Traveling from Tegel to JFK

This may provide some useful info

https://www.berlin-airport.de/en/travellers-txl/at-the-airport/check-in/index.php

Also check with your airline for their recommendation on 'when to arrive'

Arrive according to what your airline recommends usually like 3 hours before an international flight back to USA.

It is just big international airport like any other big city. It is always a waste of time and energy and especially money (on change fees) to read reviews of airports after you already bought plane tickets.

So which one gets the horrible reviews, Tegel or JFK?

I flew out of Tegel in July 2018 with a family group of four. We had no complaints! Airline staff were very helpful in fixing a "glitch" with one family member's ticket. The security line was not unusually long--waits could, of course, vary widely, so check with your airline and follow their recommendations for when to arrive. The airport isn't as large as one might think, so there isn't a lot to do once you get through security--but all seemed to function well enough. Our experience ended with an on-time departure!

Look at it that way: who is most likely to leave a review online for an airport, if not a disgruntled passenger who had some sort of mishap?

Tagel is a throw-back airport to how things used to be set up - unsurprisingly since it was supposed to have been closed down or superseded by now, and has been bursting at the seams for a long time. Check-in desks are quite limited, and often airlines restrict check in to only 2 hours before but this may not be the case for transatlantic. Security is usually done at the gate.

Tegel's history in the Berlin airlift here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Tegel_Airport

When the German capital was shifted back to Berlin, Tegel couldn't meet demands for international flights and a new international airport was proposed. It was supposed to be ready for 2011 but still isn't operating, demolishing the German stereotype of efficiency. Tegel does okay given its problems. At least it is just a quick taxi ride from the centre of the city. Trust your airline's suggestion for departure times, and be patient.

I kind of like Tegel. It is definitely old school. I'm not sure which carrier you are flying, but a friend and I flew Delta TXL to JFK in May. The general departure process:

1. For an international flight, check in at a counter that is right next to the departure gate and is specific for the gate. The Delta app let me check in and showed an electronic boarding pass, BUT a paper boarding pass was required to go through security, so everyone had to go through the line at the check in counter. There were separate counters for Sky Priority and general passengers; not surprisingly, the Sky Priority line was quite a bit shorter.

2. Hop in a second line to enter the gate area. This line includes both passport control and security. Passport control consists of a guy behind a window in a tiny closet who stamps your passport before you hit the security apparatus.

3. Wait in the gait area, which does have restrooms and a small snack area.

A friend and I arrive about 3 hours 15 min before departure time. We waited a bit for the check-in counters to open and then waited a longer time for the security line to open (opened 2 hours before departure, I think), so we went to a coffee shop across from the gate and relaxed/read for a while.

The only problem we had at Tegel was we had to climb down stairs from the plane on the tarmac when we arrived from EWR. Small matter though. When we left via Tegel there no problems at all.

Do what your airline recommends -- I'm guessing 3 hours. Any questions about catching another flight at JFK or is NYC your destination? JFK is a royal pain in the neck when connecting or catching another flight.

Thank you all for your responses! Greatly appreciated! (JFK is our final destination, so we don't need to worry about a connecting flight. Just a drive home.)