... Luckily no catastrophes happened during my trip, or the trips of many others for that matter – if you consider the fact that hundreds of planes leave this, New York’s busiest airport, each week, then 4 problems in recent months seem like nothing - unless of course you were one ... Read review
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...hundreds of planes leave this, New York’s busiest airport, each week, then 4 problems in recent months seem like nothing - unless of course you were one of the ones on such a flight. Still, I digress (so what’s new?) – back to JFK itself.
The airport is located 25 Km Southeast of Manhattan Island, in the borough of Queens. There are 9 terminals located in a sort of squashed-circle layout. American Airlines, BA, Delta ... ...domestic carriers sharing the remaining ones. Although there are courtesy busses running between the terminals 24/7, if you’re in totally the wrong place and in a rush then a taxi might be your best bet.
On approaching the airport, you drive past a number of signs which say “We apologise for the fact that our airport’s sh*t”. Now ok, I might be paraphrasing a little, but that’s the gist of it. For an ... more
JFK is the airport that seems to have been in the news quite a lot recently, as plane after plane taking off from there gets into trouble. Luckily no catastrophes happened during my trip, or the trips of many others for that matter – if you consider the fact that hundreds of planes leave this, New York’s busiest airport, each week, then 4 problems in recent months seem like nothing - unless of course you were one of the ones on such a flight. Still, I digress (so what’s new?) – back to JFK itself.
The airport is located 25 Km Southeast of Manhattan Island, in the borough of Queens. There are 9 terminals located in a sort of squashed-circle layout. American Airlines, BA, Delta and United have their own terminals with other international and domestic carriers sharing the remaining ones. Although there are courtesy busses running between the terminals 24/7, if you’re in totally the wrong place and in a rush then a taxi might be your best bet.
On approaching the airport, you drive past a number of signs which say “We apologise for the fact that our airport’s sh*t”. Now ok, I might be paraphrasing a little, but that’s the gist of it. For an international airport in a major city, it’s hardly outstanding.
Immigration doesn’t really seem to exist in this place. The last time I flew to the States was in ’94, and our 3 week adventure began the second we touched down at LAX. In those days (or maybe in that airport still) immigration meant standing in line for hours, culminating in a 10 minute interrogation as to the reasons for being in their wonderful country. My trip to NYC started slightly differently – I collected my luggage from the carousel and followed everyone else, ending up 2 minutes later outside in the blazing sunshine. They didn’t so much as look at a passport. Now maybe I arrived on a good day, but it seemed a little odd.
When I arrived a week later to check in for my return flight, I was 4 hours early (don’t ask) but I was able to collect my boarding pass and relieve myself of my luggage immediately. Security was once more almost non existent – after assuring the lovely Irish types at the desk that I didn’t have knives, guns, razors or, erm, dental floss, in my hand luggage, I was sent away. When I went through passport control my bags (note the plural…) ventured through an X-ray machine but not a single member of staff stopped their conversation long enough to check the monitor, making the whole process pretty redundant. They nodded at my (closed) passport and ushered me onwards. Bear in mind this came only a couple of days after a huge cefuffle (love the word but have no idea how to spell it) when it was revealed on national TV that despite the events of September 11th, the security controls at JFK were, well, still cr*p.
The terminal I flew from was fairly small, but since the airport’s many passengers are spread out between 9 buildings, it wasn’t all that crowded, There were 2 rows of shops (open to travellers and non travellers alike) which featured everything from gourmet chocolate shops (which I only went in for present buying and research, you understand) to WH Smiths (why?????). There was a duty free shop which required a boarding pass for entrance but it didn’t have much to offer. All the prices were reasonable both in the shops themselves and in the food outlets. Here there were pubs, McDonalds and a fancy looking restaurant, as well as Sushi, Pizza and Pasta and Cookie vendors.
Once through passport (less) control there were no retail establishments or eateries of any kind. Shopping was not altogether banned though, since there were 4 internet terminals just gagging to be logged on to amazon and thorntonsonline (my 2 favourite places to while away some time in cyberspace). These were pay as you go but only credit cards were accepted – meaning that they never “ran out” and if you got carried away it could be quite expensive.
There were some quite over enthusiastic toilets airside though. Basically they were automatic, but they seemed a little hyper since mine managed to flush 3 times while I was still standing there putting my passport away safely….
I was not overly impressed with this place although at the end of the day it served its purpose by getting you from A to B. It was clean enough, and the staff were mostly polite, but it lacked a certain je ne sais quoi.
Advantages: The shops are OK Disadvantages: Don't get me started - read the op!
...course, the international airport in New York known as JFK. Would that I could tell you that this airport is alive and well, but unfortunately, I have come to mourn JFK Airport, not to praise it.
The Complex:
What a perfect word that is, isn’t it? Actually, the basic idea of JFK isn’t all that complicated. There are eight major buildings all positioned in a circle. Inside the circle are roads and parking lots. This wouldn’t be all that bad if it ... ...While that’s not impossible, with New York’s severely cold winters and hellishly hot summers, this is a huge drawback. Furthermore, I found that the signage in the buildings can be pretty vague, if there is any at all. Mostly you’ll feel when you arrive at JFK that you’re trapped into going along long corridors and hallways that lead you, hopefully, to where you want to go. There have been times when I felt that if I made the wrong turn, I’d never ...
TheChocolateLady 18.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of New York, John F. Kennedy, USA (JFK)
Advantages: U can go anywhere from here!! Disadvantages: People,condition,facilitys...............
...and toilets,as with most of New York were very poorly signed.
On our escape we were greeted with a huge taxi cab queue,which was probably actually quite small!!!!!
Be warned,there are lots of other private cabs touting for business,although Ive never used them personally,be warned that they are not regulated and could be very expensive.
Once in line there were no probs,wait your turn you get your bags loaded and taken to your destination.
On ... ...flight to Florida.If this is the case with you make sure you know the name of your departure/gate building,so the taxi knows where to go.
On arrival at the building my heart sank.It was a grubby,dull,miserable place to be.
We came super early thinking there would be alot of hassle/queuing e.t.c.which there was not,but there was also nothing to entertain you on the wrong side of the departure gate.NOTHING.
Eventually a very nice lady came over,seeing ...
blurplespark 30.01.2007 (31.01.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of New York, John F. Kennedy, USA (JFK)
Advantages: Quite close to the city. Disadvantages: Not enough shops
My partner and I visited New York last may.We flew into JFK which to be fair was smooth,the Immigration staff were friendly before hand we had been warned that they can be quite rude.But after what has taken place in the city who could blame them?
We waited about 15 mins to get through immigration were they take your photo and your fingerprints.This you dont mind as you want to be safe in such a large city.
The taxi rank is right outside were you ...
vixxys 16.05.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of New York, John F. Kennedy, USA (JFK)
Advantages: Close to the citly, easily accessible Disadvantages: Limited Facilities and VERY hot
...flying into and out of New York and it's airports I'd think that the facilities and airports in general would be to a much higher standard.
Arrival was no problem. The security checks were quick and hassle free and the luggage arrived quickly for pick-up. The plane "docked" at a gate close to arrivals and so the walk to the arrivals lobby was easy. We had to wait a while in the queue to be seen and checked through arrivals but no great hassle. The ... ...Taxis wait across the street and charge a $49 flat rate into the city (including toll fee).
Leaving from JFK is a completely different matter. The ride from NYC to the airport is about 45 minutes - or should be. It took 90 minutes in total due to construction work on one of the highways. On arrival at the airport we were looking forward to being able to shop a bit, last minute things and then relax. If you are leaving from JFK then don'e expect ...
chezza1310 29.06.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of New York, John F. Kennedy, USA (JFK)
Advantages: Easy reach of NYC Disadvantages: No facilities, evil immigration men!
Considering that New York is one of the biggest 24hour cities in the world I have been disspaointed twice by the same airport. Destination wise, the airport is really good, there are 9 seperate terminals that make up JFK several of which are specifically for one or two airlines with the rest distributed around the other terminals. The airport itself is about 1 hour from Manhatten or about 25 miles and is in the borough of Queens. Getting a cab from ... ...and the cab shortage in New York means that there are huge queues. Try the buses, you can buy the tickets there and they either go to port authority or you can swiitch buses and go most hotels. There are very few shops in the airport although for those waiting to pick you up the shops have great views of the runways. There is one duty free shop per terminal, and each is small and pokey. The authorities recomend buying cigarettes there as everything ...
forsaken 30.11.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of New York, John F. Kennedy, USA (JFK)
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