# If connecting through JFK, do you need to clear customs there?



## hibbeln (Jun 9, 2008)

I'm looking at airline tickets for Greece next spring, and the best flight connects from Frankfurt into JFK, then on to Detroit with only about 70-80 minutes at JFK.  Do we need to take our bags and clear customs/immigration in JFK then recheck them, or do we travel straight on to Detroit and do customs/immigration there?

A few years back we connected from Milan to Toronto to Detroit and missed our flight because we didn't have enough time.  But that was kind of squirrelly I think because of the Canada/Detroit connection.....we had to take our bags off the plane, clear CANADIAN customs & immigration, then go through USA customs & immigration in the Toronto airport, and THEN recheck our bags.  Since then we have only done direct flights from overseas to Detroit, never stopped in another city in North America first.

THANKS!  This is probably a very simple and stupid question!


----------



## lynne (Jun 9, 2008)

You will need to clear customs at JFK, however the process is relatively quick.  I would allow at least 1 1/2 hours between flights.


----------



## Fern Modena (Jun 9, 2008)

You'll definitely need to clear customs & immigration at the first place you land in the US.  I did this once in Dallas, and it was a breeze...the airlines had a recheck place right beyond customs for continuing passengers, all you had to do was push the suitcase towards them and they grabbed while you went to your next flight.

That said, I'd try to find people who have done this to see how it went for them.

Fern


----------



## Passepartout (Jun 9, 2008)

We've done it in under an hour at JFK, but you have to hustle. There is one of those 'maze'-like lines and a person will direct you to a passport examiner, then get your bags from the carousel- there are free smart carts there- and go through customs with the declaration you will have filled out on the plane, airline re-check is just beyond, with TSA adjacent. The gates are just up 1 escalator, hopefully, and you are good to go.

Jim Ricks


----------



## Icarus (Jun 9, 2008)

70 - 80 minutes is not enough time. Will this be a single ticket? Do you have to change terminals at JFK? If it's a single ticket, the airline ticketing it should know what the minimum connection times are, which may or may not be realistic.

-David


----------



## Talent312 (Jun 9, 2008)

hibbeln said:


> I'm looking at airline tickets for Greece next spring, and the best flight connects from Frankfurt into JFK, then on to Detroit with only about 70-80 minutes at JFK.  Do we need to take our bags and clear customs/immigration in JFK then recheck them, or do we travel straight on to Detroit and do customs/immigration there?



I agree with the others who say that 70-80 minutes is not enuff time.  You will first have to clear immigration, wait for your bags to appear, clear customs and then hand off your luggage to be rechecked.  In a perfect world, everything would run smoothly and you'd be at your next gate in the span of 30-40 minutes time to spare.  But this is not a perfect world.

What if --
1.  Your plane is a few minutes late (or you are among the last off) -- taking 10 extra minutes to the immigration hall;
2.  Several immigration officers are on a break and only two booths are open -- 10 more minutes in a long line;
3.  The immigration officer says the airline (Delta) gave you an obsolete form and wants you to fill out a new one he goes to find for everyone in line -- 10 more minutes;
4.  You bags are the last to appear and one or two were accidentally loaded onto the wrong conveyor -- 20 to 30 minutes;
5.  There's 10-minute line at customs 'cuz most everyone from your flight got their bags first; and
6.  You run to the departure gate, only to find the plane taxiing away (or the flight cancelled due to "weather").


----------



## hibbeln (Jun 9, 2008)

I just rechecked the times on the flight.  It is *Delta* all the way, with 1 hour and 40 minutes at JFK. 

Does that give you more information?

I'm choking on the ticket prices for next spring.  Saw flights from Detroit to Athens for $1,200's last week.  Now they're $1,500's for the same flights.  Grrrrr.  I'm torn whether to buy them when they hit $1,300, or wait to see if they go below $1,000 sometime next fall.  With the price of oil going up, I sure don't think there's going to be any "deals".....question is how bad the airfares might get!


----------



## Talent312 (Jun 9, 2008)

hibbeln said:


> I just rechecked the times on the flight.  It is Delta all the way, with 1 hour and 40 minutes at JFK.
> Does that give you more information?



I'd say that, since its all the same airline, that would be okay.
I've passed thru immigration+customs eleven (11) times in my life, if memory serves, and the most its taken me is about one hour, ten minutes, from gate to gate, involving a change of terminals.


----------



## Talent312 (Jun 9, 2008)

Oops.  Duplicate post.


----------



## Icarus (Jun 9, 2008)

Talent312 said:


> I'd say that, since its all the same airline, that would be okay.



I agree. You won't need to change terminals and 1:40 should be enough time, and just in case, if it's all one ticket, DL should handle any irregularities should they arise.

Assuming DL issued the ticket, then it's pretty safe to assume that 1:40 is a legal connection time from arriving on a DL international flight and departing on a DL domestic flight at JFK.

All of the above assumes that the arriving/departing flight is not a codeshare flight operated by a different airline that arrives/departs at a different terminal at JFK.

-David


----------



## x3 skier (Jun 10, 2008)

I have not been through JFK recently but Immigration and Customs can take from 15 Minutes (Sunday in Atlanta) to an hour (Last month in Dallas). Since its a Delta all the way, 1+40 should be plenty unless there is a delay in arrival. That should not be a problem since they should have made alternate bookings for passengers in that event.

Cheers


----------



## hibbeln (Jun 10, 2008)

Thanks, everyone!


----------



## Laurie (Jun 10, 2008)

I've had to clear customs over 10 times in as many years, and the longest and worst experience by far was at JFK.  Many travelers that evening missed their connections because the lines were so long and the place was so understaffed and seemingly disorganized, from baggage handlers forward. By the time we got to the last line, the *only* reason we didn't miss our connection too was that an airline rep was there to intervene, and get us few folks who could still make connections hustled past everyone else right up to the front of that line. (We'd been suggesting that to the other officials but they'd ignored us til then.) Luckily we didn't pass out from heart-failure after the long sprint to boarding, right as they were closing the airplane door behind us!

That could be an exception, but thought I'd mention it.


----------



## hibbeln (Jun 11, 2008)

Thanks for the commentary, Laurie!  That was exactly the kind of scenario I'm a bit worried about for travelling the first week in August.  And since we will have a group of 5 (including 2 kids and a grandfather), I know that missing a connection and maybe getting divided onto different flights could be a NIGHTMARE!!!!


----------

