JFK - terminal transfer
 

My flight is : Tel Aviv - New York JFK with ElAl, then New York - Boston with American AirLines.
ElAl and AA are partners. My transfer time in New Your is 2 hours, and the travel agent says that is a legal time.
However I am still worry. Do you know if I have to take my luggage in JFK for custom control?

You will go through passport control, baggage claim, and customs at terminal 4 upon arrival from TelAviv. Right after customs you will recheck your luggage for the JFK-BOS flight, then proceed to terminal 8 by AirTrain. That'll take about 5min.

Two hrs is plenty of time.

I'd beg to differ on that front. I typically spend 45 minutes up to 90 minutes in Immigration lines at JFK, and that would wreck the transfer. I'd recommend a minimum of 3 hours, though if the conditions are right you can certainly do it in two. If you are NOT an American citizen, then I'd strongly recommend a longer transfer time because the lines for non-citizens can be even longer. Having said that, Terminal 4 Customs is the largest and best-staffed of all the customs halls at JFK, but I'd still ask for a 3-hour window.

I agree with Doug - I was working under the assumption of US citizen passport lines. I've always been at baggage claim before my bags come out, but the line for non-US citizens is always longer.

AA has 3-4 flights a day from JFK to BOS - spaced several hours apart.

This is going to be the luck of the draw.

If your plane lands on time

If a lot of other planes have not just landed

If the immigration lines are not too long (or passengers from an area with a lot of extra scrutiny)

You may well make it

Or, you may not

(I'm a US citizen and have had it take almost 2 hours from wheels down out to the curb - mostly waiting for baggage to turn up since a bunch of planes landed at once)

I am not US citizen, and as per most of the advices here, I decieded to take a later plane to boston. Now I have 4 hours between flights but for me is better to wait longer than to be under pressure.

Thank a lot.

If you are luck and get through fast you can always ask AA to put you on the earlier flight. If they have room they should do that for you without a problem. Make sure your bags get re-tagged to the earlier flight if you get lucky.

I'm so glad you changed your flight plan. Two hours is not enough time in a normal situation. These days - no way!

valtor, what time of the day does your flight arrive into JFK?
It does generally take longer for the non-US citizen's lines to clear,but time of the day also impacts how long the process takes.

In any case, sounds like a good idea that you gave yourself a little more time for the connection

J62, thanks, it is good to know that I can change my flight without problems if I have time.

I arrive at JFK at 6:00, and the flight that I booked to Boston is at 10:40. The earlier flight to BOS is at 8:10.

I think you got great advice, and if you're out of immigration quickly, you can always go standby...

I would like to thank for the dvice to allow a longer time between flights.

Based on your advices, I had theoretically 4 hours between flighst. But..., the first flight was delayed with 2 hours, then I spent more than one hour waiting at Immigration. So, then I had one hour to move from terminal 4 to 8, etc.

Now I just arrived back home, I don't feel so good, as during the trip, in the plant where I was, I broke a rib. The flights back were no so easy in these conditions. Now I have some pain, and can not speel in the bed, I spend the nights in tv chair.

valtor, I'm very sorry to hear about your accident, but I'm glad you were able to make your transfer. I'm sure it would have been worse if you'd not been able to fly home as planned. Take it easy and rest yourself.

Looks like our advice was very good - hooray!

I'm so, so sorry that you aren't doing well. Take good care of yourself.