Hello everyone,
We are flying at the end of April from Zurich (ZRH) to Cancún (CUN) with a layover in Washington D.C. (IAD). We are flying with SWISS from ZRH to IAD and then with United from IAD to CUN. Our connecting time is 2 hours.
As Swiss travelers, we are concerned about whether this is enough time to go through immigration and security in the U.S. Has anyone had experience with this airport and can share if this layover is realistic?
Thank you very much for your help!
Personally, I’d allow more time in the event your flight departs late. While Swiss Air uses the main terminal, United doesn’t. Getting through immigration is a wild card. I’ve breezed through it a few times and it took a while on a couple other occasions. You then need to get to your new gate.
For me, IAD has always been my final destination so I’m not certain how it works with luggage and connecting flights. At other airports it used to be you had to pick up your bag and then drop it off at a different spot, even if on the same ticket and checked to the final destination. Others will have more recent experiences.
I don't think it is a good idea.
I just connected from Europe through IAD this week (US citizen).
When we reached the immigration hall there was ONE officer for all the lines- US citizens and non citizen, and there was already a long line from a previous flight as ours was entering. Fortunately we have Global Entry (prescreened fast track for US citizens) but I can't imagine the wait for non citizens. Just as we were leaving the area we saw a group of maybe 6 officers moving into the area, but it would take a long time to clear the backlog. This may have been unusual, but demonstrates a potential problem.
Yes, after passing immigration you pick up checked luggage and carry it a short way down a hall past customs and hand it back to airport personnel. After that you go through another security check, similar to first entering the airport. They rescan your carryon luggage (must abide by 3-1-1 liquids rule) and x ray or body scan. This takes more time that the luggage recheck.
Then as jameelsabio says you will need to change terminals which at IAD can mean long walks/train that can easily be 20min even if you walk fast and have an idea where you are going.
If everything works smoothly 2 hours would probably just be enough, certainly no room for any problems.
This answer assumes you are flying on one ticket Zurich-IAD-Cancun. If not, then it is a very risky connection. If one ticket, then based on experience the airlines assume it is workable, and if for whatever reason it doesn’t, then United is responsible for getting you to Cancun on a later flight. I often use Dulles as a US citizen and agree that immigration lines are unpredictable. It can be a long wait or you can breeze through quickly. If it’s possible to change your itinerary to a later Cancun flight without significant cost, that’s likely the one you would be put on anyway if you miss the connection due to immigration delay, and you would be giving up any possibility of making your current connection and getting to Cancun sooner, which is quite likely. So I would stick with what you have.
