We are planning a trip from Virginia to Lisbon and have found an outbound flight that has a one hour layover in JFK. Is that enough time? I feel like the last time we flew through JFK internationally, we had to claim our luggage and get in another line to get on our next flight. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Midwest
2768 posts
JFK is tough. On some airlines and code share flights, you need to change terminals which means going out of security, getting on the airtrain, and going back through security. In this case, an hour would be near impossible. I had this set up a couple times with American Air domestic flights changing to Iberia or British Air international. These are partner airlines, flight all on one ticket, but they use different terminals and at JFK you can't change terminals without exiting security. So my first piece of advice is to see if your proposed flight requires a terminal change. If so, I would not do it.
Posted by
Connecticut
695 posts
I utilize JFK almost exclusively for international flights. As stated above connections within the same terminal are very easy. However, changing terminals between flight requires some time because you must exit the secure area, board the AirTrain (free transport) to your next terminal, then clear TSA in your connecting terminal. Although one can complete much of this pretty quickly, a one hour connection time for that process is not recommended if you’re not familiar with the airport layout. A delayed originating flight, slow ground or gate traffic, as well as other factors should also be considered.
Posted by
Ashburn VA
834 posts
You might want to sign up on TAP’s website for their promotional fares, of which there are plenty. I got one yesterday offering a $500 RT fare. The daily IAD-LIS flight is pretty good in terms of service, food and in-flight entertainment, and a lot of the fares offer one free date change. IMHO, these flights are vastly preferable to JFK under any circumstances.