Dulles Query

[KingDavid]

First time poster - apology if in wrong forum.

I'm flying into Dulles in a few weeks and have two questions?

Travelling via United, transferring terminal C to internal flight to Las Vegas. Arrive 2.50pm. Las Vegas flight departs 4.50pm. On a Tuesday.

Am I right that immigration/customs/baggage at Dulles is bad?

Is C a United only terminal, so will that make it faster? For instance, do I have to exit and join a security line, or is there an internal security line for the terminal?

Should I worry that 2hrs is not enough time?

Also, my seat is in the very rear of the plane? Bad or good? I hear that we de-plane via lounges/buses on wheels, so is it the case that last off the plane is first off the bus because of the way the doors are placed? Should I try to sit nearer the front of the plane?

Realise all this might sound mega-anxious, but I have heard such bad things about this airport and anything that could speed me up...

[seacue]

I just removed my earlier reply which was largely obsolete.

On the Dulles web site

http://www.mwaa.com/dulles/index.htm
http://www.mwaa.com/d2/index.htm

you will find

"In 1996, a second Customs and Immigration facility was opened by United Airlines in Concourse C, further streamlining service for international travelers making domestic connections in the U.S."

You should have no trouble with the connection (presuming that facility is still in operation).

[KingDavid]

Thank you. Very kind

A lot of reports said it got bad starting last summer due to the new rules?


Anyone know about which end of the mobile lounges to get in?

[lexxity]

2hrs is plenty of time to tranist IAD, the lounge buses are so frequent it doesn't really matter which end you sit at. When you arrive at IAD all the pax are split to connections and final destination. So everybody on your bus will be in the same boat, so to speak. IAD is actually a fairly small airport as things go, so relax and take it easy. You've got loads of time.

cheers
L.

[seacue]

KingDavid asked:

> Anyone know about which end of the mobile lounges to get in?

The end with the driver. You can trample over the other people on the lounge if that turns out to be the "other" end.

HOWEVER

The info from Dulles that I quoted in my earlier message says that you will NOT be required to ride the mubile lounge. It says that your processing will all be done at midfield Terminal C. With very few exceptions (El Al??) all planes are served by jetways at the midfield terminals. Riding the Lounge directly from the plane ceased when the midfield terminals were built some 20+ years ago.

Should you by any chance have to go to the main terminal for Customs etc, you would be herded into special mobile lounges. On the return trip to the midfield terminal the lounges shuttle back and forth frequently. The info I quoted says you won't have to go to the main terminal when connecting from international UA to domestic UA.

Dulles in UA's main east coast international gateway so they want to make it efficient.

[Globaliser]

seacue: Should you by any chance have to go to the main terminal for Customs etc, you would be herded into special mobile lounges.The info you've given is, IIRC, right for UA. But for anyone else going to IAD, there are still plenty of airlines where you're taken off the aircraft by mobile lounge and taken to the main terminal immigration facility.

If that happens to you, trick number one is this: Be the last off the aircraft. Do anything you can to be last off the aircraft. Because the driver sits at the end right up against the aircraft, and the last person off the aircraft onto the lounge is the first person into the immigration queue.

I get no end of strange looks from people filing past me as they stampede to get off the aircraft at IAD. 10 minutes later, they understand. :)

[KingDavid]

You guys are so great - lurked here for a while, but enjoyed all the posts. Thanks again.

[Seloco]

I transited IAD a couple of days ago doing LHR-IAD-IAH. Immigration wait in midfield terminal was about 45 minutes, then a short bus ride to a G Gate for the UA Express flight to IAH. G gates are simply exits off a long walkway system attached to what appears to be a converted cargo shed beyond the midfield terminal; it's rather crude but appears to work! On this basis a 2 hour transit would seem to be do-able.

[jabird]

Globaliser,

I always try and sit back to let everyone else off. Can usually get in an extra 5-10 minutes' reading etc each time. Try and make sure I don't keep the crew waiting, and bags are often in reclaim by the time I get there. Would only rush a t'fer if absolute "short" connection, and have been given seat further up + inbound flight is delayed.

BTW, IAD ultimately has just the one big "terminal", with various concourses as mentioned. AFAIK, this would mean that you would not have to go through security again to make the onward connection.

Do you have to go through security on arrival, like at ATL? Have only flown from there, not to or through it - lovely Saarinen terminal - one of the nicest (still in use) in the US! Perhaps second only to DEN!

[Little Blue]

I was caught out by the " Which end of the bus do I stand" lottery, on my 1st trip, last summer. Someone told me the driver was at the far end, so I trooped right down to the the door...
2hrs later, I cleared immigration !
Last week, got it spot on, and was thru' in 30 mins.
Good luck ;)

[seacue]

jabird
Mr. Saarinen may have done a beautiful swoopy terminal for IAD, but they've spent many millions over the years correcting his design mistakes. He clearly didn't understand queueing theory. The original passage for the baggage carts was so narrow that one could not pass another. There was an inadequate number of luggage carousels (4) from day one, but that may not have been his decision. The midfield terminals are one of the fixes. They weren't in his plan. The waiting area beyond security was a fix added years later to the original plan. It is over the expanded luggage area needed to fix the original plan.

I'd guess that the new terminal at DCA will weather its first 40 years a lot better than IAD's has. It's not very pretty from the outside, but I like it inside and it had to fit in a very constrained space.

I must have been in a bad mood the days I used DEN because I thought it a big disappointment. I didn't find any interior place which had a beautiful view of the mountains. That should have been a priority. And how about the shuttle train to the concourses - if it breaks you're stuck since there isn't a walkway beyond the first concourse AFAIK.

[Globaliser]

jabird: BTW, IAD ultimately has just the one big "terminal", with various concourses as mentioned. AFAIK, this would mean that you would not have to go through security again to make the onward connection.

Do you have to go through security on arrival, like at ATL? On the assumption that IAD follows the practice at all US airports through which I've done international->domestic connections, international arriving pax will have to clear IAD security before being allowed into the airside area.

There are at least two good reasons for this:- Whatever you might think of the merits of allowing direct airside domestic->domestic transfers without a further security check, at least everyone airside should theoretically have been checked to TSA standards at some stage. Inbound international pax may have been checked only to a lower standard (although, as we know, many will have been security checked before departure by better and more competent screeners ;)). Because inbound international pax have to claim their bags and clear customs before going to their domestic flight, they will have had the opportunity to access the contents of the checked bags, which may contain items that are prohibited from carry-ons. So they're no longer sterile and must be checked again.I can't think of any reason why IAD would be different.

However, if you're arriving and being processed at the main terminal immigration facility and you're not connecting onto a domestic flight, that facility tips you out into the landside area so there's no further security check for you.

[Curious Pax]

Went through Dulles last year transferring from bmi onto United. We arrived at Terminal C, which also looked to be where the international United flights parked (there was a UA 744 next to us). We cleared immigration down in the bowels on C, (took 45 minutes, and I reckon there was a third of the pax off our flight behind us. Unfortunately we then had to wait another 45 minutes for our bags to arrive, as a container of transit bags had been sent to the main terminal, rather than the transit area, and it took that long to get them back. I got the impression that this was not unusual at the time. However we were on a 2 hour connection to Miami (also from C), and we made it with a few minutes to spare. Unlike an experience at Atlanta a couple of years ago the security check after customs had no queue, and so that didn't delay us - and the staff were friendly and courteous too which was a bonus in this day and age.
Best of luck!

[KingDavid]

Reading through all the posts now, it seems I either will or won't be travelling in a lounge bus and will or won't be dealt with entirely (immig/baggage/security) in one midfield terminal... ? Again - United from Heathrow and then Ted to Las Vegas.

My biggest question is whether to change my seat from the rear of the plane or not.

I guess I will just have to roll with it and see. 2hrs should be OK if the Gods smile.

[Globaliser]

KingDavid: My biggest question is whether to change my seat from the rear of the plane or not.No contest here: Change your seat to one further forward. First class seats are always nicer ... ;)

Seriously, though, it is usually quieter up the front and therefore less tiring. If you're near the front of economy, you may well be over the wing and therefore moving about less than if you are near the tail. All in all, it's usually better further forward, which is why they tend to put the premium classes towards the pointy end.

If you happen to find that you are disembarked onto a bus at IAD, then just stay in your seat. Let everyone else walk past you. Flirt with the cabin crew. When the bus is ready to go and you're about to be lynched by the people who've been hurrying off, then it's time to get on the bus and stand next to the driver.

[spagiola]

I use IAD all the time (typically 15-20 times a year). Most of what people have said is correct:

If arriving on United or Lufthansa and transferring to United, you'll go through immigration and customs at the midfield terminal itself. Follow the purple arrows to 'Transit'.

Everyone else goes to the same arrivals hall in the main terminal. Either the mobile lounges pick you up directly at the aircraft (rare these days, but it does happen) or you get off via a jetway and then follow (sometimes endless) corridors (follow the yellow arrows) to the mobile lounge which will take you to the immigration hall.

I've never been through the transit immigration hall, but the main immigration hall is often hugely backed up because most international flights arrive in the same 2-hour period. You could well be an hour in line, if you're unlucky enough to arrive just after the BA 747 or somebody's full 777. Bring a book. Or you could be really lucky and whiz through in minutes. In the first case, your bags will definitely already be on the carousel by the time you get through, in the second you're likely to have to wait for them.

Either way, you'll HAVE to get your bags off the carousel, take them through customs, and then re-check them. This applies to both the main hall and the transit hall. It's standard policy at ALL US airports.

And then you will have to go through security again to get back airside. Again, standard policy.

I second what others have said about IAD being architecturally beautiful but functionally awful. Recent improvements help, but not enough.