May 2, 2018 3 min read

As I pack for a trip (I know, when am I not on a trip?), I’m reviewing the itinerary for our upcoming flight. This time, a travel agent helped plan our route and connections, and we chose the times and flights that will maximize the time at our destination and on the beach (arrive early, leave late!)

The only fly in the ointment (or suntan lotion) is that little abbreviation on our itinerary: JFK. Ugh. I’m an adventurous, intrepid traveler, and there are few airports that make chills run down my spine. JFK Airport in New York is one of them.

Two years ago, my dream trip to Italy routed us through JFK to Milan. We planned a good four-hour layover to make sure delays wouldn’t keep us from our overnight flight. The airline changed itinerary and whittled our layover down to one hour without asking. I called and got an earlier flight so we’d have no worries. Famous last words! The day of departure, thunderstorms ravaged the East Coast and no planes were flying anywhere. We were delayed indefinitely and would miss our connection. Delta changed us to a later flight on Alitalia. When we finally landed at JFK, we had to walk a mile through the terminal (no moving walkways or trams), then were told to exit the terminal, go upstairs OUTSIDE to the elevated public transit train to another terminal. We got there to find about 500 people in the security line and us running out of time. I told the gate agent we weren’t going to make it and she said, “This flight is canceled anyway. The plane never arrived.” Back to Delta, where we switched to a midnight Air France flight to Paris, which finally worked.

We had a free glass of champagne on the flight and croissants at the Paris airport before boarding the last leg to Milan, but we lost our entire first day in Italy, and our bags wound up in Rome. The airline delivered our bags to the hotel later that night, and we joked that at least we had croissants and coffee in Paris (albeit at the airport!)

Looking back, the experience makes me laugh, but we’re apparently not alone in this JFK connection nightmare.

Travel reviews online tell stories of woe far worse than what we endured, including dragging suitcases through snow and ice to get to the next terminal.

This time, I’m ready. Since we don’t have to change airlines, the map shows we should be able to catch a bus inside the secure area to the next terminal and not go through the security line backlog or have to board a New York public transit train. We just need our predawn PIT flight to take off on time. If so, we could be on the beach by 1 p.m. If not … well, let’s just hope we’re not beached or marooned in Queens.

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.