41 minute connection at dulles(IAD)

[paisleybell]

Is a 41 minute connection at dulles cutting it too close?
Lets say our first plane is running behind and we get lucky enough to have our next plane be in a different terminal and therefore have to ride the tram and end up missing our 2nd flight... then what? Our fault? Do we have to pay to get a different flight?
I'm trying to look at the what ifs to see if we should even bother...
Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[rwdavis2]

If you miss the connection your airline should put you on whatever flight they can. Although I'm not sure about the tram issue.

IMHO, 41 minutes is too short. What airline? If you are using the same airline for both flights you might make it. But if the first flight is late, maybe not. It's a big airport.

 

[paisleybell]

United is the airline, 2nd flight says operated by mesa. It would be flying from MCO to IAD and then elsewhere.
But I think you're right, 41 minutes would just be cutting it too close. It's already an evening flight so we might not be able to get another flight home that night. Bummer.
Thanks!

 

[strat68]

United is the airline, 2nd flight says operated by mesa. It would be flying from MCO to IAD and then elsewhere.
But I think you're right, 41 minutes would just be cutting it too close. It's already an evening flight so we might not be able to get another flight home that night. Bummer.
Thanks!

Good luck. FYI, I never take a connecting flight with less than a 1 hour layover. Even if the gates are next to each other.

 

[DebbieB]

If it's Mesa, it might be a small plane, which means you have to go to the commuter gates on the tram.

 

[spleuchan]

Assuming you don't have mobility issues, 41 minutes is enough if your flight is on time. That is the big if. The aerotrain runs frequently, every 3 or 4 minutes I think. Because of the possibility of delays, it would be a little too close for my comfort, but you probably have better odds than not of making it.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If your originating flight is on time, you'll be okay. UA uses concourses C and D. Mesa Airlines (operating as United Express), uses concourses A,C,D and Z.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would choose some other flight plan with more time to change planes.

 

[brockash]

Is a 41 minute connection at dulles cutting it too close?
Lets say our first plane is running behind and we get lucky enough to have our next plane be in a different terminal and therefore have to ride the tram and end up missing our 2nd flight... then what? Our fault? Do we have to pay to get a different flight?
I'm trying to look at the what ifs to see if we should even bother...
Thanks for any thoughts!

No, you won't have to pay for another flight. They'll get you on whatever the next flight they have open seats on/standby. We've done 40 mins. in Dulles and haven't had any issues, although the 2 times we did that in Dulles, our arrival flights were a little early. I wouldn't not book it, but if there's another flight with a little bit longer of a layover for around the same price, I'd probably do that just to be safe, but like I said if it's the flight you want, I'd book it and I'd try to make sure I had seats as near to the front as I could without paying extra on the first flight.

 

[paisleybell]

Thanks everyone.. I think it's just a little too close for comfort as one person in the party has to be somewhere at a specific early time the next morning and if they couldn't get us flown out that same night, it would cause more problems than I care to deal with just for a later flight.
I ended up going with a morning flight with a longer connection time.

 

[Jimsig]

Airlines have minimum connections times for each airport they fly in and out of. An airline will not let you book flights that do not meet it. That said as other posters have said if you do miss your connecting flight due to THEIR fault they will have to get you to where you are going at no additional cost to you. I am not sure about Expedia, Travelocity, and the like if they will let you book less the then minimum time, my feeling would be they don't as they do now want the hassle.