I have a Virgin Atlantic flight from JFK to London on a Tuesday in September. It leaves at 8:05 am. I will not be checking luggage. What time should I arrive at JFK?
Also I return on a Saturday morning to JFK at 11:40 am. How m much time should I allow to get off this flight and onto a domestic flight (both at JFK)?
At the very least an hour. Personally I'd say 90 minutes. For all 4 of your flights.
If JFK is like LAX Virgin Atlantic Flights start boarding a good 30 minutes for departure.
You never know what security lines will be like. Could breeze right through. Could take forever.
Given the popularity of travel to London I'd never assume even an 8:05am flight wouldn't be full.
So get up early, arrive early and don't stress. It's not like major airports are vapid wastelands where you can't find something to do.
If you've never flown Virgin before you are in for a pleasant surprise. Love this airline for comfort, the amenities
( a small bottle of water will be on your seat), excellent choice of films, TV shows and music. Well trained, attentive and polite staff. And for airplane food, pretty darn good.
Enjoy London.
They say you should be there three hours before your flight, so be at JFK by 5:00am, be at Heathrow by 8:40am. Have a great trip!!!
Also, how do you win the lottery? Many factors can affect airline operations, from weather to labour problems and equipment maintenance. Then there are the operations of various government agencies such as homeland security. So the safest advice is do not try to gamble. Go to your airline's website, look up its check-in policies and follow them, remembering that the time advised before departure is based on getting to where the security process starts and not just the curb of the airport entrance. As well, trans-Atlantic flights often want passengers in the airplane, not just at the check-in counter, at least a half hour before the published departure time.
Nothing is 100 per cent but being early improves the odds of a successful, and less stressful, trip.
The same applies to the connection on your return trip, which is chancier because of possible delays and also the immigration process. It depends, too, if your connection is part of the ticket itinerary or the second flight has been purchased independently. I'm comfortable with two hours but airports vary in efficiency and only very frequent flyers can even hazard a guess at the potential for a tighter connection.
TSA recommendation is to arrive a minimum of 3 hours before flight departure for international flights. Most of the time is needed for clearing security.....and finding your way to your gate. JFK is not easy to negotiate if you have not been there before. I was glad I was traveling with a friend who needed wheelchair assistance and thus we had a guide to get us to the right place.
As you will be clearing Immigration and Customs on your return I would allow at least two hours between flights.
For the flight to London - If you can print your boarding pass online then I'd be ok with 2 hours. If you need to stand in the check in line for any reason then 3. Which would you rather - sit around bored at your gate or be stressed and running and worst case miss the flight? If you miss it the airline considers that your fault so you have to pay for the replacement flight at same-day prices.
Boarding often starts 40 minutes ahead for international flights
I've breezed through JFK security in 10 minutes and I've had an hour long wait. There's no real way to tell and if you leave 2 hours, and hit the hour long line you get to your gate right about when boarding starts.
Return - you have to go through US immigration, probably take the air train to a new terminal and go back through security. If you have luggage checked you will also collect it and then re check it. Which could mean standing at the check in desk (after immigration and air train and before security). 3 hours. Minimum. Unless you have no luggage and global entry. Then 2
I usually take the 8 AM BA flight from JFK to LHR. (I'll be on it tomorrow.) I stay at an airport hotel the night before to make life easier. Give yourself at least two hours if not a little longer. Check in online before leaving and print out your boarding pass. This will save you time.
On return, there are a lot of factors regarding time between flights: immigration, customs, changing terminals if necessary (airtrain), going through security again, getting to the gate, etc. And that assumes your arriving flight is on time.
I doubt two hours would be enough time. Personally, I think 3.5+ hours would be minimum.
Are you flying Upper Class or Economy? If Upper Class I'm at the airport as early as I can and making the most of Virgin's fantastic lounges.
Be extra generous with time with Virgin. I was flying Heathrow-JFK and was literally one minute late to the check in desk for my return flight. I was traveling with my young son, and we had needed to stop at the bathroom before we got to the check in--he couldn't wait. They would not let us on the plane, no matter how hard I begged and explained. Had to pay change fees and take the next flight.
Virgin has zero chill; do not test them.
