Need advice please, flight logistics from SYR to LHR

[Stickrod]

Hi all, I need some advice/opinions from the knowledgeable folks who frequent this board.

 

We are planning a trip to London in late September or early October, and want to take a day flight out of JFK.  One possibility we are considering is a 5:45 a.m. Jet Blue flight from Syracuse to JFK, with a 90-minute layover and then continuing to LHR, still on Jet Blue.  My concern is if 1 and 1/2 hours connecting time is sufficient when we arrive at JFK.  The connecting flight would be from the same terminal.  At that time of year, weather shouldn't be a problem in Syracuse, but anything can happen, as we all know.  In the past, we have flown from Syracuse to NY, and the flight only takes an hour, or a bit less.  But, with those flights, we weren't connecting to another flight, so an "on time" departure from SYR wasn't a concern.  This time, it would be a concern.

 

Should we fly to JFK the day before, and stay overnight at a hotel near the airport?  I'm going back and forth with this in my mind and need to get air scheduled soon.  I know that Jet Blue and American are dissolving their partnership, so getting on a later flight with AA probably wouldn't happen because they won't have the reciprocal agreement in place anymore.

 

Thanks for any advice and opinions!

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, 90 minutes should be enough. The stay at a hotel idea is a good one for piece of mind.

[the mice]

But be aware that hotel options are limited around JFK.  TWA Hotel is only one on airport but recent reports have been very mixed as to price, quality of stay and service.  We stayed when it opened so I don't have personal experience of the current situation there.

[GeezerCouple]

59 minutes ago, the mice said:

But be aware that hotel options are limited around JFK.  TWA Hotel is only one on airport but recent reports have been very mixed as to price, quality of stay and service.  We stayed when it opened so I don't have personal experience of the current situation there.

 

HOtel options are "limited around JFK"?

There may be only one hotel AT/IN the airport, but there are quite a few choices nearby.

We've stayed at one overnight so we could be sure to be "on time" for a longhaul overseas flight the next morning, and had no trouble finding accommodations nearby.

Just Google "hotels near JFK" for a list.

RM

[SelectSys]

@Stickrod I personally like more time on an outbound leg, but 90 minutes is fine for your connection unless there is a mechanical problem on your flight to JFK.  If you do miss, I would bet (I don't really know for sure these days) that JetBlue would get you accommodated on another flight reasonably quickly regardless of the partnership with American.  

 

Another question to ask yourself is what would happen if you are a day late into London?

[ilovesalchows]

We loved the TWA hotel, it was such fun.  Nothing like waking up in the airport for a morning flight either.

[jsglow]

I think the question @Stickrodmight be influenced by your flexibility on the UK end. We're heading to Heathrow from Chicago fully 4 nights before our cruise. We can absorb a mishap. If your cruise departs the day after your JFK-LHR leg, you have fewer rescheduling options. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by jsglow

[Stickrod]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.   Still not decided whether to trust in Jet Blue to leave Syracuse on time to connect for our JFK flight.  Will have to make a decision soon.

 

One thing I didn't mention in my original post; we will not be checking bags.  So there's not the concern for our bags to make the connecting flight, just us!  And, we would be leaving from the same terminal, which is a plus.

 

 

[Zach1213]

20 hours ago, Stickrod said:

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.   Still not decided whether to trust in Jet Blue to leave Syracuse on time to connect for our JFK flight.  Will have to make a decision soon.

 

One thing I didn't mention in my original post; we will not be checking bags.  So there's not the concern for our bags to make the connecting flight, just us!  And, we would be leaving from the same terminal, which is a plus.

 

 

Why wouldn't you trust JetBlue? That early morning SYR-JFK flight seems to have a very good on-time rating, so while it's always possible to be delayed, the odds are in your favor. I wouldn't have a concern with it, and in fact I often do a 50-60 minute connection at ORD to meet the daytime ORD-LHR flight, so 90 minutes would be a relaxing dream of a connection. 

[fbgd]

90 mins is fine for Terminal 5. It's really not that big a terminal and the short flights like this generally end up with plenty of buffer. 

 

If you miss the flight you get rebooked for an evening flight and go hang out at the TWA Hotel all day...

[waterbug123]

1 hour ago, fbgd said:

 

 

If you miss the flight you get rebooked for an evening flight and go hang out at the TWA Hotel all day...

Assuming there is space available on that flight.  That brings us back to the question of, what happens if the OP arrives into London a day late?

[Stickrod]

Hi all, and thank you for your responses.

 

We have a few days' "cushion" built in, so if we are a day late upon arrival it's not an issue, other than losing a pre-paid night's hotel expense, but that would likely be covered with trip interruption insurance. 

 

I'm leaning toward the 5:45 a.m. departure from Syracuse, connecting at JFK Terminal 5, even though I'll be a nervous wreck until we've made our connection.   I'm one of those unfortunate people who can't sleep on planes, so I really want a daytime flight.  But, if we do miss our connection, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. 😉 

 

Hopefully "Even More Space" seats will be available when I do book.  Would love to do "Mint" but not sure I can justify the cost.  If anyone has flown "Mint" class I'd love to hear your opinion of it, and if you think it was worth the $$.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

@Stickrod, another piece of info that might be reassuring is to find out the arrival time of your aircraft. Most likely the plane you are getting on in SYR will get there sometime the day before. The crew will overnight, with minimum rest rules, then fly your plane out in the morning. 

 

Given that the plane will arrive late in the day, the chance of it being late grows. If it gets in so late that the crew doesn't get its minimum rest, your flight out of SYR will be delayed. 

 

I think the minimum rest is 8 hours, but it might be 10.

[aungrl]

It seems to me that, if you'll be a nervous wreck on the day you're departing, and really do prefer a day-time flight, that you should fly in the night before and spend the night at either the TWA hotel, or another nearby airport hotel.  That eliminates your primary concern, and you can start your vacation off relaxed instead of worried.

[GeezerCouple]

4 hours ago, Stickrod said:

Hi all, and thank you for your responses.

 

We have a few days' "cushion" built in, so if we are a day late upon arrival it's not an issue, other than losing a pre-paid night's hotel expense, but that would likely be covered with trip interruption insurance. 

 

I'm leaning toward the 5:45 a.m. departure from Syracuse, connecting at JFK Terminal 5, even though I'll be a nervous wreck until we've made our connection.   I'm one of those unfortunate people who can't sleep on planes, so I really want a daytime flight.  But, if we do miss our connection, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. 😉 

 

Hopefully "Even More Space" seats will be available when I do book.  Would love to do "Mint" but not sure I can justify the cost.  If anyone has flown "Mint" class I'd love to hear your opinion of it, and if you think it was worth the $$.

 

I agree with others that if you will be a nervous wreck (or even partially so) until you actually make that next flight, why not spend the night at or near the airport.  As mentioned above, we did that once, and it eliminated a real worry.  (In our case, we were traveling on F award tickets to Asia.  Given that there are only 8 of those per flight, the chance that there would be two empty F's on the next flight... not so good.  So that made it even more risky.)

But that allowed us to have a [mediocre] dinner at the hotel, get a good night's sleep, and sleep much later than we'd have needed to do if we were trying for a "first flight out" that morning.

And it really did take a major source of stress out of the picture.

 

As for Jet Blue Mint... we did fly that a few years ago, home from Barbados.  (We had flown there in coach, but decided that we'd give ourselves a treat on the way home, and hope to arrive back somewhat still rested.)

I think they've changed the setup on at least some of the planes (if not all by now?).  You might want to check what the arrangement is now.

We found the bed/seats surprisingly comfortable.  Genuinely "lie flat", and a very quiet, peaceful flight home.  The Mint prices seem to have gone up considerably, but it does vary by date and specific flight.

The service wasn't like the "real" international flat-bed flights in business, but they may have been changing all of that, along with the nicer physical Mint seat/beds.

I just checked, and the price on a similar date in 2023 is twice what we paid, but the regular seats are not all that much more.  If the prices are much less than business class on other carriers, we'd

seriously consider Mint if we were heading to London.

 

GC

[jsglow]

OP, now that you've indicated that you have several days in London experienced flyers will tell you that your plans are 100% 'fine'. Any more conservative approach is simply a choice only you can make.

[Stickrod]

I am going to do a cost comparison between Jet Blue extra space seats, and American Airlines premium economy. We also have enough miles to travel in premium economy one way, but would have to be in main cabin on the return, unless we can "buy" miles to upgrade.  This is a 50th wedding anniversary trip for us, so I want plans to go as smoothly as possible.  (I know, I'm asking a lot...)  My dad always called me the "worry-wart" of the family, and I'm too old to change now!🙂   We haven't flown in almost 6 years.

  Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my post; much appreciated.

[Zach1213]

19 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

@Stickrod, another piece of info that might be reassuring is to find out the arrival time of your aircraft. Most likely the plane you are getting on in SYR will get there sometime the day before. The crew will overnight, with minimum rest rules, then fly your plane out in the morning. 

 

Given that the plane will arrive late in the day, the chance of it being late grows. If it gets in so late that the crew doesn't get its minimum rest, your flight out of SYR will be delayed. 

 

I think the minimum rest is 8 hours, but it might be 10.

 

It gets a bit harder to predict, because sometimes it's the same crew...and sometimes it's not. Heck, sometimes it's the same flight crew but not the same cabin crew, or vice versa. It's fairly common for a crew to come in on an aircraft at, say, 12am, but a different crew (who came in earlier in the day on a different flight) takes it out at 6am, even in outstations like Syracuse.