connecting flight questions

babystar

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 8, 2007
Messages
611
For the first time I have booked a indirect flight.

I booked a while ago and United have changed the flight times a few times and I now have a very short connecting time in IAD.

Could anyone tell me - do I have to re-check our luggage in? or will it be tagged through?

Do they have a seperate immigration queue for conecting flights?

Is Washington a easy airport to get through?

If I miss the flight and the next flight is not until the following day, will they put us in a hotel?

Thanks in advance....the time is drawing near and I am starting to worry!!
 
Could anyone tell me - do I have to re-check our luggage in? or will it be tagged through?
if you're on the same airline, your luggage should be checked through to MCO. You can ask the person at the check in desk to see your tags and make sure they're tagged to MCO

You will need to retreive them at IAD, go through Customs and then drop them off again (you just put them on a conveyor belt, or give them to a staff member at the connecting flight recheck, but you don't have to wait in any kind of line to recheck those bags.

Do they have a seperate immigration queue for conecting flights?
Everyone on your flight will need to go through immigration, and many of them will take connecting flights as IAD is a hub. Basically, just follow the flow of passengers (ETA read from the link posted at the end of this post, it will make things a more precise)

Is Washington a easy airport to get through?
well ... it's an airport ... so ...

the only thing you really need to pay attention to is to always follow the "connecting flights" signs, so you can drop your bags off and reach the TSA checkpoint to re-enter the secure area and proceed to your next departure gate

If I miss the flight and the next flight is not until the following day, will they put us in a hotel?
yes.
if both leg of your flight are on the same carrier (united) and same ticket, they will do their best to rebook you on the next available plane. Or even on a partner airline (from star alliance) and if everything else fails they'll send you to an hotel


here's some reading for you : http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/884.htm
 
Brilliant!!!!

Thank you so much for all that info - I feel much better now having step by step instructions from your link!

I will have 2 young ones in toe so I dont want to be wandering round not sure where I am meant to be going!

Thanks again!
 
if you're on the same airline, your luggage should be checked through to MCO. You can ask the person at the check in desk to see your tags and make sure they're tagged to MCO

You will need to retreive them at IAD, go through Customs and then drop them off again (you just put them on a conveyor belt, or give them to a staff member at the connecting flight recheck, but you don't have to wait in any kind of line to recheck those bags.


Everyone on your flight will need to go through immigration, and many of them will take connecting flights as IAD is a hub. Basically, just follow the flow of passengers (ETA read from the link posted at the end of this post, it will make things a more precise)


well ... it's an airport ... so ...

the only thing you really need to pay attention to is to always follow the "connecting flights" signs, so you can drop your bags off and reach the TSA checkpoint to re-enter the secure area and proceed to your next departure gate


yes.
if both leg of your flight are on the same carrier (united) and same ticket, they will do their best to rebook you on the next available plane. Or even on a partner airline (from star alliance) and if everything else fails they'll send you to an hotel


here's some reading for you : http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/884.htm

Your flight doesn't have to be on the same airline for your luggage to be checked through. It just has to be on the same ticket (and that's not even true, as DD just flew out last night with two entirely separate tickets on two different airlines, and her luggage was still checked through).

You have to be sure to ask for your luggage to be checked through to the final destination - and always have the ground agent checking you in show you the baggage tags before she sends the baggage - to show you that MCO is on the baggage tag...

also, regarding being put on another flight, again , this doesn't have to be the same airline, it just has to be the same ticket..
we always fly two different airlines, one for the international leg and a different one for the domestic leg. It doesn't matter. It just has to be on the same ticket and then if the first flight is delayed and you miss your second flight, they will make sure to put you on the next available flight.
 

For the first time I have booked a indirect flight.

I booked a while ago and United have changed the flight times a few times and I now have a very short connecting time in IAD.

Could anyone tell me - do I have to re-check our luggage in? or will it be tagged through?

Your luggage will be checked through but after Immigration you'll have to collect it, go through Customs, then hand it over again. Depending on how busy it is, you may or may not have to queue. We've done both. And once we had to wait while the bags were swabbed.


Do they have a seperate immigration queue for conecting flights?

When I flew through IAD there was a separate queue but it was busier than the other one. It seemed the vast majority of people had connecting flights.

Is Washington a easy airport to get through?

IMHO, no. Whilst I would fly to Dulles, if at all possible I wouldn't transit there.

If I miss the flight and the next flight is not until the following day, will they put us in a hotel?

I strongly disagree with the poster who says the airline would put you into a hotel. It is not the airline's responsibility to get you through Immigration, therefore it is not their responsibility to put you into a hotel. I'm not sure that it's even their responsibility to get you on another flight, if it's not their fault that you missed the one booked.

If you miss the connection because your first flight was delayed, that's different, they'll re-book you. But even then, provision of a hotel would depend on the reason for the delay and airlines are not known for their generosity. If your flight arrives into IAD on time but you miss the connection because of delays at Immigration, I cannot see the airline paying for a hotel.

Thanks in advance....the time is drawing near and I am starting to worry!!

I don't want to make you worry but I think it's better you are forewarned.

When we transited IAD in 2010 we had 2.5 hrs between flights. We arrived on time and didn't have to change terminals. But we only just scraped onto our connecting flight. The queue at Immigration was fairly long but not excessive; collected the bags, through Customs and handed bags straight back. The problem was when we rounded the next corner and, despite having gone through Security at Heathrow, getting on the aircraft and not having been outside a 'sterile' area, we had to go through Security to get into the terminal at IAD! It was very poorly organised and took a ridiculously long time.

We thought we had more than enough time between flights, had planned to get something to eat. In the event, we only just made the connection.

As I've already said, I wouldn't choose to transit IAD again. But if I had to, I wouldn't accept a connecting time of less than 3 hours, preferably a bit longer. If yours is shorter then my advice would be to check for yourself online for a better connection, then contact United and tell them that's the flight you want. I've had experience of United changing flights and giving unrealistic connection times but have found that if you do your homework so that you can tell them which flight you want to move to, they will do it.

In fact once when I phoned, before I could even say why I'd phoned, the agent looked at the reservation and told me the connection time wasn't long enough and he'd need to change it. It may be that your flights have been changed by a machine, if you see what I mean, but when a human looks at it they'll see the new connection isn't feasible.
 
I don't want to make you worry but I think it's better you are forewarned.

When we transited IAD in 2010 we had 2.5 hrs between flights. We arrived on time and didn't have to change terminals. But we only just scraped onto our connecting flight. The queue at Immigration was fairly long but not excessive; collected the bags, through Customs and handed bags straight back. The problem was when we rounded the next corner and, despite having gone through Security at Heathrow, getting on the aircraft and not having been outside a 'sterile' area, we had to go through Security to get into the terminal at IAD! It was very poorly organised and took a ridiculously long time.

We thought we had more than enough time between flights, had planned to get something to eat. In the event, we only just made the connection.

As I've already said, I wouldn't choose to transit IAD again. But if I had to, I wouldn't accept a connecting time of less than 3 hours, preferably a bit longer. If yours is shorter then my advice would be to check for yourself online for a better connection, then contact United and tell them that's the flight you want. I've had experience of United changing flights and giving unrealistic connection times but have found that if you do your homework so that you can tell them which flight you want to move to, they will do it.

In fact once when I phoned, before I could even say why I'd phoned, the agent looked at the reservation and told me the connection time wasn't long enough and he'd need to change it. It may be that your flights have been changed by a machine, if you see what I mean, but when a human looks at it they'll see the new connection isn't feasible.


i wouldn't accept anything less than 3 hours in any airport in the US...
in every airport i've been in, we've had to cross through security again after leaving customs....and security always seems to have terribly long lines in the US...
and immigration/customs can be a nightmare..

on our trip last august, we had a little over 3 hours between flights, but our international flight arrived at JFK an hour and a half late...
JFK has an interesting thing for late arrival airplanes - a fastpass for immigration that they hand to you as you step off the plane....so we zipped through immigration..
but stupidly, they don't have a fastpass for customs, where the line wrapped around the arrivals hall...insane...
because we were so short of time, i went straight to the front of the line and asked the people there if we could cut in....they let us, but i felt bad about it...
by the way, our luggage arrived quickly because we were business class, otherwise who knows how long we would have had to wait..

anyway, once we were past customs we did the JFK mini-marathon through the terminal, to the train, through the next terminal, arriving at AA with only 2 minutes before the computer would have locked us out of the flight..

and then we got into that stupid security line - double insanity..

we made the flight by the skin of our teeth and after demanding that we be moved to the front of the security line because we were about to miss our flight, but it wasn't pleasant or a sure thing..

DD is flying as we speak and for her connection in Newark i gave her 5 hours..
there were two choices of connecting flights, 3 hours or 5 hours. I picked 5 hours for her as i just didn't want her having to do that mini-marathon on her own.
 
Well....I spoke to the company I booked with and they phoned the airline directly (UA) and they said that they wont look at changing flight unless the connection time is less than 35 min!!!!:confused:

I have booked the whole flight all the way through with them and it is United that have gradually changed the flight time so the connection window has got smaller and smaller. (1 hr and 15min outbound and 56 min inbound)

Looks like I will be waiting for a different flight in Washington as I dont think we will be making the one we booked! (that will be fun with a 3month old and a 5 year old!!!)

Oh well keep smiling, at least I will be seeing the mouse......eventually!!!
 
Well....I spoke to the company I booked with and they phoned the airline directly (UA) and they said that they wont look at changing flight unless the connection time is less than 35 min!!!!:confused:

I have booked the whole flight all the way through with them and it is United that have gradually changed the flight time so the connection window has got smaller and smaller. (1 hr and 15min outbound and 56 min inbound)

Looks like I will be waiting for a different flight in Washington as I dont think we will be making the one we booked! (that will be fun with a 3month old and a 5 year old!!!)

Oh well keep smiling, at least I will be seeing the mouse......eventually!!!

think positive - maybe you'll make it..

on the return, you don't need a lot of time as you just have to change planes, nothing else. No luggage, no security, just running from gate to gate.

but when you fly to the states, you need more time. but maybe that hour and a half will be enough. You never know! :)
 
Yes I will remain positive.

I cant change anything so I am just going to keep smiling and make the most of whatever happens! As long as I get to where I am going - all is well!!

If I know the route and what I have to do (customs, immigration etc) then at least if I do have to make a run I will know what to do.

Thanks all!!
 
Well....I spoke to the company I booked with and they phoned the airline directly (UA) and they said that they wont look at changing flight unless the connection time is less than 35 min!!!!:confused:

You could try contacting United direct, see if they will change the flight for you.


I have booked the whole flight all the way through with them and it is United that have gradually changed the flight time so the connection window has got smaller and smaller. (1 hr and 15min outbound and 56 min inbound)

Unfortunately United seem to do this far more often than other airlines, maybe it's because of the merger with Continental. The last flights we had booked with them they changed so often it got utterly ridiculous and in the end I managed to cancel altogether and get my money back - even though it was a non-refundable ticket - and booked with another airline instead. Until United settles down, I will be avoiding them.


Looks like I will be waiting for a different flight in Washington as I dont think we will be making the one we booked! (that will be fun with a 3month old and a 5 year old!!!)

Be positive, but be prepared. Go online and print off details of the next several flights after the one you will hopefully be on. And not just United flights, any airline on the route. Have those details with you so that if you do need to be re-booked, you know what's available.


Oh well keep smiling, at least I will be seeing the mouse......eventually!!!

Think Mickey thoughts ... think Mickey thoughts ...
 
Oooh, thats a great idea to print out other "just incase" flights - I never would have thought of that, Thank you.

I may try and give United a ring and see if I get a sympathetic person on the other end of the phone - someone who understands that I cant do much running to catch rubbish connection times with 2 small children.

If I have any luck I will update.

Cheers again!
 


Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE









DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom