Clearing Customs at JFK

[Dave-n-Oksana 49]

I am looking at flights for Oksana from Kiev with a POE of JFK and I was wondering how much time should I allow for a connecting flight out of New York?

Edited October 6, 2009 by Dave-n-Oksana

[Scott and Iryna 2]

I am looking at flights for Oksana from Kiev with a POE of JFK and I was wondering how much time should I allow for a connecting flight out of New York?

Personally, I would fly out to JFK to meet her, spend the night in NYC, and return home together the next day. I say this, because when Iryna got here, she was held up in Customs for hours. They didn't like something she answered to one of the questions (her English wasn't great and she misunderstood the question). She waited for a very long time for them to "process" her, along with many other folks tied up in Customs. It can happen to anyone.

Just a suggestion, not trying to make you panic.

[Joe_&_Nadiya 1]

I am looking at flights for Oksana from Kiev with a POE of JFK and I was wondering how much time should I allow for a connecting flight out of New York?

Personally, I would fly out to JFK to meet her, spend the night in NYC, and return home together the next day. I say this, because when Iryna got here, she was held up in Customs for hours. They didn't like something she answered to one of the questions (her English wasn't great and she misunderstood the question). She waited for a very long time for them to "process" her, along with many other folks tied up in Customs. It can happen to anyone.

Just a suggestion, not trying to make you panic.

Dave,

I'd say at least 3 hours...but as Scott mentioned, it could take more because of customs not even to mention that there could be many other international flights arriving at the same time and all of a sudden you have hundreds of people in line. We were lucky and it took us about 20 minutes (we had a 2 hour layover). Plus, if you she's flying in via Delta and her connecting flight is not Delta, she'll have to go to another terminal and it could take a little time too.

Joe.

Edited October 6, 2009 by Joe & Nadya

[1HappyGuy 45]

I always recommend that your fiancee arrive in an airport where you are waiting for her. There can be many delays and problems and being in the same airport as she arrives just insures that you are there for her. When my stepson arrived for the first time, his flight into JFK was delayed an hour and he missed his connecting flight. The next flight for him was not for another 6 hours.

You should fly her into an airport near you or at the very least be there when she arrives. Point of entry can have numerous problems and the relief on her face at seeing you after traversing the maze of officials is well worth the wait.

[Rob_Lesya 4]

I'm also going to jump on the "go out to meet her if at all possible" bandwagon.

As for staying overnight, that simply depends on her arrival time at JFK. When the first wife arrived at JFK, we actually spent 3-4 days in New York doing the tourist thing before coming home. In that particular case, the flight from Moscow arrived so late that there was no way to get a connecting flight to New Orleans that same day. It would have required an overnight stay no matter what. But it took her a long time to go through processing--- about 3 hours if I remember correctly.

[Dave-n-Oksana 49]

The plan is for me to meet them in New York and then we would travel the rest of the journey home together. There is flight that leave JFK 2 1/2 hours after their arrival and I was hoping that we would be able to make it.

I had read on one of the reviews that the Visa holder showed the Customs people that he had a connecting flight and was able to get processed quickly. Anyone had anly luck with that?

The option of spending the night in New York is on the books, but I would like to avoid the price of a New York hotel if possible. Also I like the idea of of sleeping in the next morning instead of having to wake up at 4 am to catch an 8 am flight.

[BluesTraveler 0]

I am looking at flights for Oksana from Kiev with a POE of JFK and I was wondering how much time should I allow for a connecting flight out of New York?

I would suggest at least 4 hours between flights. Normally the KBP to JFK flight will be on time, but if there is any sort of mechanical difficulty on the KBP side you want a little cushion on the connecting times. Your wait time could be 10 minutes or 3 hours. You just never know.

[Joe_&_Nadiya 1]

I am looking at flights for Oksana from Kiev with a POE of JFK and I was wondering how much time should I allow for a connecting flight out of New York?

I would suggest at least 4 hours between flights. Normally the KBP to JFK flight will be on time, but if there is any sort of mechanical difficulty on the KBP side you want a little cushion on the connecting times. Your wait time could be 10 minutes or 3 hours. You just never know.

Good point too...About 1 year ago, I was at KBP waiting to board my flight, long story short, due to a mechanical problem I was stuck at KBP for almost 6 hours, meaning all my connecting flights at JFK were out the window. Fortunatelly enough, since it was a mechanical issue, Delta put me on a hotel right outside of JFK until a connecting flight was available the next day.

[1HappyGuy 45]

The basic idea is you need to be prepared for a delay, whether it is 1 hour or 24 hours. Usually when we fly out of KBP, we make a connection in Amsterdam and then take a flight to our last destination in the USA. Amsterdam is really geared up well for traveling from KBP with usually a good connection within 1 - 2 hours. Whatever you choose, look at the time of year for weather and the ontime record of your airline. We all like to think that a 2 hour layover in JFK should be enough to make a connection, but stuff just happens.

You want her to be prepared to arrive with as little stress as possible, given that she's probably already been stressed from the flight and the garbage we put up with on entry to this country, with forms, lines, questions, documents, etc.

Think worse case and plan for it. Then it can only get better. Four years ago, leaving to meet with my soon to be fiancee (now wife), I was delayed 24 hours from original arrival. We missed the preliminary to the Eurovision contest, but luckily were able to buy tickets to the final. So, eventually it worked to our advantage.

[clueless_in_usa 8]

My fiancee arrived from Moscow recently and it took 1 1/2 hours to process her, because she was sent to the back office (Standard Operating Procedure at JFK). I was freaking out because everybody came out except her.

However, it is important to note that it took only that amount of time because her flight was the first in a few hours. After her flight landed, five more international flights landed within an hour. If her flight had arrived on time (it arrived 20 minutes in advance), she would have been stuck three or four hours.

If your fiancee is coming on Delta, I would allow for a longer wait because that terminal is bigger and receives more international flights that the one used by my fiancee.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am looking at flights for Oksana from Kiev with a POE of JFK and I was wondering how much time should I allow for a connecting flight out of New York?

Dave

You need to allow THREE hours minimum to clear customs if you have another flight to make. Most of the flights from Kiev arrive at JFK in the later afternoon. I think Delat comes in the earliest, about 200pm if I remember correct. Domestic filghts go out of another termineal so allow another hour to collect baggage and move from one terminal to another When Alla came last year and when Sergey came this year, it took nearly 3 hours to get through customs. This is NOT because of visa complications, just because of the mad rush of 300+ people at least.

The suggestion to stay overnight is a good one

[Dave-n-Oksana 49]

Well the flights we are looking at are Aeroflot flights as they are the least expensive for 2 Adult tickets. I would not touch Delta if my life depended on it as I have had nothing but bad experiences with them.

[slim 1,525]

A couple hours.

She's a big girl, she can fly alone just fine. It's amazing that all you guys on here allow her to fly all the way around the world all alone but the moment she touches U.S. soil, she needs you to rescue her. Come on.

[sivad 0]

we are planning the same thing,and have the same problem,how long a layover do we need in our p.o.e.

staying over night is a good idea,we have found some layovers on returns up to 7 and 8 hours,check orbits,and when you get to the flights,remember on the right of each flight is "choose this departure"and below that is 'choose this return"

so you can play with the times and put together a flight that best suits your needs.

[sivad 0]

if our point of entry is new york,or washington d.c.,and we are just connecting to our flight here to atlanta,do we have to pick up our lugguage,or will it just be transferred to the plane,and we will go thru customs,and immigration twice????