Is 1 hour 45 min enough time to get through Dulles customs and immigration to make connecting flight?
I'm travelling from London to Washington Dulles to Orlando with United Airlines. We get to Dulles at 10:55am connecting flight at 12:45pm. Will 1 hour 50 minutes be enough time to collect our luggage, clear customs and immigration, then check our bags in and then get to our connecting flight at Dulles? Do we have to go through Customs and Immigration at Orlando as well?
Best Answer
There is a good chance that you will make the connection, otherwise United wouldn't have sold you this ticket. However, there is a non-trivial chance that you will miss it.
You can check customs wait times here: https://awt.cbp.gov/. At Dulles the average wait times fluctuate a lot with time of day but average wait times are mostly 30 minutes or less.
You can also check security wait times here https://www.dhs.gov/how-do-i/check-wait-times but I think you need to install an app for that.
So maybe you need 60 minutes to get out of plane, through immigration, collect bags and through custom. Another 20 minutes to get through security again and that leaves you with 15 minutes to get to they gate before boarding closes (15 minutes before departure).
No if anything goes wrong (delay, unusually long waits, bag misplaced, etc.) then you will miss the connection. Assuming that's a single ticket, United will rebook you for free on the next available flight and may give you food and hotel vouchers if needed.
You do not need to go through customs or immigration in Orlando.
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How long does it take to get through customs at Dulles airport?
Passengers are transported to U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities within 10 to 15 minutes of deplaning their aircraft. Processing times can vary, and customers should expect longer waits during peak travel periods. Most travelers complete the process in less than an hour.Is 1 hour layover in IAD enough?
layover enough at IAD? A lot depends on which airlines you would be flying and, therefore, which terminal you would arrive at and which terminal you'd need to get to. Personally, I would not accept a one hour layover. Too much can go wrong.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.Do you have to go through immigration before connecting flight?
A port-of-entry is the first airport you land at in the US Even if you have a connecting flight, you need to go through the immigration procedure, pick up your luggage, re-check it and get on the next flight.Flying Alone for the First Time | Connecting Flight Procedure | How to Catch a Connecting Flight
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Answer 2
It should not be a problem, but maybe you miss the connection.
I had also a short connection (but in Atlanta), and because of long immigration process (longer than usual, the statistics), I missed the second flight. No problem, you go to transfer desk, and they book you in a successive flight. Just take into account that on busy period, the next flight could already be overbooked. So annoyance could increase.
My tip: try to get a seat as much as forward as possible on your flight. Study the map of the airport and go quickly to immigration, avoid WC (go before landing). This add some stress, but it could reduce the waiting time of 10 minutes (or more). Consider also that often intercontinental flights arrive earlier then timetable (on timetable you do not have the average expected time, but a "normal worst case" (so using a bad Atlantic route).
For the last question: no, the second flight is a internal flight, so will not pass to immigration and custom offices on destination airport.
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