Is 2 hours Enough Time?

Are both your flights on the same ticket? If so, you are as protected as you are going to be.
The airline will rebook you at no charge if there is a delay in the inbound itinerary. As for
risk tolerance, well, there's not really any way to judge if the inbound flight will be on time
until the day before or day of.

On the other hand, if the JFK-PDX flight is on a separate ticket, then you have to physically
claim the bag, and probably check the bag yourself for the second flight. 2 hours might
be stressful, even if there are no delays.

My experience changing planes after arriving back in the U.S. is that after going through passport control I had to get my bag and then recheck it to my final destination. I have global entry which speeds up my time getting through PC.

Yes, you always have to claim your bag and recheck it when entering the U.S. Sometimes thats fast, sometimes not so fast. I would give it a try if it were me and it was all on one ticket. Of course I just did a 15 hour lay over in Kula Lumpur because I missed a connection .... that wasnt fun.

We need more information:

Is this on one ticket?

What airline are you flying into JFK and what airline are you flying to PDX?

Do you have Global Entry or have set up Mobile Passport Control?

Will you have checked luggage?

FYI--Passport Control and Immigration are the same thing.

Two nights ago, our ticket/plan was Amsterdam > Seattle with a 3 hour layover. Then Seattle > SoCal. (All the same airline.) We were on the runway ready to take off in Amsterdam, and something happened, and we had to get towed back to the gate. We sat on the plane for 2 hours, then finally took off, not sure if we'd make our connection.

The minute we landed in Seattle I filled out the form on the Mobile Passport Control app, and submitted it while still on the plane. (We don't have Global Entry). We walked/"escalatored" quite a distance, grabbed our bags off the belt, (one arrived quickly, and of course one came nearly last), went to immigration. Got in the MPC line behind 5 people, instead of the very long line for people without Global Entry or MPC or whatnot. Then walked to the luggage belt to drop bag back off. Then encountered a TSA line (between international and domestic terminals) that did not have a separate TSA precheck line. Then got through that, and fast walked to what turned out to the the furthest possible gate to see if we could make our connecting flight. We arrived while they were boarding, the airline app was down, and we were grateful to have printed boarding passes back in Amsterdam. As a bonus, I even got to stop in the restroom near our gate, because I did not allow myself to stop prior because I knew those precious minutes were ticking.

I'm not suggesting one way or the other for you. I'm just saying, I thought 3 hours would be ok, and it barely was for this particular flight. If we'd taken off at our original time, we could have stopped for a lingering lunch in the Seattle airport. You just never know. But, the idea of adding one more stop doesn't sound too appealing either. And as long as you are back on US soil, (that psychologically helps when trying to get home) and you are all on one airline, they'll get you home at some point.

It is all on one ticket through Delta. I don't anticipate any problems on the outbound flight to Athens, it's the return to the US. I don't really look forward to possibly having an 11 hour wait at JFK, especially as it will be an overnight wait. I do have 1 checked bag, so there is that, also.

You must must mustvget the mobile passport app
We came into JFK last week and the wait for US citizens was over 1 hr. Dad gets handicapped assistance and so we go to a special line and it was still 40 mins. Hot and chaotic. Mobile passport was said to be 15 miniutes

Suggestions...don't know your time frame or budget but consider booking you flight to PDX the day after arriving at JFK and book a room at the TWA hotel at the airport. It's lovely has a rooftop pool. Would be a relaxing way to end your trip

Let's look at this step by step...

When you arrive at JFK, you will be ushered to immigration. As others have said, to save time, get the MPC app and get it ready before deplaning.

After immigration, you will get your bag and walk through customs. After leaving the customs area, there will be a place to recheck your bag.

From there, it's up to TSA security. (If you don't have precheck, you might think about getting it.)

Then it's the walk to your gate. Delta's terminal at JFK is huge and if you are at a far gate, it could be a long walk.

Could you make it in 2 hours....well....if everything is on your side, your flight arrives on time or early, if there isn't too big a holdup at Immigration or a long wait for your luggage, or the TSA lines aren't long, you might make it.

Fortunately, since it's on one ticket, the airline has to put you on the next available flight at no extra charge to you. Not the next flight, the next one with seats. That could also mean a rerouting through Atlanta or Detroit or Minneapolis or Salt Lake City. (Delta's hubs.)

Have a nice trip.

I could take a different flight from ATH to AMS (3 hr layover) on to JFK with another 3 hour layover before connecting to PDX. This flight is $422 more, but the peace of mind might be worth it. What would you?

I would not pay more to have an extra stop.

As others have noted, your having a single ticket makes it Delta's problem to get you to PDX

When is you trip? The only ATH-JFK-PDX routings I found have either a 4h 50m or 12h 55m layover at JFK.

Connie, did you evaluate the option of flying direct from AMS-PDX? I've taken that flight a half dozen times and it is sometimes reasonably priced compared to a multi-stop trip, though it doesn't fly every day of the week. What are your travel dates?

Joe32nd, my trip isn't until March 2025, planning ahead, but the tour I'm taking has special pricing that's only good if booked before May 30. This is prompting me to take a look at the air options. I've seen the 'perfect flight' as you described and hope that it will be available later, but for now it doesn't show. If dreams come true, it'll show up soon!!

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I have some new things to consider and I'm pretty sure that I will not be entering the US through JFK. As always, your advice is extremely valuable! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I will be coming from Zurich in Sept. and connecting at JFK. I originally had 3.5 hours for the transfer, but Delta changed it to 1 hr 50 minutes. They sent us an email stating that we would miss our connecting flight. There were no later flights to MSP that day. Because we are using miles, it was difficult to get another flight. They wanted to send us from Zurich to JFK to Seattle to MSP. We refused and they finally came up with another option. So now I am concerned thet they will change it again. I am a medallion member, but that doesn't help when you are using miles. I have always been satisfied with them in the past, so I hope that everything works out.

I would not pay more to have an extra stop.

What Joe said.