Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - Help Connecting from Qatar Airways to United Atlantic Express

Hi!

Am travelling Early September into IAD by Qatar Airways (QR51) arriving 3:05 PM

Am connecting onto a United Express flight to Detroit that leaves at 5:02 PM

So Connection Time 1hr 57 min

I am ticketed on One PNR - though United has its own PNr number as well.

Am a non- US citizen and have to clear customs and immigration at IAD.

Am wondering if I can make this connection.

Also need to know if I will have to go to the International Terminal Building or can there be somekind of internal transfer (have read something of a C Gate) will this be applicable on a QR flight connecting with UA.

I hope to get my Bags checked in through right upto DTW if possible on Qatar. So will clear customs and re checkin at Gate C .

Am not sure what will be the procedure since am transiting at IAD for the 1st time.

Any help will be appreciated.

Regards

Daniel

Unless your QR flight arrives early, that will be a very tight connection. If you miss the connection, there is one more UA flight to DTW at 10:20PM.

All QR arriving passengers are transported to the Customs/Immigration facility (IAB) in the main terminal. You go through Immigration (Passport Control) first; pick up checked bags from the carousel (there are free baggage carts there); head towards the exit where you surrender your blue Customs form.

Immediately after Customs there is a baggage re-check counter on your right. Be sure to stop there - drop your checked bags, get your boarding passes for the next flight, and gate information for that flight.

When you exit the Customs area, you are next to baggage carousel 14. Follow the signs "To All Gates" behind carousels 12/13 which will take you down to the TSA security mezzanine. Following TSA security, down another level and take the train to the A or C Concourse for your United gate. If the United flight is leaving from the D Concourse, do NOT take the train - follow the signs to get to the shuttle for the D gates.

Note that your scheduled arrival time is right in the middle of the biggest bank of international arrivals. Yesterday afternoon, for example, almost 4000 passengers came through IAB between 2pm-6pm - and about half of them were between 3pm-4pm. QR alone typically brings about 320 passengers there each day.

You've already booked your flights, so it's a little late to ask whether you will make the connection. The only question is what to do if you don't, and there is at least a chance you won't, since you have to go through Immigration, get your bags, go through Customs (usually just a matter of handing over the form you got on your flight, which you should have filled out before Immigration since the agent there will initial it) and then going to a transit desk, where you can hand over your bags. Then you need to go upstairs and go through security and get to the gate for your UE flight. But no one knows for sure. Much depends on how many other flights land when yours do, thus affecting the size of the lines.

Normally, if you miss a connection on a through-ticket, the second airline will endeavor to put you on the next flight that has available seats-- may or may not be the very next flight. However, it appears that you've got the last flight of the day to Detroit. If UA determines that the missed connection was due to delays in Immigration, etc., and they put you on a flight leaving the next morning, you may not get a voucher for a hotel room. If you do get put on a flight for the next morning try to ensure your baggage weight limits are still those for international flights. No matter when you take United Express, whicdh has smaller planes, you may have to gate-check any but the smallest carry-on bag.

I'd contact Qatar Airways, or whoever sold you the ticket, and find out what options you might have. You could even ask UA. Apprently you have a "legal" connection in terms of time, but that doesn't guarantee you'll make the flight, and it may be too late to do anything about it but go and hope for the best. If worse comes to worse and you miss the connection and don't get a free hotel, there are several near IAD, including a Marriott across the street.

I stand corrected in the 10pm flight to DTW - it appears to disappear from the schedule at the end of August. Hope the connection works for you.

Note: After exiting IAB and heading for your connection, do NOT "go upstairs" for TSA security. Follow the "TO ALL GATES" signs behind carousels 12/13 to go DOWN to TSA security.

Thank you so much Annandaler & SoCal.. Well i thought that 2 hours (1 hr 57 mins) to make the connection was good enough.. but now it seems a little crazy ..

Its a long flight .. i begin my journey in Calcutta around 20 hours before I land in IAD .. cant so much bear the thought of sitting a night in the terminal .. if i cant make it to the flight .. i'm sure the hotels close wud be close to 100$ at the min ..

I had read something about transiting passengers having a seperate queue or section at IAD and hoped that it would ease the process.

I had also checked the arrivals schedule between 2-4 and it seems crazy as you have already mentioned .. so if all exiting as well as transiting passengers are in the same queue then its gonna be long in it self.. even if i get through this chances are I will get stuck at TSA security after re-checkin

I have always travelled to the US via Canada so i complete most formalities there and exit as a domestic passenger in the US .. this time however am doing it the other way round and it feels jittery already.

i check flight status for QR51 Doha to IAD .. it comes in 15 to 20 mins early most days which I hope will be on the day of my flight .. will be good to have some buffer.

Also will i have to go to the airline desk even if i get my boarding pass for IAD - DTW in the beginning of my journey ... this flight operates as QR 5655 .. a code share so i am hoping will get my boarding pass for tis flight at calcutta it self.

Note: After exiting IAB and heading for your connection, do NOT "go upstairs" for TSA security. Follow the "TO ALL GATES" signs behind carousels 12/13 to go DOWN to TSA security.

Hi! one Quick query.. I was looking at the Dulles Website it says "Baggage Claim (Arrivals) level: Two security screening entrances, also marked "TO ALL GATES." This is a convenient option for passengers with pre-printed boarding passes and no checked baggage. The entrances are located near bag claim numbers 4 and 12."

I would have a pre printed boarding pass I guess but what about the no checked bag clause as is mentioned on the website as I will be having checked bags .. which I think I might have checked in by this time at the transfer counter.. i think

I am really sorry for having so many Questions .. am starting to get nervous and jittery about this connection.

The entrance to TSA security that I mentioned is the same as you are reading on the airport website - behind carousel 12/13. The reference to "no checked bags" means that checked bags have ALREADY been checked - as opposed to haven't checked them yet. You will be checking them at the re-check counter before you exit IAB. And you will have a boarding pass for your connecting flight - either issued before your flight into Dulles, or issued when you re-check your bags.

The mid-field immigration/customs facility is used for transfering international arrivals passengers for all United flights, and MOST Star Alliance flights (i.e. LH, OS, SK). Right now, though, all QR passengers must go through IAB in the Main Terminal - none of them go to the mid-field facility in the C Concourse.

I've heard that they might start sending QR transfer passengers to the mid-field facility at some point. Feel free to PM me a week or so before your trip, and I'll check on that for you.

Look for your alternatives, though they don't look that good.

There is a DCA-DTW flight around 7pm, though with the time to get to DCA, only marginally helpful.

From IAD, there are connecting flights through Atlanta or Minneapolis to get you to DTW that evening, but not Star Alliance. Whether you could get someone at United Express to give you those flights is another matter.

Thank you so much Annandaler for the detailed information. Will definately PM a week before my travels.. I sincerely hope they shift to concourse C .. that might be my only chance on getting on the connecting flight.

Thanks AlanInDC .. I looked for alternatives but nothing coming up .. Travelling to DCA for a 7 PM flight also might be dicey considering the travel time involved from IAD to DCA .. There is an AirTran flight closer to 7 PM via ATL but I dont think QR will ticket me on that. But thanks a lot.

QR 051 is UA7968 (as in a United Codeshare Flight) .. Would this somehow make it eligible for a Concourse C transfer .. Just a thought??

QR 051 is UA7968 (as in a United Codeshare Flight) .. Would this somehow make it eligible for a Concourse C transfer .. Just a thought??

Unfortunately, no. For reasons not known to me (although "security" comes to mind), Star Alliance partner-airlines Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines arriving passengers are ALL processed through IAB in the Dulles Main Terminal.

Thank you so much.. Yep I understand the Security Issue.. Thanks a ton!