Connecting flight at IAD Dulles with stroller [duplicate]

I am really hoping there's someone out there who will ease my anxiety about this airport. I already called and emailed them, I searched online but I still feel like I dont have the right answer.

I am flying alone with my 14 month old son and will have a stroller (makes things harder, slower and will have to avoid escalators). We are flying from SAV and will arrive to terminal D. We have about an hour to get to terminal B for our flight to Europe. When I look at the navigation, it shows it would take us about 30mins.

Now my questions are - how often do the buses run? Are they stroller friendly? Does it accommodate a lot of people or is there a chance we might have to wait for the next one? Are there elevators by escalators?

Best Answer

If these are two seperate tickets, you have no chance of making it.

If this is a single ticket, it's doable but tight. Your best shot is probably to take the Aero Train. https://www.flydulles.com/iad/aerotrain-washington-dulles-international-airport

Unfortuantely there is no stop in Terminal D, so on arrival you need to hike all the way to the end of Terminal C and take the Train and exit at Terminal B. The train has level entry/exit, but you will probably need to take elevators to get up/down from/to the train level. Good news: you don't need to go through secuirty again.

Some tips & tricks

Minimize the stuff you carry on. Lugging a a large roll-aboard carry together while pushing a stroller will slow you down and be awkward.
Familiarize yourself with the Terminal. Have a map ready on your phone
Make sure you know your arrival and departure gate in Dulles. These should be displayed on your barding passes but you can also check flight status online for gate info. Make sure you know how to do this: practice the day before
Map out the route using gate info and map. Signage is not always the greatest. Walk from Terminal D towards terminal C, make ure gate numbers on D are dercreasing. Entry to the train is between gates C14 and C18 , etc.
Tell the flight attendent that you have a tight connection. If you are lucky, they bring up your stroller first.

The stroller is not helping. If you want to carry it on, you can drop it off at the airplane door on departure, but on arrival you need to wait at the airplane door until it's brought back up from the cargo hold. You can potentially check it through to your final destination, but then you will have to carry your child for the entire connection and you will only get it back at the baggage claim in Europe.

Good luck.

EDIT:

One more tip: make sure you have the apps downloaded for all airlines involved. Make sure you have accounts are logged in and have the confirmation code for each ariline handy or already stored. Since it's Dulles, it's probably a United ticket: the United app has a very good feature called "Connection Summary" that tells you exactly where you arrive, where you depart, and how much time you have.

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Do I have to go through security again for connecting flight at IAD?

You have to get off the plane, get through passport control, wait for your bags, clear customs, drop your bags off again, and then go through security and get to your next gate. I did this at IAD a couple months ago with two hours between connections.

Can you walk between terminals at Dulles?

It is possible to walk the length of each midfield terminal building end-to-end (i.e., there are no barriers between A and B or between C and D), and there is an underground pedestrian walkway connects the main terminal to the A/B midfield terminal.

Is 1 hour layover enough time in Dulles?

That might seem scary for the inexperienced travelers, but I can assure you that (in most situations) a 1 hour layover is enough time at Dulles: For domestic to domestic connections, a 1 hour layover is more than enough time. Domestic to international connections will require about an hour.

How do you get between terminals at Dulles airport?

AeroTrain has been in operation at Washington Dulles International Airport since 2010. Automated trains move passengers between the Terminal and the midfield gates for domestic and international departing flights and domestic arriving flights.

PQI Travelers: Connecting at Washington Dulles

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