Florida Guide > Travelling
Flying to Orlando via New York (JFK)
John F Kennedy International Airport is one of the major international gateways in the United States, and is often a stopping off point for passengers on their way to Florida. It is a large airport (and growing), and has eight operating passenger terminals (there should be nine, but Terminal 5 is temporarily closed for redevelopment as I write this) located around a central terminal area. The terminals are divided into five colour-coded areas, and if you are driving to the airport, the Terminal information is displayed on colour-coded signs on the approach roads.
Depending on the airline you are using you may find that your flight arrives at one Terminal, but your connecting flight departs from another. This is not a problem as there are several possible ways of making the transfer between Terminals, although you should allow plenty of time for this. The Air Train departs every 2 – 4 minutes during the day (but every 6 – 8 minutes from 11pm to 6am), has a journey time of approximately 8 minutes and is free. Taxis are available 24 hours a day and cost from $3 - $9 for a trip that can take from 5 – 15 minutes. There is also the free Autolink, or Group Bus (for tour groups) which are sometimes arranged by the airlines themselves. It is possible to walk between some of the terminals, but not all of them. Terminals 2 and 3 are linked by an enclosed, elevated, pedestrian walkway, and Terminals 8 and 9 are also linked by an interior concourse and walkway.
If you have quite a long time to wait for your connecting flight, do not despair, as there is plenty of eating and shopping to be done! All the Terminals have eating places, although some have more than others, and they all have at least a few shops. The chances are that you will find what you are looking for at your Terminal but, if not, then it is easy to get the Air Train (or walk where there are pedestrian walkways) to another Terminal and shop till you drop, or eat your fill there. The eating places in the airport range in style from Burger King and Krispy Kreme to restaurants where you can sit down and have a full meal. The airport shopping is excellent and there is a wide range of shops spread around the different Terminals – Hermes, Cartier, DKNY, Coach and Clinique/ Estee Lauder to name but a few, and each Terminal has a book/news store. If you are looking for a bank, or currency exchange, then these are available in all the Terminals.
If you get lost, or would just like some help to find your way around, there are Customer Service Representatives, who are multi-lingual and wear distinctive red jackets to make them easy to spot.
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