Charlotte to JFK to Milan

Beth - I live in New York and Terminal 8 at JFK, which is occupied by American Airlines, is where you will land from Charlotte NC to get your connection to Milan. There should not be any problem connecting to your overseas flight. It's not a vast terminal where you have travel a long way for your connection.

Thank you! That is one less thing to worry about :)
Beth

I have no idea where to go for definitive information about domestic-to-international connection times at JFK, but quick Googling reveals that some people think the prudent answer is considerably longer than 90 minutes.

Beth - Can you get an earlier flight out of Charlotte as a precaution to give you wiggle room for delays so you are not in a rush to get to your gate and missed your Milan flight? Just to be in safe mode, I would consider that.

Hello,

Did you buy the tickets separately or this is your connection? I may be wrong don't quote me but I believe you will arrive in terminal 8 and have to head to the international terminal 4. Do not quote me on this, and I really cannot account for time since I was 3.5 of layover.

American Airlines does not operate in Terminal 4 JFK. JFK terminals are airline driven meeting that there is not just one specific international terminal.

Ladyvet, is your American Airlines itinerary between Charlotte and Milan with a change of aircraft at JFK on one ticket or two separate flights?

Thanks everyone. The two flights are booked on the same ticket. I called the airline, and they said my Milan flight will leave from the same terminal as my incoming flight. Hopefully all will be well.

some people think the prudent answer is considerably longer than 90 minutes.

Some people say a lot of things. Doesn't mean it has any basis.

For a domestic-to-international connection between flights operating out of the same terminal, the actual connection takes no time at all. You get off your first plane, walk to the gate of your connecting flight, and get on the second plane. If your first flight is on time, you could have a connection time of 30 minutes (not that I recommend such a thing) and still be perfectly fine. The only reason to want a longer connection time is to have some padding in case the first flight is delayed. And while flights to/from JFK do often run into congestion in the air or on the ground, the flight times themselves are often padded to account for that (I know Delta does this - don't know about American), so you're as likely to arrive early as late.

If you are all on one ticket and all on American Airlines operated flights (no code shares), you will be landing in Terminal 8 and departing from Terminal 8. Going from domestic arrival to international departure on one ticket, you will not have to reclaim your luggage or go through security. All you have to do is get from one gate to another. So, you should be fine with 90 minutes.

The converse, however, is not true. Going from international arrival to domestic departure, you have to go through immigration, then customs, then security, before going to your next gate. You should allow several hours for this.

Beth - Poster Harold and I live in New York. We know JFK and you will be able to make your Milan flight in Terminal 8. I flew from Terminal 8 several times and it's not that huge and congested compare to Terminal 1 and 4 at JFK.

I fly on American Airlines domestic and international. They are notorious for delays. I almost always have to fly from Charlotte. I would never plan on departing on an international flight on the same day even if it was more time than your 1.5 hours. Also noted, the departure time is different from the time the door closes, typically 30 minutes before the stated departure time,so your time is possibly less than the 1.5 hours.
Domestic flights can be managed by getting on the next flight, international flights typically the next day if you are lucky. A preflight night in an airport before an international flight is worth it in my opinion and experience.
BTW are you looking at the JFK to Milan direct flight? I will probably do that one in early September, the premium economy seems like a good deal to me.

Sorry, but I try never to book going through JFK.
In my mind it is one of the worst airports in the USA. Last time that I had to change flights there, my connecting flight was delayed by several (5-6 hours) due to the fault of the airport not the airline.

I occasionally fly American (usually fly Delta) and I believe they have a policy that if your flight itinerary is changed that you can reschedule without additional cost. If I had your flight connection of 1.5 hours, I would try to reschedule (not another day) to allow more time, at least 2 hours. Also, if American allows you to not go through JFK, but fly internationally from Charlotte, consider taking it.

American Airlines doesn't have direct flights from Charlotte to Milan, only to Rome . But a train from Rome to Milan as little as 3 hours. The direct flight to Rome is more expensive than the direct JFK to Milan if that's a factor.
As far as JFK, Boston, Philadelphia , Miami and Dulles airports I have been lucky to have good experiences at all.. Atlanta on the other hand is an airport I will never transit through no matter how good a route.
But no matter which airport is the departure for the international flight I still stay the night before in an airport hotel.

Beth, I'm relieved to learn that your itinerary is on one ticket. Like Harold said, your bags will be checked all the way through and you won't have to go through security again. You'll just have to get yourself to the departing gate at Terminal 8 to travel to Milan.

That said, inbound flights to JFK can certainly be delayed for many reasons. If you miss your connection, you will have to wait until the next day assuming there are available seats on that next day flight. You would have to pay for hotel/food as well. I would NOT do this. As was said already, your Milan flight will probably close 30 minutes in advance so you really won't have 90 mins anyway. Probably 60 minutes.

So here is what I would do.

American changed your schedule so I would look online for an earlier flight to JFK or a completely different itinerary to Milan including connecting via Miami. Select 2-3 outbound itineraries that will give you over 2 hours connection time. Then call American Airlines and speak with an agent. I would tell the agent that American changed your itinerary and now you are very uncomfortable with the shorter connection time at JFK. Then tell the agent that you went online and found itineraries with more connection time. He/she might be grateful that you took the time to do this making his/her job easier. If the agent however won't assist you, just say thank you and then end the call. Then call the customer service # back until you find an agent who will help you. Again, this is what I would do.

If your JFK inbound were on time, the new connection time won't be a problem as others have said but if there are delays, your connection time would be too much of a risk at least for me.

So food for thought. Good luck.

Final update: I called and got an earlier flight from Charlotte to JFK. They changed my ticket at no cost. Now I will sit in JFK for four hours, but I should make the plane to Milan!

I decided that was the lesser of two evils.

Thanks everyone :)

Ladyvet27, Good call! Better to have the extra time and perhaps be bored than have little time and be stressed out about making the connection.

Beth - I am happy you followed the advice I gave you. Now you can relax and look forward to a wonderful Italian adventure.

buon viaggio!

FlightAware shows historic gate information. Gates change but history is a useful guide.

Today's Charlotte to JFK:
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2246/history/20200212/1940Z/KCLT/KJFK
American Airlines 2246
arrived at GATE 43
WEDNESDAY 12-FEB-2020
3 minutes early) 04:21PM EST

Today's JFK to MXP:
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL198/history/20200212/2320Z/KJFK/LIMC
American Airlines 198
left Gate 6
WEDNESDAY 12-FEB-2020
06:12PM EST (on time)

Excellent, Ladyvet! The cushion is worth it.

With 4 hours to kill, see if you can access the American Airlines Flagship loungein terminal 8. They have showers, comfortable seating and food and beverages.