Immigration at Washington (Dulles)

[derbomber]

Good afternoon all,

My family and I are booked to go to Orlando in May 2005. We are flying with British Midland, departing from Manchester and are reaching MCO via Dulles (Washington). The BMI flight lands at 15:00 hrs and the connecting United flight leaves at 17:30.

My concern is with time. Will there be enough time to clear Immigration/Customs in 2 1/2 hrs and check the baggage in for the connecting flight? I have read reports that due to the new US immigration procedures it can take hours.

Do any other members of this forum have any experience of this?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[american idol]

I have flown into twice and had relatives and friends fly into Dulles when we lived in the US. A lot of times we or they have been delayed or made it by the skin of our teeth. Airlines tell you to allow a certain amount of time between flights but all it needs is a plane to be late arriving to mess up the whole thing. You 'could' miss your connection and if you had scheduled flights and the company that had booked the flights at teh same time for you would be responsible for getting you to your destination. I am stressing the 'could' here, ways to avoid delays that are in your control are to have all your visa paperwork filled in correctly and try to get a seat at the front of the plane.

I would call whoever you booked your holiday with and ask them the what if question. :)

[marivigi]

Also... sometimes at immigration they have special queus for "connecting flight" passengers, so be sure to ask, and let them know what time your flight is at

[Kitten]

derbomber, my family are flying with BMI in august, we're flying to Chicargo and then getting a contecting flight to MCO from there. BMI have already changed flight times, so now we have 2 hours to get through Customs..... I think the BMI staff had better have ear plugs if we miss our flight because of them.....

[uscwest]

Even with the increased security 2 - 2 1/2 hours should be plenty of time to clear customs, security and make your connecting flight. I will admit that when I have flown internationally into Dulles that has always been my final destination, but when I flew into other cities in the US and had to make connections I always had plenty of time, although admittedly I am a US citizen. I seem to recall that Dulles does have a special line for passengers making connecting flights but it has been a while since I returned there from and international flight.