International to Domestic Transfer in the US – ORD or JFK

[Matt_01]

I am familiar with international to domestic transfer within the US at LAX and DFW but not ORD or JFK. I am trying to get 3 of us to PWM next year using points. I am looking for flight with similar arrival times and at this stage can get:

Option 1
*A x1 MEL-SIN-HND-ORD, SQ and NH arriving at 08:30; and
OW x2 MEL-NRT-ORD, JL arriving at 08:50

Option 2
*A x1 MEL-SIN-HND-JFK, SQ and NH arriving at 10:15; and
OW x2 SYD- HND-JFK, JL arriving at 10:35

The onward flight will most likely be with AA and could be either 1 or 2 extra PNRs depending if I can get to reward seats with AA.

When looking the current AA schedule and allowing 1-2 hours for immigration and transfer:

Option 1 - involves a layover at ORD of around 7-8 hours, there are earlier indirect flights however I would just prefer to go direct.
Option 2 - would involve an airport change JFK-LGA, there is about 6 hours between flight so all going well should be plenty of time.

I am thinking option one could be the easiest as we only have to meet at T3 and will not involve an airport change. There are a couple of other options however these would most likely require overnight accommodation so this are discounted at the moment.

My fall back is to call QF and request the release of 3 seats however given my recent experiences with QF this is the least preferred.

Any thoughts or advice is welcome.

 

[Himeno]

All international arrivals at ORD arrive at T5 (international departures can be from any terminal and many airlines tow their aircraft from T5 to T1-T3 for the departure, eg AA, JL and CX arrive at T5 for CBP controls, then tow the aircraft over to T3 to depart, while BA, QR and RJ keep the aircraft at T5).
After clearing CBP at ORD T5, you need to get to the domestic terminals via the sky train or terminal transfer bus.

The amount of time needed for a JFK-LGA transfer really depends on the time of day. There is no train between the two airports and the roads can be quite busy.

 

[Matt_01]

@Himeno thanks for the information, ORD is looking more compelling as I could just wait at T5 for them to arrive. I am looking at options just in case things go wrong e.g. the NH flight is seriously delayed or cancelled to make the transfer as easy as possible for MrsM and MissM.

 

[serfty]

8 hours at ORD transferring T5-T3 beats any JFK-LGA transit, especially if all three have access to the Flagship Lounge there. (OW Sapphire/Emerald with a Guest).

You'd likely have enough time at Chicago to catch a train into the city for lunch.

 

[Himeno]

8 hours at ORD transferring T5-T3 beats any JFK-LGA transit, especially if all three have access to the Flagship Lounge there. (OW Sapphire/Emerald with a Guest).

You'd likely have enough time at Chicago to catch a train into the city for lunch.

Assuming everyone arrives on time, with 8 hours to play with, you'd have around 3-4 hours in the Chicago Loop (downtown). The blue line train takes about an hour to get from O'Hare into the CBD.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

In terms of waiting time... JFK has the new TWA hotel where you could spend a few hours. ORD has the Hilton, which offers extremely cheap day rates - like USD99 or USD109 (the former if you're lucky), for 9am-5pm (or something like that. might be 6pm check out. You can book directly on the Hilton website by selecting the same arrival and departure date).

ORD arrivals can be a real pain. I spent nearly three hours in line once, but that was in the afternoon bank of Asia arrivals, and no auto gates. It might have improved by now.