What time would you recommend returning for our luggage and getting transportation for our trip to the airport? Thanks!

If you use a car service to the airport they'll be able to give you advice.

Kind of hard to say right now. Which airline?

not to be funny, but NYC and especially the battery and wall street area is being evacuated for the hurricane, right now on orders of Mayor Bloomberg. Many airlines are not flying on the east coast

If it hits full force JFK is said to be possibly under 15 to 20 feet of water. I suggest you call the hotel and the airport/airline and consider re-scheduling your trip. Also turning on your tv and weather station might be helpful.

good luck.

mahya2, do you know when her trip is?

I'm also hoping she doesn't mean this coming Monday

Domestic flight? Checking any luggage or carry-on only? Many airlines want you at the airport 90-120 minutes ahead of time. And though it probably won't take that long, I allow one hour to get to JFK, Counting backwards, that means leaving hotel aroun 7:30 - 8:00PM

If you are flying Delta, give yourself extra time. Even with boarding passes in hand, their baggage drop off and security lines are horrible!

I'm assuming you do;t mean this weekend - in which case the airport may or may not be open and flight will certainly be majorly backed up.

You need to check with your airline as to when they want you to arrive - for international flights some airlines want you to check in 3 hours in advance. For short-hop domestic flights (but not many of those out of JFK) getting there 1.5 hours in advance may be enough if you don;t check luggage. Depending on airline, flight and time of day I've taken as much as 45 minutes just to get through security.

To get from downtown to JFK leave at least an hour by road. If it is rush hour (before 7:30 pm), there is bad weather, construction or accident it can easily take 1.5 hours. (You can also do it in 20 to 25 minutes but only at 3 in the morning.)

There is no one size fits all answer.

Checked bags or no
Domestic or international
Which alrine/terminal
Checkin online or not

On "a" Monday I would say leave NYC at 8:00 - 8:30 (except this Monday).

Thanks all! Sorry for the confustion - wasn't thinking about the hurricane. I should have said "week day" instead of "a Monday."

Flying JetBlue - carry on. I'm guessing with such a late flight we won't have any trouble with traffic, etc.

Trip is at the end of October. We want to take full advantage of our last day and just wanted to make sure we allowed ourselves enough time to plan our trip to the airport without giving up time in the city. Thanks again!

Love jet blue at JFK. If the weather is good, I would head out at 8pm.

Great -thanks, seetheworld!

I would leave one hour before the time you need to check in. The traffic on the Van Wyck at almost all times, the road that leads to JFK, and the Long Island Expressway can be maddening.

That's what we'll do. Thank you!

You need to know how many Jet Bleu flights are leaving around that time. The last time I flew Jet Blue I had a priority seat. There were about 30 people in front to me on the security line - and we had our own dedicated line. For people with regular seats the line to get through security was at least 300 people - for 3 security doorways. Given how many fliers are still clueless (you mean I need to take off my shoes? you mean my computer has to come out of the bag? you mean I have to show liquids? you mean i can't bring my pocket knife with me?) Plus the elderly or those with kids that take 3 times as long to do everything.

I'm sure those people were on the security line for at least an hour. (There were moans from some people at the end of the line that they were going to miss their flight - and the Jet Blue attendant told them they should have checked in at least 2 hours in advance - they were only about an hour from take off.)

9 pm may not be as bad - but if flights are late there may still be a bunch of people. Chec the airline web site to see what they say.

Thanks, nytraveler. I think we'll just head to the airport earlier then - around 7:00 p.m. - just to be on the safe side.