spanzter99

We have a flight into JFK (domestic flight) which lands at 11.40am Saturday with check in luggage..and are suppose to get on an International flight at Newark at 3.15pm. What is the quickest way to get there?Taxi?? Will we make it?

Michael

You are supposed to be there by 1:15 pm (two hours before departure for international flights), and I doubt that you will make it by that time, whatever means of transportation you use short of a helicopter flight.

spanzter99

Just realised that the flight from Newark goes to LA first, whr we connect to our international leg. Does this make a difference?

SusieQQ

It will be very hard to make it. The best way will be to get a car service. A NY taxi driver will not want to take you to NJ since he will not be able to get a return fare. NY taxis cannot pick up fares from NJ.
Your best solution is to try and change your incoming flight to Newark instead of JFK.

doug_stallings

It's going to be a very tight trip, and I think your only hope is to have a car service reserved and to have absolutely no checked luggage. When you land, head immediately to the baggage claim exits of whichever terminal you're traveling to, and call the car as you get downstairs. It will meet you outside on the arrivals level; jump in and head straight to EWR on the fastest route, which is across Staten Island (but be aware that this route has a very large toll). It's also going to be a very expensive trip. I'd estimate over $100 including all the tolls and tip (perhaps $120). It's possible to do this in an hour, so you should be able to make it if you hustle, but there are no guarantees. Saturday traffic can be bad during midday.

EricH

That our flight out of EWR goes to LAX first doesn't matter because you will be checking in for your international flight at EWR.

Your best bet is to change your incoming flight to EWR. I don't think you can make this connection, even without checked bags, and the cost of missing your EWR flight will probably be substantial.

RoamsAround

You are cutting it very close. The trip between JFK and EWR takes about 1 hours (assuming no traffic delays and that's never a given when driving in NYC). Add to that the time you'll need to deplane and claim your luggage, exit the airport and you'll have very little extra time since you'll still have to get through the TSA Security checkpoint once you get to EWR. All that assume you already have your boarding passes for the international leg of your flight. If you have to get your barding passes when you get to Newark you'll never make your flight.

Public transportation between JFK and EWR is not an option for you as you don't have enough time. Getting a taxi to take you is "iffy" so your only real viable option is a private car service - warning it will be very pricy. Depending on the size of car and the company you are talking around $300 to $400 (we recently to a limo service between those two airports and with taxes tolls and tip ended up spending $375).

Honestly, you are much better off flying directly into Newark. Bite the bullet and change your itinerary even if it involves a change fee and/or increased fare, it will be much easier on you and you'll be glad you did it.

nytraveler

You don;t give specific date - and I hope that it's far enough in advance to switch your flight into JFK into one going to EWR.

You chances of making this re not good. If you have checked baggage I very much doubt if it's possible to make it (coming into JFK I have often waited 30 minute or more before bags get to the carousel).

And if there is bad weather, or an accident, or construction the time of the trip to Newark could double.

Separately, I would check with the flight out of EWR as to what time you are requested to check in - and what time the mandatory check in is.

Frankly - if any one of a host of things go wrong - you won't make the connection (delayed flight into JFK, checked baggage, delay in connecting with your car service, accident, bad weather, construction, etc.)

If you do this arrange a car service in advance - so they are waiting for you with your name on a sign in the terminal at baggage claim when the plane lands - so you can grab your carrry-ons and jog out to the car in the parking lot.

Try Carmel of Dial 7 - and explain the timing to them - they may be able to give you their estimation of timing based on the specific date. I would also check the on-time record or your flight into JFK - to see when you can really expect to land.

mclaurie

Rotten connection. Don't do it. Ditto to what's already been said. I would not try this.

RoamsAround

OP's follow-up post said "Just realised that the flight from Newark goes to LA first, whr we connect to our international leg."

So, it appears the international flight leaves from LAX.

If that's the case OP's original itinerary has them flying from home (unnamed) airport to JFK then from EWR to LAX where they get their international flight. This seems like a very convoluted routing. They should look at flights from their home airport directly to LAX and thereby skipping the JFK/EWR transfer which is sure to result in a missed connection.

nytraveler

Not sure where the OP is coming from - but from anyplace there should be a single connection (at the same airport) to LAX, Agree that flying around in circles makes no sense.

doug_stallings

The OP is probably flying on JetBlue and has to connect at JFK. This isn't at all uncommon, though as everyone has pointed out, not ideal. My guess is that the OP has already booked nonchangeable flights, so he/she will just have to make the best of things. There is time if there aren't any complications, but it may be a little dicey. I wish the OP all the luck, and if everything goes well, then the connection can be made, even if (as everyone else has pointed out), there's little to no room for error. I think the worst part of this is that the OP must not only get a flight at EWR but check in at EWR. That's the real difficulty here.

nytraveler

The OP should realize ahead of time the potential consequences of missing the ongoing flight.

The airline will not simply put you on the next plane. If you miss the ongoing flight you will be considered a no show - and will probably have to buy a new ticket at a much more expensive - walk up price.

It seems to me the choice is of biting the bullet and reticketing now - at a price that you are aware of. Or facing the possibility of buying new tickets when you get to Newark (and that also can well mean buying new international tickets too).

I would investigate the costs both ways and then decide how risk averse you are.

RoamsAround

Not sure, but this seems like a case where a traveler probably booked his/her flights solely on the basis of cost without giving any thought whatsoever to their own convenience and/or the logistics involved and is now looking for others for "confirmation" that everything will be "alright".

While I certainly understand most people's desire to find low air fares it is sometimes foolish to put yourself in a position that might result in a missed connection simply to save a few dollars. It's a little late now for OP but if you are an inexperienced traveller it's better to ask for advise BEFORE booking rather than wait until after and you are in a situation like OP.

I really think OP won't make the connection between JFK and EWR, even though they are traveling on a Saturday when there is likely to be lighter traffic than a weekday. OP has only 3.5 hours between scheduled arrival at JFK and take-off at EWR. Boarding for the flight out of EWR will begin 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure meaning that OP really has only about 3 hours to make the connection. Realistically it will take at least 45 minutes to deplane at JFK, claim luggage and exit the airport (and it could take longer if there is any delay in off-loading luggage. It will then take another hour or so to get to EWR (using a car service). That leaves OP with something like an hour to check-in and drop off luggage at EWR, clear TSA security and get to the departure gate. There's absolutely no wiggle room and Murphy's Law of Airports will surely come into play here. In cases like this "Murphy" makes sure the inbound flight is slow getting to the gate, baggage takes a few minutes longer to get to the carrousel, there's major construction on all of the major bridges and tunnels leading into and out of NYC causing massive traffic delays, the airport check-in and TSA checkpoint lines move very slow, you are singled out for a more thorough TSA search and finally your departing flight leaves from the gate that is at the far end of the terminal.

As I and others have said, OP would be better off biting the bullet and re-ticketing now while they still have some control over the situation rather than risk missing their flight.

RoamsAround

If, as Doug_S suggests OP is flying Jet Blue into JFK they should consider flying from JFK to LAX to connect to their international flight rather than trekking to EWR for the flight to LAX. Almost every airline that flies from EWR to LAX also has flights between JFK & Lax so that should be an easy fix. Rebooking now to a JFK/LAX itinerary rather than an EWR/LAX itinerary (on the same airline) probably will involve a change fee (assuming OP purchased non-refundable tickets) but that fee will most likely be less than the cost of a private car service between JFK and EWR and it will certainly eliminate the "stress factor" that will result from a possible missed connection.

nytraveler

I fear the OP may have an international ticket from EWR to wherever - not from LAX to wherever. In that case they would have to rebook the major part of their itinerary,

However, that means that they also have much more at risk if they miss the flight out of EWR - as in buying a whole new international ticket.

If the ticket is from EWR to wherever (rather than to just LAX) I would definitely take only carry-ons (ship extra luggage to the the first international hotel it will be much cheaper than buying internatinoal tickets at a walk up price) and organize a reliable car service - and pray for good luck.

jv827

While I can't add to the already excellent advice give, I really hope the OP returns with an update. I'd love to know what he/she decided to do and how this turns out.

suze

The only hope would be to NOT check luggage (different than the OP states) AND have a driver pre-arranged.

I personally would re-evaluate the tickets/routing and make changes now to a more reasonable plan. Better to bite the bullet at home in advance, than standing at Newark when you've just missed your outbound flight.

Tubulus

Another option would be to try and get an earlier flight into JFK, or even fly the night before. Might be cheaper than re-ticketing to a different airport. Even with an hour extra I think you'd be OK (although would still make much more sense to change the flights to the same airport).

spanzter99

Thanks for all your feedback! Having never experienced travel in the USA before, I thought 3 hours would be plenty of time..clearly not! After looking around at our options, the best bet was to book an earlier flight into JFK as Tubulus suggested, therefore arriving at 10.15am. Giving us 5 hours...that should be plenty I hope!