Re: [81attendees] Flying via the US

[Ben Campbell <[e-mail]>]

On Jul 11, 2011, at 9:49 PM, Narelle wrote:

> This thread has me *very* nervous.
> 
> Does anyone know where the Qantas flights land in Dallas (Fort Worth)
> compared with where the Air Canada flights take off?
> 
> As an Au citizen (though with a thing in my passport that says 'VISA')
> I am really worried the gap between flights isn't long enough... and
> the dinky maps are not informative enough.
> 

How much time do you have? I'd prefer to have at least 2 hours for a reasonable margin for error on the ground. That's not counting inbound flight delays, but those vary so much you really can't account for them.

Typically both will be in terminal D, which is now the main terminal for international flights. But even if you end up in separate terminals, you can usually just clear back through security in your arrival terminal and take the skylink train (airside) to any other terminal in about 10 minutes.

The real issue is getting through immigrations and security. Passport control at DFW has historically not been too bad, but the last few times I've been through it took much longer (on the order of an hour). It all depends on how many flights arrive at the same time. It's worse now with most of the international flights coming to one terminal. Baggage claim in terminal D is usually pretty quick, but can suck in the other terminals.

Security is _usually_ not too long at DFW, but can be sometimes. All terminals have multiple security lines, so if you find a long wait, you can walk a ways and find another line. It's not at all unusual for one line to be long and the next one short.  (I'm not sure if international connections go through the same security checkpoints as everyone else--living near DFW I never actually connect through it. )