yvillanua

Hello, I will be going to London via AA, as follows:

LAX TO JFK CONNECTING TO
JFK TO HEATHROW LONDON

MY QUESTION (cause i've never flown with a "connection")

do i have to get my bags and re-check them in JFK, or do they transfer them for me to my connecting flight...

also, when i get off at JFK towards my 2nd flight (JFK-Heathrow) do i pass to another security, or go out as other passenger's who's JFK is their final destination??? or just arrive at 1 gate, and walk to the other

Please help,
Thanks,
Very confused.

Marginal

If your American Airline ticket is booked through to London, you do not need to collect baggage, as your basgs will be checked to London.

I think the security checkpoint depends on which terminals the flights are in, but usually you do not need to go through another line.

yk

It's Very simple.

When you check in at LAX, yYour bags will be checked all the way to Heathrow. No need to collect/recheck at JFK.

AA uses Terminal 8 at JFK. Your LAX flight will arrive at a gate at T8, and your outbound London flight will depart from a gate at T8 as well.

When you get off your flight from LAX, all you need to do is find the flight info screen and check which gate your London flight will depart from, and walk there. No need to go thru security again as long as you stay within Terminal 8.

Now, the question is, what are your flights coming back home? If you are connecting thru JFK again, you would need to go thru immigration, collect your bags, go thru customs, re check in your bags, go thru security...

yvillanua

thanks for the responses.
I didn't even think about my return...somehow i thought i would go through immigration,customs,etc etc...when i reached LAX...the time between my connections back from
JFK to LAX is 2 hrs...hope this gives me enough time???
when i booked it the options given to me from AA were all about the same amount of time between flights...

yk

2 hours at JFK for your return connection is a bit tight... It is doable but you just need to hurry.

Back in Sept, we flew on AA from Brussels to JFK, then JFK to Boston. Our flight arrived on time, and we had no checked luggage. We encountered no line at immigration, nor a line at security either.

From the time our inbound flight arrived at JFK, to the time we arrived at the gate for our Boston flight, it took a full hour.

If there were any significant lines or long wait for luggage, your 2 hours connection time can be tight. But since AA thinks it is a legitimate connection, AA will get you back to LAX one way or the other, though perhaps not on the same day.

doug_stallings

On a good day, 2 hours is enough time for the AA terminal; on a bad day, it's not even close. I would feel more comfortable with 3 hours, but as other posters have said, if you miss your flight, then AA still has to transport you back to LAX.

But I'm wondering why you didn't do a nonstop from LAX? I'm guessing you're flying on miles or the price of the nonstop was way more.

J62

Doug is referring to your return flight where 2hrs may be tight. Fortunately the new AA T8 is pretty good - more efficient than the old terminal, so I myself would book the 2hr connection. If your inbound to JFK is late there isn't much you can do about it anyway.

As yk said, London bound you'll exit your plane at Gate X and just walk to Gate Y. They may be right next to each other, or at most a 10min walk.

nytraveler

On your flight back 2 hours might well not be enough time. You have to go through Immigration, pick up your luggage, go through Customs, recheck your bag and go through security again. If your flight coming in from London is late, there's a good chance you won;t make it.

Is this the last flight of the day? Will there be other flights to put you on? Can you switch to an earlier flight back from London?

(I've had it take up to 2 hours from wheels down at JFK to getting out to the sidewalk. That would leave you considerably short of making your onward flight to LAX.)

Gardyloo

If the ticket is sold by AA, you'll be "protected" on the return, so that if you're late arriving from London you'll be put on the next flight to LAX.

abranz

although the 2 hours are a little tight in making your connection, aa and other airlines are very sensitive to the time factor.
you will probably not be the only one making the tight connection.
generally aa has had staff in place to expedite the transit time for connecting passengers.
don't stress!