JFK American Airlines Terminal 8

By far, THE WORST tsa line at JFK. pre check? Don’t bother, line always closed.
Minimum 30 wait to get through, never more than 2 lanes open. pathetic.

After all it was over, and I don’t blame them for keeping us waiting for our flight, I don’t know if it up to them or the airport forced that on them. But I think that if someone need to wait more than 3 hours, there must be a way to compensate, even if it means a voucher for dinner.
I understand that you are dealing with thousands of people every day, and that must be tough, but if there is a problem, bring more man power to the counter, and better answer questions, Anyway people are annoyed, no need to make it worse.
After all they have good prices, and the flight was OK. But the little things can improve so much.

Surprisingly I like this terminal. My other airport experiences here in the USA haven’t been nice, but this one is a nice surprise. The area looks clean, the gates have enough seats, the departure areas are wide and nice. And most of all, clean.
See, the thing is the airport terminal standards here in the USA is low; either they are old, or not clean, or crowded. Granted, I have seen way better airport terminals in Europe and in Asia, but Terminal 8 is a better one when considering just the airports here in North America.

I feel ready to write this review after having spent a lot more time at this airport in the last week than I initially anticipated. After my flight was cancelled back to San Diego last Monday night, I got to hang around all day Tuesday waiting to see if I could get on another flight to come home. I enjoy some elements or traveling and understand the necessities of airport terminals. Thankfully, JFK Terminal 8 clearly is a modern terminal with a number of benefits for travelers.
PROs:
–Lots of walk space within the terminal and people movers in both directions to help you get down the long terminal halls.
–A large variety of dining options from cheap and fast to sit down and more expensive.
–Recharging stations are set-​up throughout the terminal at a large number of gates; it gives you a good opportunity to meet other passengers and share horror stories about flight delays and bad airplane food.
–Easy connection between domestic and international flights
–Fast TSA Pre-​Check lines (It was a life saver with how many times I went back and forth)
CONs:
–Being a San Diegan, I have become spoiled with the large number of craft beer options in our airport, and you really have to hunt to find it at this terminal. Check out the Sports Bar for the best selection!
–Passanger seating areas at each gate are still rather crowded for the number of passengers on the flight.
–Long security lines (more the reason to have TSA Pre-​Check)
–The free wifi is only good for 30 minutes before you have to pay for it.
Overall, it is not a bad place to be if you get to the airport early for your flight or are hanging around for a connection; just don’t get stuck in the airport for the night or your better option is a local hotel (trust me on this one!)

I truly wish my experience with American Airlines (AA) was better. However, before I qualify why I rated AA so poorly I would like to point out that the saving graces of my experience with AA were Cathy & Alfredo – flight attendants on the American Airlines flight 368 that travelled from Chicago to LGA on Jan.1, 2016. I am utterly grateful to their
compassion and assistance – something utterly lacking with the AA staff (not on the flights) at the gates in JFK and Chicago. Thank you so much Cathy for rising above your call of duty and advocating for me
and my daughter to sit together (despite the fact that the responsibility was pushed on to you because an AA gate employee had no
desire to assist). Thank you Alfredo for working with Cathy and recognizing how overwhelmed I was and, in your small but very important act of kindness, took my bags out of my hands as soon as I
got on the plane and found a place for them.
Three out of the five AA gate employees I encountered at both JFK and Chicago O’Hare were absolutely not helpful and, despite the fact that there was no line and no one else to assist, made a point to defer all of my questions relating to my flight changes to the AA resource center (that I had to call). Perhaps the protocol of AA is
to have customers referred to this AA call-​in resource center for flight changes and such. If such is the case, the protocol is lacking
in compassion and kindness with its approach when it comes to dealing
with stressful situations for its customers. (Example: It is especially frustrating to have to call an AA representative to help you figure out your flight changes because there was a maintenance issue with an
AA flight whose delay caused you to miss a connecting flight when there’s an AA representative right in front of you).

Space is pretty clean and modern. There are outlets, but they’re not near any of the seats, which is quite inconvenient, especially since all the outlets are bunched closely together and it’s super awkward charging your electronic while standing closely in between strangers…
There are limited food options nearby (Dunkin Donuts, an overpriced gift shop, a pasta shop that sells pizza and «Italian food».).

I came here for a 2:55pm flight on a Tuesday and I really have no complaints. I had checked in before hand and had my boarding pass on my phone so I went straight to security. The line was decent I would say went pretty quick. Once I passed that the area for american was large and not crowded at all. Flight was on time and no issues what so ever. Would definitely try to travel at this time again.

Very understaffed for how busy it is. So thankful I came more early than usual because it took all of 45 minutes to get through security. Not one of my favorite airports and the checked bag, cancelation policy at American Airlines isn’t my favorite. Make sure to budget plenty of time here.

Haven’t traveled much through JFK but it was a decent airport, easy to navigate for flying american. The admiral lounge was pretty solid and I was able to get some work done.

Not a fan of American Air; flight delayed and OK food, tiny aisles on air craft and sticklers about luggage size. Other lines have larger carry on dimensions

The American Airlines terminal is large, modern terminal that offers excellent stores, restaurants, waiting areas, and flight information for passengers. All in all a great terminal EXCEPT when you arrive and your gate is located way, way away from the luggage reclaim area. Be prepared for a very long walk.

El JFK es GIGANTE. Posta que es un aeropuerto enorme con una bocha de terminales. El espacio es moderno y, dentro de todo, tanto al llegar como al momento de la partida, el trámite no es demasiado complicado ni es que te demoren de más o algo por el estilo, aunque de todas maneras van a estar un buen rato debido a la gran cantidad de gente que va y viene a la hermosa ciudad de New York.
No es que el JFK sea la gran cosa, pero sí es bastante funcional. Tiene un tren gratuito que va de una terminal a otra y si se organizan pueden llegar fácilmente a Manhattan en transporte público utilizando tren+subte por unos pocos dólares y evitar los taxis que no son para nada económicos.
Me sorprendió, al menos en esta terminal que es en la que estuve, que los free shop no sean nada excepcional, o sea estaba en New York e imaginé que podrían ser lo más, pero eso no sucedió. En fin, un aeropuerto más, con varios tópicos positivos y otros no tanto, pero el lugar está bastante bien.

Next to LAX a pain in the butt airport. Food choices are good, the train from parking or rental car areas is unpredictable. Many times its down so you are forced to take a shuttle and with the airport having 8 terminals it can take a while to get to yours if traffic is high.

I’ve been here once at 530am to take a 715am flight. Everything was fine, the TSA line took a while, and yes people are really apathetic at that time of day, but once you get past the line, there’s really no one around.
I think one of the biggest ways to avoid problems at airports is to read ahead of time, what’s allowed, what’s not. In line, I had my boarding pass and license together in my hand. On the line, when I was close, I started taking out my laptop, took off my shoes, jacket, hat, and my pre-​bagged liquids in the quart bag. That’s QUART BAG, not gallon bag folks. I had NO problems going through the line, and I asked to put my stuff back together on the tables behind the body scanner, to which everyone agreed.
Another thing, don’t really pack your carryons really organized before you get to the airport. Do it after you go through TSA, or at least pack your carryons in a way that you can remove your laptop and liquids really quickly and put them back just as quick.
Those of us who remember flying pre ⁹⁄₁₁ remember it as a much better experience, but really the flight is just a way to get from point A to point B.
Prepare ahead.
Au Bön Pain for life.

My first flight with these people. They waited until boarding time to tell us our flight was delayed by 5 hours!!! Here I am tired and hungry and refuse to spend 1000 dollars for a burger at the airport. This airline is RIDICULOUS. I’m traveling somewhere for my one year anniversary and all I want to do is just curse these people out and head home in my bed.
I’m beyond frustrated. Who does that?! On top of that the customer service lady at the desk is sooooo rude and unsympathetic. What kind of tacky business are you running American Airlines. Neverrrrr again!!!

Pretty shitty terminal really! A few reasons for that:
— Main one is the lack of wifi! You have to sign up for Bitbuzz and pay for it if you want it, and even then, the signal is awful. In this day and age, all airports should have free wifi. It really gets my goat having to pay for something with terrible signal!
— Security — the line went all the way back through the airport, in front of the info desk, and out up to the front entrance door. There was no system in place to cope with these crowds so people were getting irate, there were people trying to get past with their trolleys and failing, it took well over an hour to get through, the staff were rude and stressed and the whole experience was pretty depressing!!!
— Once you get through, there aren’t that many places to sit or chill at your gate. There are a few takeaway type food places but very little places to sit and eat them.
Overall, not the best place to start or end your journey!

Still waiting after 40 minutes for my cane-​using Father’s wheelchair.
This is why I cannot stand this airport!

Compared to British Airways (BA), American Airlines (AA) SUCK!
The seats on AA were hard as hell and being that I was on a flight that took almost 8 hours, it’s a big deal to have such shitty/​uncomfortable seats!
In flight entertainment on AA was virtually NON EXISTENT! BA gives you a little tv screen built into the headrests in front of you and allows you to choose between several movies and tv shows whereas, AA gives you a tiny tv screen 4 rows in front of you that you can barely see. Oh and to make matters worst, it only plays ONE movie and shitloads of commercials during an 8 hour flight.
AA charges for alcohol whereas BA gives it for FREE.
I almost always fly BA but I did AA this time because they were the ONLY ones offering a direct flight from JFK to MAN. Next time, even tho I may have to catch a connector at Heathrow, I will just stick to BA.
I WILL NOT FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES TRANS ATLANTIC EVER AGAIN!

Huge lines at security, even for First/​Business, and even for Pre-​Check. Lady made me takes my boots off, because they set of the metal detector, even though, as a Global Entry member, this is not supposed to be the case.
General lack of restaurants and shops. Perhaps I expected more because the Delta terminal has a Shake Shack, nice restaurants, and better shops.
Will avoid this terminal, in the future, if possible, and choose Delta instead. Or even Jet Blue.

I fly with American a lot out of JFK. I love that its easy to get to Terminal 8 and off loading is usually easy. I like that there is a side line for Priority travelers to go through security and that the staff are competent, sometimes even friendly. Waiting in security is long here, but this is NYC, so mind your expectations. The art in the terminal is pretty awesome, with several NYC centric themes and showcasing plenty of mediums and talents. Wayfaring is good — I always intuitively know where I am going and can find my way quickly.
Plenty of bathrooms, water fountains, and electric outlets. Sometimes there aren’t enough seats. There are enough shopping and dining options to keep you busy for a couple of hours, but no more than that, and the options aren’t phenomenal. Personally, I try not to get here more than 1:30 in advance of a domestic flight (as long as I don’t check a bag). Wi-​Fi is PAID and sponsored by Boingo.
Rarely have any problems flying out of here as most time things are fairly routine.

My experience is flying out of here for one clear day on December 27^th, 2014.
My first impressions is the terminal is spacious, clean and seems decently organized. I like the fact that there is no carpet and the smells seem to be neutral here. Alas my day of travel was early in the morning (arrived at 8:00 AM and left at 11AM), so it went smoothly. For me many of America’s fine airports they work well when running well (like the freeway system) but when there is a breakdown they go to hello and chaos very quickly.
We had a quick meal in the food court area. Food is fairly expensive and quality is low in my opinion. I ate at Wok N roll which was barely palatable and my wife and daughters had pizza from Sbarraos.
What I don’t appreciate (but it’s the norm in airports) is that a 1L bottle of water goes for $ 4 – 5 at most places. Even a 746ml Poland springs was $ 3.46 at Juan Valdez Coffee. Highway robbery but you have no other options other than bringing your own bottle and filling up at a water fountain or in the restroom.
My experience was okay and the terminal is decorated nicely.