JFK - 5 hour layover! Suggestions for using the time?
 

Our flight just got rescheduled and we now have a FIVE HOUR layover at JFK instead of two. Is there anything we can do with this extra time? I'm reluctant to leave the airport, but just checking with you experts to see if there's anything we can do short of hanging out at JFK for five hours.

Our flight is on Thursday May 9, 2019 and the layover is from 5-10 PM. Thanks for any help you can give!

Note to self: you get what you pay for. I booked through a consolidator for a nice cheap price (heading to Gatwick from San Francisco). Just got notified by CheapOair that American Airlines changed our flight. Interesting, as the flight we used to have was still showing as available on the American Airlines site.

Just stay at the airport. Most AA flights are in/out of T-8 (though some are in other terminals)

You could buy a day pass to the Admirals Club.

I don't think you have time to go into New York City.

There is an old style NY red sauce Italian restaurant just a short cab ride away, Don Peppe. Be sure to give a huge tip to the cab driver because they are expecting a much longer trip.


https://www.yelp.com/biz/don-peppe-south-ozone-park-2

You never know if your first flight will be on time so you might not have as long a layover as you think. I wouldn't leave the airport.

The problem with a 5 hour layover between flights is you really won't have 5 hours of free time. Assuming your inbound flight is not coming from an international location (meaning you'd have to spend even more time clearing Immigration and Customs) and arrives on time realistically you will lose about 30 minutes deplaning and getting to the terminal exit. Then, you'll need another 30 minutes to get a taxi and drive to whatever location you decide to visit - again assuming it's nearby the airport and that means it will probably be some local restaurant or near airport hotel - you'll need much more time to actually get into NYC proper - (for this example we'll use 30 minutes) and another 30 minutes to return to the airport. Now, your connecting flight will begin boarding about 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure so you'll have to be back at the airport 30 minutes prior to that time in order to be sure you have enough time to clear TSA. All that non-productive time adds up to at least 2 hours leaving you with somewhere shy of 3 hours "free time" (again assuming you DO NOT go into NYC). So if all you are going to do is have a meal at some mediocre restaurant near the airport can just as easy stay in the airport and get a meal at one of the many in-airport dining locations then browse some of the shops. Go here for more details about what is available in each terminal at the airport: https://www.jfkairport.com

RoamsAround writes:

So if all you are going to do is have a meal at some mediocre restaurant near the airport can just as easy stay in the airport and get a meal at one of the many in-airport dining locations then browse some of the shops
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Now Don Peppe was the only restaurant mentioned by name.

I have no allegiance to the restaurant, but I do in helping people on this board. So my question to RoamsAround is have you ever eaten there? And if so please provide specifics.

BTW, here is the NY Times review for this venerable institution.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/d...nt-queens.html

Agree..if you have the time, don Peppe can be an experience!! If you love and have an interest in regional Chinese food, I'd head to Flushing but only by taxi, to save time,and only after careful planning to make sure the trip is feasible given the time limits..

Sleep -- a five hour layover is a sucker play. You think you have time to do something but you don't.

Thank you RoamsAround, I truly appreciate what you wrote.

And I agree with Eks. Flushing is an all consuming experience.

I would not leave the airport if I had a five hour layover. Just wouldn't be worth it for me. The five hours will go by fairly quickly and will not really be five hours of sitting around. Even if your flight arrives on time, by the time you taxi to your gate, wait to deplane and walk through the terminal, you've probably eaten up 30 minutes. International flights usually start boarding 45 minutes to an hour before the flight is scheduled to take off. So that leaves you with about three and a half hours. I'd find a restaurant in the terminal and have a relaxing meal. And then read a book or something to occupy the rest of the time.

For us this would be easy.. leaving on a long red eye.. we would have a dinner at the airport.. not too heavy.. but couldn't be worse than airline food.. and its a nice way to pass a few hours.. we'd also then make sure we were ready to sleep on our red eye ( by eating soon after landing for layover.. then letting it digest with a walk around airport , then brush teeth and board flight ( I hate brushing teeth in airplane bathrooms .. so dingy dark and small. .)

Yikes! You brush your teeth in the airplane bathroom??? with the water from the sink????

You haven't heard that they bottle water nowadays?

According to their post they brush their teeth BEFORE boarding the plane.

I like to shower in airplane restrooms. And if it is a long flight a sauna.

“the layover is from 5-10 PM “Just remember that part of that 5 hour timeframe is “rush hour”

Suze,, did you find it hard to understand that we brush our teeth in the airport as we do not like using airplane bathrooms for teeth brushing?

So, tap water in New York isn't safe? Seriously? I doubt they would fill the sink with water and brush from that. Personally, I'd use my water bottle even though I fill it from the bottle filler if available or sometimes the drinking fountain. Quel horror.

Wow, thanks everyone for such great responses. I think the consensus is that we will probably just hang around the airport, trying to find the best restaurant there for a nice meal before facing airplane food. I found the discussion of brushing teeth on the airplane rather hilarious! I also use bottled water, somehow not trusting what comes out of the tap in the airplane bathrooms.

Thanks especially to roamsaround for the link to what's available at the airport. We'll get through this, not the worst problem to have for sure!

Then you definitely belong on this board. Have a great trip and come back and tell us how it went.

leslieq Agree with most, not enough time, buy a lounge pass!

As far as drinking water - NYC tap water is considered clean and safe. I've never brushed my teeth in a public bathroom, the water itself is fine but who knows who was touching the spigot - same with water fountains. But the actual water is no different than what comes out of your kitchen sink and NYC has some of the best water sources.

On the other hand, airplane water is not necessarily clean and can be contaminated through the lines/tanks etc, collecting bacteria. I never accept water, coffee or tea on an airplane or use the water in the bathroom to brush my teeth, bring your own bottled water!

If you do not like the person sitting next to you on the plane, you may consider gargling right there.