terminal 5 has a lot of construction rn -- from outside to the tsa lines to the transportation hub;…read moregotta take a air train so gotta time that into schedule

Seems like terminal 5 at JFK is getting a facelift! It's looking promising…read more There are quite a few decent food options for folks with NO dietary restrictions, but alas, for gluten-free folks like myself, the options remain slim. The little autonomous fridges advertising "fresh food" were completely empty. The lines for Starbucks, Dunkin', & Shake Shack were downright abysmal - long & unmoving. There's a lot under construction, though, so more options may be incoming.

JFK Airport is one of the busiest airports I've been to…read more I've flown Delta here, which was a decent experience, and I've flown Spirit, which sucked. There is a noticeable difference in quality between the terminals. (Guess which one is nicer)! Not bad though. Pretty Mid.

Located in Queens, NY, JFK International Airport in Queens, first opened in 1948 as New York…read moreInternational Airport, later being renamed John F. Kennedy in 1963. It consists of 5 active terminals, 4 active runways, 1,200 daily flights. My wife and I came into JFK from LAX on a direct redeye flight, landing into terminal 4. The five active terminals are 1, 4, 5, 7, 8. Terminal 1 is being replaced (initial phase open in 2026, completion in 2030) by a New Terminal One (NTO). Terminal 6 is being also being built, replacing 6 and 7. Terminal 7 is still open, but will later be demolished to be replaced at a later time. With 2 major terminals being built, the airport is in a constant state of construction, a lot of which can be seen as you take the Air Train from one terminal to another. My perception of the airport is that it covers a lot of area, but was surprised it's not even close in terms of land size: (DEN [largest] at 33,351 acres, ORD at 7,627 acres, JFK at 5,200, LAX at only 3,500). Where it dose rank highest is around international flights, leading all US airports with 71,000 annual international takeoffs (42% of all takeoffs). In comparison, the two busiest US airports (ATL and ORD), have 41,000 and 54,000, respectively. Note: It is specifically stated that JFK resides in the borough of Queens. The city of New York consists of 5 boroughs, each also being considered a county (with the same exact boundaries as each other). This was the only example I could find where two or more counties exists entirely within the limits of one city (usually it's the other way around). There are many examples (San Francisco, Philadelphia, Denver) where the city and county share the same name and boundaries. Virginia is the other state (besides NY) where the term borough is used to further subdivide a city. Other large cities use different terms (LA: neighborhoods/districts; Chicago: neighborhoods/wards).

One of the Nicer Delta Terminals I've been to!…read more It was pretty spacious and had a decent amount of food options. I was here for an international layover, and I remember being pretty happy and comfortable with the wait.

Terminal 4 at JFK Airport in NYC opened in 2001, replacing the historic international arrivals…read morebuilding. It underwent a major modernization from 2021 to 2023, some of which we felt the last time my wife and I were in New York in 2023. This time it felt a lot smoother, with security being a lot smoother. The major carrier in Terminal 4 is Delta, which meant there was a large Sky Club located within walking distance. There is a lot of real estate here, thus having the space for other airport lounges as well, including the AMEX Centurion and Chase Sapphire. The gates are pretty spaced apart, requiring a bit of a walk to get between them. There are moving walkways throughout to help in this regard. JFK is the example I like to use when documenting the difference between terminals and concourses at a major airport. Currently (2026), JFK is continuing its massive construction projects, with two terminals being rebuilt (thus closed): Terminal 1 and Terminal 6. To get between these terminals require the AirTrain. Within a terminal, are various wings (or concourses). So for a large airport like Detroit, there are 2 terminals, but in reality, only one of them matter for most travelers, it's the number of concourses within the main terminal that matters. And when planning for travel, a connection between terminals is going to take a long time whereas between concourses should not. LAX is the outlier...boasting of its 8+ terminals...but in reality, outside of LA, it's really a 1 terminal airport with 8+ concourses.

Well I don't understand what the hell is going in terminal 7…read moreThere's a massive construction project going on and some of the workers smell like they are just sleeping in a pot farm If you are on a frontier flight you might end up here Frontier is like spirit but it might cost you more I was on a flight from jfk to ohare and they said " please deplane fast we are late from the upcoming passengers going to Atlanta." Classy I spent 12 hours in the terminal recently becquse I flew from Greece The Dunkin' Donuts downstairs only opens on some days at 5 am but this day I was there they opened at 6 . I look forward to the final renovation

Well I didn't really have a choice for what terminal I wanted to use but this one was okay. It's…read moreone of the older ones and there is some construction. Check in was super fast, TSA only took 15 minutes. Friendly TSA workers and thankfully there's a Dunkin except they have no frozen drinks. There isn't much to do fortunately there's free wifi and tons of places to charge your phone and tablet.

Another Decent Delta experience. This terminal feels a bit…read moreolder, but it still had some good food options. It's pretty Mid on the Delta/Airport experiences I've had to date.

If judging this from an American perspective based on US standards for major airports, this is a…read moredump. It is small, inefficient, and badly in need of an upgrade/refresh. Several international carriers use this terminal such as Air France, Korean, China Eastern, Asiana, Egypt Air, and Turkish. My advice to you is that when flying out of JFK, if you can choose an airline that uses a different terminal, do it. I think one of the biggest issues here is that because so many foreign passengers come through here, it feels like TSA and the rest of the staff in the terminal don't even try to live up to US standards. As an example, while there is a TSA pre-check line marked off, it is not open most of the time so any US frequent flyers with any sort of status get zero advantages when coming through this terminal. Since you are going through the security line with everyone else, you are subjected to very basic security practices, such as removing all of your electronics and liquids, showing your ID regardless of participation in CLEAR, etc. Additionally, it feels like the TSA staff are burned out from dealing with non-English speaking visitors and foreign persons with different cultural practices so they default to giving you commands in a very surly, curt tone which comes across as almost disrespectful. It's really too bad because it would seem like this would be one time for TSA and the travel industry to make a good impression on visitors to our country. Based on what I saw throughout the check-in, security screening, and boarding process, this is completely a missed opportunity on the part of JFK and TSA. Additionally, the entire physical terminal feels like it was built in the 60s and has only been modified in a minimal way. The public restrooms are insufficient to accommodate the number of passengers coming through the terminal as are the seating areas at the gates. It honestly felt worse than some of the terminals I have been in overseas in second world countries. It's an embarrassment for a major US airport. Lastly, what's up with the food prices in this terminal? I realize that airport prices are always inflated and passengers waiting are a captive audience, but the prices charged at the eating venues are downright criminal. A simple cheeseburger (and I mean small and simple; see the picture for reference) and a draft beer with a tip were $42. That is insane even by NY standards! My Takeaway from this is that I would book on any airline out of JFK that doesn't come through Terminal 1. I am told that there is a new Terminal 1 coming. It can't get here soon enough.

JetBlue has an always my to go. They always have various times…read more Clean and easy to get to the gate

There's plenty of seating. The staff updated us at the last minute of the flight delays. We were…read moredelayed at least 3xs. Had we known in enough time, we could've arrived later. Our original flight was scheduled to land in Nashville at 2:57p. We didn't arrive until almost 9p. We boarded the plane after 4p, i was seated by 4:22, and was stuck for some time. They had to call IT which arrived at 4:37p. We finally took off at 7:28p. Being stuck on a plane for 3hrs is insane. I wasn't able to make it to my destination in time for my sisters birthday dinner due to the delay. At one point, the captain made an announcement saying we might be ready to go at 9p after we had already been sitting for several hours. A 2.5hr flight shouldn't have taken this long.

They are totally inefficient. Seems they are contractors across the airport. The staff is…read moreunprofessional and untrained how to work behind the desk and warehouse. Nobody thinks about the many drivers who are being serviced that may have driven 6 and more hours or have a trip out long and to have to wait tremendously due to lack of handling things correctly is crazy. Other airports in region are so efficient.

Worst customer service ever. Walked up to the window across from a person who worked here and she…read morestraight up ignored me. Had to say excuse me to get her to look at me. Not friendly at all. It was like I had to twist their arm to get them to do their job.

Rough and long wait, even with Pre-Check. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don't. This was not…read morea winning checkpoint. On the other hand, I have Pre-Check, and that also did not end with a win. There's always next time...

Overall, this TSA checkpoint is OK…read more Although it's an international terminal, TSA is small. It's in a cramped space and there isn't a lot of room for all to line up in an organized way. I was really excited to use my new TSA pre check, but it turns out this TSA doesn't have pre check. Apparently the airlines have to opt in to this, none in this terminal seem to. Despite this, the line moved fairly quickly. All TSA agents were nice and respectful.

Wow, TSA got into a fight with a passenger. Haven't seen that yet. The TSA was very rude to…read moreeveryone. My bag got put on a different conveyor belt and I wasn't sure what was happening because it was sitting there for quite awhile. Finally I asked a TSA member what was happening and he said it needed to be searched and finally gave it back to me. You also have to take out your laptop/ electronics in a separate bin even if you are CLEAR/ pre-check. It's very crowded in security, there were individual lines for each lane of bins. Thankfully I was really early so I was okay with it taking awhile. The terminal itself is really nice. There's not too many food options, but enough. I think there's Wendy's, Shisho restaurant and some snack stores. I appreciate that there's charging plugs at every chair. The Wi-Fi isn't great, but that's okay.

Functional, it's the word I'll use for terminal 2. It's obviously old, 2 levels and feels…read moreoppressive in it's construction. It gets full of people quickly and the gates are small with seating that says it charges your cell phone, but does not, because the power supply is unplugged. There is a central hub for eating, several small gift stores, but none that supplied antacids for upset stomach.

Dang, these guys were quick & efficient in the pre-check lanes. I was impressed with how painless…read morethe process was & signage was clear. The agents were on task, keeping traffic flowing.

The worst TSA employees, I go to airports most of the time for my job but so far TSA at JFK…read moreterminal 4 is power tripping most of the time . Privatize ??? I'm against it but going through JFK I think they need to......