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My wife and son are flying to Paris this summer on Delta.

Their flight leaves from JFK -> ORY at 1730.

I can book them a flight from Spokane (GEG) to JFK on the outbound leg, also on Delta, that will land at JFK at 1605, leaving them about 1.5 hours.

Is this enough time? Obviously more time would be better-- but I can't find any better arrival time, unless they arrived the night before, since we're on the west coast and at a smaller airport.

On the way home the same problem exists-- they land at JFK at 1549, and the best option to get them home is 1815, leaving roughly 2.5 hours to clear customs.

Is this do-able? I haven't flown through JFK in 20 years, so I don't know. I think since all flights (both international and domestic) are Delta, the checked bags should be transferred through?

EDIT: the JFK-ORY leg is already purchased since it's a group travel.

Thanks for any advice.

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  • Do you plan to book the flights as a single booking, or do they already have the JFK-ORY-JFK tickets? – Patricia Shanahan Mar 2 '20 at 0:12
  • The JFK - ORY tickets are already purchased. I'll add that to the description, I didn't know it made a difference. Thanks – user101289 Mar 2 '20 at 0:18
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    It makes a difference because if they fly on two separate tickets, and the first flight is delayed and they miss the second flight, Delta will have no legal responsibility to get them from JFK > ORY, and will in addition cancel their ORY > JFK return. Single-ticket multiple-leg itineraries cost more than multiple-ticket setups, but with a single ticket if the first flight's delayed the airline will get the traveler to the destination, and might even put them up if they have to stay overnight in NY. – DavidSupportsMonica Mar 2 '20 at 0:22
  • The main issue is the one described by @DavidSupportsMonica. As a side effect, if an airline sells you a multiple leg ticket it means they think the connections are feasible – Patricia Shanahan Mar 2 '20 at 1:34
  • I suppose they will have checked bags? Absolutely impossible in that case unless Delta agree to through-check the luggage. – jcaron Mar 2 '20 at 7:58
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You shouldn't do this unless the airline will agree to combine the tickets into a single itinerary with a guaranteed connection. Delta's minimum check in time for international departures from JFK is one hour. If the flight from Spokane arrives 30 minutes late, they won't have time to check in. If it arrives 75 minutes late, they'll miss the 15-minute deadline to be at the gate even if they're already checked in. A delay of that length may not be likely, but it would certainly not be unusual.

Consider how inconvenient and/or expensive it would be to miss the group flight, and weigh that against the cost of a night in a hotel. It would be safer to fly to New York the day before.

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    And you’re not even counting the time to deplane, reclaim checked luggage, and get to the check-in counter... It’s clearly not doable even if the first flight is on time. – jcaron Mar 2 '20 at 7:56

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