East Coast USA airports question

Judy · Guru

East Coast USA airports question

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Last time I flew through Newark was in 2011, connecting from Florida. The move from terminal to terminal was all done indoors, via l-o-o-ong hall ways that also held disconnected, slow-moving, conveyor-belt type pedestrian transport.

My last connections via JFK was during a remodeling phase (2009?), but the distance walked was not particularly long. If memory serves, it was closer in than Logan.

Perhaps someone else might have more recent info.

Judy · Guru

Thanks Bob. So far O'Hare sounds the most convenient. I guess I can eliminate Newark.

Roy · Guru

Judy wrote:
We are looking at airports for our next flight to Shannon with east coast connections. Making connections is sometimes more difficult depending on the airport transfer service. We have connected through O'Hare with a tram and Logan with a shuttle bus from domestic to international flights. Our two other options are JFK and Newark. If you have connected through either JFK or Newark, which has a tram or bus that you feel is more convenient?

When connecting in JFK, I have flown Aer Lingus, with the first leg on JetBlue. They are in the same terminal, so not only do you not have to change terminals, you don't have to go through security a second time.

Judy · Guru

Well that's good to know, thanks Roy. That would be beneficial especially on a home bound flight with liquids purchased at the duty free shop. I'll be checking JetBlue for flights to JFK.

It sure has made travel difficult for us when Aer Lingus stopped direct flights O'Hare to Shannon. I keep hoping they with start up again.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Roy raised an excellent point -- It really DOES matter what airlines you fly on.

WE'VE FLOWN Delta Connection and Jet Blue into both JFK and Logan. Onward flights were via either American or Aer Lingus. Jet Blue flights were same terminal, but the Delta Connect (Comair) flights required a change of terminal at Logan.

Newark's beltways make changing terminals fairly painless, but there is a bit of walking. If you have mobility issues, I think all airports offer those 'golf cart' buggies on request. confuse

Roy · Guru

Judy, if you book through the Aer Lingus site, you should be able to book a JetBlue/Aer Lingus, which means that your luggage through its final destination. Otherwise, you would have to collect and rescheck your luggage which would defeat the whole purpose.

Roy · Guru

I'm really excited about flying direct this year! Dulles to Dublin non-stop. I've had to make some compromises (Dublin instead of Shannon, and a 757 3+3 seating configuration).

Judy · Guru

We were really spoiled all those years with Aer Lingus direct O'Hare to Shannon. We have only once missed a connection on our way home at Logan when Aer Lingus had a 2 hour delay leaving Shannon. Because it was mechanical and not weather related Aer Lingus put us up overnight. Luckily there is a hotel right at Logan, but it was a hassle getting re-booked for a next day flight having to go back and forth between terminals numerous times at Logan.

Bob, those golf cart buggies sure look good when you see people speeding by and you're dragging luggage.

Roy, with JetBlue/Aer Lingus partnering we would avoid the re-booking hassel on a missed flight, but I would still worry about luggage making it to our final destination.

Let us know how the Dulles to Dublin flight works out. We were at Dulles for a domestic flight and it seemed like a maze of walking, escalators, tram and moving side walks just to get from the ticketing to the gate.

United does advertise a direct O'Hare to Shannon which we are looking into. The flight time seems longer than normal so I'm guessing that there is a stop over somewhere.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Judy -- Do you do a preliminary flight search via www.kayak.com or one of the other 'Mega-Search' sites? If so, don't dismiss airlines like KLM, Air France and others that are often operated by people like Delta, United and American. Connections, plane type, layovers and durations are displayed in the "Details" section.

Judy · Guru

Bob, thanks for that tip. I'll be looking into that for our next trip.

Roy · Guru

Once, in 2009, there was a problem getting luggage checked all the way through. Otherwise it usually goes smoothly. That's the only way to stay in terminal and avoid going through security again. I guess I have flown out of Dulles enough times that I don't really think a lot about navigating through the airport. Since Aer Lingus only flies once a day in and out of Dulles, I'm not sure how the check in will work.

markan · Senior Member

Logan is not a very big airport (compared to the others mentioned) but it's a bit weird in it's layout with the multiple terminals. All Ireland flights go through Terminal E of course and the thing to remember about Logan is that you can get to any terminal walking by going through Central parking as all the terminals revolve around it. So if you fly into Terminal A you can take the escalator and then the bridge into Central parking and then walk across the parking lot on Level 4 to get to the bridge to Terminal E. It's simple once you know it. Of course you can always take the shuttle bus but I hate waiting for shuttle buses so I just walk.

Personally I think the best airport to fly to Ireland is Boston's Logan as it's the shortest flight.

murphy · Guru

I agree, that for us the Logan connection was least hairy, compared to others we have been thru including LHR, ORD, JFK, and Atlanta. And the advantage to flying a European Union airline is that they are required by regulation to put you up in a hotel overnight (plus meal vouchers) if they need to reschedule for the next day! We found that out when we got stranded in Dublin for 3 nights during Hurricane Sandy, and that is the time we were re-routed thru Logan then Atlanta then home. Logan was a breeze and Atlanta was a nightmare, esp if you have a short connection. ATL and London are my LEAST favorite connection airports.

For us on the west coast, the SFO-DUB route really looks inviting, since San Francisco is more the size of Logan and the connection there from SEA or PDX would be great.....except SFO is notorious for delays due to weather/(mostly)fog! So that has been a stopper for me.

For our trip to Ireland this fall, we are booked PDX-BOS with Alaska on a separate ticket, (I know risky, but have the cushion of a 3 hr 20 min layover at Logan AND trip insurance) then open jaw BOS-SNN and return DUB- SEA on Aer Lingus. That's the best I could do using credit card bonus points covering 50% of the ticket price. Our return is thru ORD with 2:15 layover. Checking baggage all the way thru is a non-issue for us since we do carry-on only going, and not as concerned about what happens to our checked luggage on the way home!

We really liked the SEA-Iceland direct flight on Icelandair last Oct. We had more hours of sleep available since the first leg is longer.....which kind of works against you with the Logan-SNN shorter flight.

No perfect route when it comes to flying across the puddle and the west coast origin makes it even more challenging.

regards

Dan

Roy · Guru

I might be a loner on this, but Boston Logan is not my favorite airport for a layover to Ireland. The International Terminal security is long and slow. The food options are so so, and I once had a mouse run out and take a piece of pasta I dropped! Has anyone had experience on the Omni International 767 that Aer Lingus is leasing from Logan to Shannon?

Judy · Guru

Dan, when we were stuck at Logan, Aer Lingus at first told us they were not responsible for putting us up because we didn't book the connecting flight through them. When we went back to re-book with the domestic carrier they were the ones that told us that Aer Lingus was responsible because it was mechanical problems, not weather related that caused the delay. Then back to confront Aer Lingus with those facts they agreed to put us up plus meal vouchers.

So Dan, are you taking your GD this time? We are taking our GD (4th trip for her). She is really excited this time because she will be old enough to be in the pubs after 9:30 and have a pint this trip.

murphy · Guru

Roy,
Wondering if we will need to go thru security at Logan coming off the flight from Portland? Long and slow scares me, even with a 3plus hour layover.

Judy,
We are not taking our GD this time. She was selected to take a school trip to Washington DC with 44-7th & 8th students during her spring break next year (2017). She is in the fund-raising mode for that trip so hopefully the following year she can return to Ireland (she wants to go this time but we told her she shouldn't pass up this other opportunity.)
She and GMa are still busy working on a huge scrap book of her first Ireland trip and they are on "day 10". She says: "GMa sure has good ideas about scrap booking". (GMa has made several...has lots of experience)!
It is so exciting that you are taking your GD and she can even have a pint this time! Has she had any input into the itenerary? Or is she just tagging along?
Regarding Aer Lingus: they may not be bound by European Union laws regarding weather delays when they are state-side. We don't worry too much about it because we always get trip cancel/interruption insurance anyway. This time we had to buy 2 policies: one for the credit card bonus points and out of pocket for the other 50% portion of the ticket, and an additional policy for the other flight and all other prepaid expenses as well as accident, lost luggage, etc.

Judy · Guru

Dan, it's great that your GD has an opportunity to visit DC. I went there when I was about her age and loved it. She can always hitch a ride to Ireland with GM and GP on future trips.

An idea for your scrapbook if GMa hasn't thought of it, mounting the various coins from Ireland on page #1.

Our GD likes Dingle, Cobh and of course Killarney. We will rent a house there for one of the weeks. That worked out great last time for the 4 of us.

Roy · Guru

I've always had to change terminals at Logan and redo security. The International Terminal is awful in my opinion. Last summer we flew JetBlue Dulles-Logan-Portland and did not have to change terminals, but I believe any international flight would.

markan · Senior Member

You're right there is no way around it. If you fly into Logan you have to go through security again at Terminal E

I have to say thought that I've flown out of Logan Terminal E over 25 times on international flights and never felt at all stressed about the length or speed of the security lines. I only recall once or twice the line being what I would consider long (i.e. about 20-30 minutes to get through). Also Terminal E is so compact that once your through the security line you're very close to your gate so there's not a lot of walking. Of course the compactness of Terminal E is also one of it's drawbacks as you mentioned there's not much choice for food and drink and it can be a bit crowded. I personally would love it if they expanded the terminal a bit and added another pub or two.

My suggestion to anyone stuck in Logan for layovers longer than 3 hours is to take the free Silver Line to downtown Boston and have a nice meal somewhere. You'll have to pay a few bucks to take the Silver Line back but it's free leaving the airport and gets you into downtown Boston in 10-15 minutes. If you've got time to kill it's not a bad idea. Pretty much standard operation for me is to get into Logan early and check in then take the Silver Line downtown to eat.

Murphy said: "Long and slow scares me, even with a 3plus hour layover."

Trust me you've not got much to fret about at Logan. Long, slow, and scary was my experience at Munich airport last week where the passport control lines to leave the country were so long that people were literally begging others to let them cut in line because they were about to miss their flight. Logan really is a piece of cake.

-- Edited by markan on Friday 29th of April 2016 10:40:55 PM

-- Edited by markan on Friday 29th of April 2016 10:46:27 PM

EHannan · Member

Hi, Judy - There are flights connecting through O'Hare that don't require you to take the tram to the international terminal (5). In 2015 we flew through O'Hare to Dublin and flew into and out of terminal 3 both ways (going through customs at Dublin airport on our return trip) on American. I believe Aerlingus only flies from terminal 5 at O'Hare so with that airline, you definitely have to use the tram.

Michele Erdvig · Host

I fly through Newark lately on the way to Ireland. If you are connecting there no need to go through security again. Last time our arrival gate was pretty close to departure gate. They also have those golf carts with drivers that you can request at any gate to transport you to a far away gate.

Roy · Guru

That's good to know about Newark Michele! For a long time I have dreaded long layovers, and not having to change terminals/ go through security a second time makes it more bearable.

Michele Erdvig · Host

One thing I did not like was there was a restaurant/bar near our gate blaring loud music. Fortunately I had ear plugs with me, which drowned out the noise.

Roy · Guru

I guess some people drink to relax while traveling but I've never found the idea appealing until I'm at my final destination.