fatbaby2

Arriving from STL in terminal A and departing from terminal C to BRU with a 1 hour (hopefully) connection time. I know I have to take the aerotrain from A to C and go through security again.

Gonna be tight I think. Any tidbits of advice?

TIA

Often1

Presuming no delays, it's very doable. A is a short concourse, take escalator up one level, follow signs to Aerotrain and take it one stop to C. The station isn't really at C, it's where C will be in 15 years, so you head back on foot through a lengthy tunnel which joins C at about Gate 16.

The one issue to consider is that the 1-hour may be from arrival to pushback, but if the IAD-BRU flight is oversold and you aren't at the gate 30 mins prior to departure, you become the easiest person to bump because it's not an IDB. Therefore, it's really 30 mins. from STL flight to BRU gate. That is still doable. If someone in your party is a little slower, send a "scout" ahead at faster pace and make sure s/he listens carefully at gate.

Annandaler

To clarify the above... You actually take a total of 5 escalators between the UA gates in the A concourse and the Aerotrain station. Figure on a 20 minute trek from a typical A gate to a typical C gate.

Also, the OP mentioned having to go through security again. That is NOT correct. There is no security checks between any of the concourses with a domestic-to-domestic or domestic-to-international connection.

fatbaby2

THX to all.

I'm travelling solo so I guess I'll be sprinting up/down those escalators a-la those old Hertz commercials with OJ whats-his-name.

DCA writer

Which means that if you've got a kid in a stroller, you should pad out that time by an extra 50 percent I swear, I never quite grasped how inefficient IAD could be until Mrs. DCA Writer and I had to wheel Mini DCA Writer through the place.

fatbaby2

Thankfully I'm travelling solo but I'm starting to sweat the details now after reading these helpful posts. Thinking seriously about trying to book an earlier flight into IAD from STL.

CloudsBelow

Can we re-visit this please.

The train is how many escalators above A gates?
Which A gate are the escalators closest to?
Jump on a train at the top of these escalators and C is the first stop?
What gate in C do you come out at?

Sorry for the questions . . . Got 45 mins to connect tmrw night to the last flight to my destination. Any time saved would be v helpful

Thank you

Foxhat

45 min is a very tight connection time, but can be done if the stars are in your favor.

But here is the best directions I can give you.

If you land at an odd numbered A gate you will turn right when you get to the terminal (left if an even number) you will walk approx 75 - 150 yards to a short escalator go up that one and about 15 yards in front of you will be a longer escalator, go up that one. Walk straight about another 20 yards and then go down another escalator. At the bottom of that escalator immediately turn right and another quick right and you will see 2 escalators going down to the aero train. At the bottom of that escalator make a u-turn and go about 40 yards and a juke to the left and one more escalator down to the track level. You will want to take the train on the right tothe C terminal. The C stop is the first and only stop for the train heading in that direction. At the C train stop you will go back up a set of escalators and follow the crowd to a moving walkway to another set of escalators up to the C terminal. Distance from train stop to C terminal about 500 yards. The escalators will place you between gates 18 and 14 if your gate is a lower number turn right, higher turn left.

Good luck, you will definitely need it.

An additional thought. When it comes to making connections through any major airport your travels will be much more pleasant if you leave two hours for any connection.

CloudsBelow

Awesome directions. Thank you.
Agree on the 2 hr cnx. Unfortunately, work/ airline schedule necessitated I take this.

I had 45 min connection options at EWR (no way!), DCA (my choice, but then realized A>C there requires re-clear of security) and IAD. Went with the best option IMO. Plus this was all united metal and will help in case of IRROPS. Really need an ontime arrival @ IAD and think we should be OK.

Thanks again . . .

brianfromwa

Concur that walking from the C train stop to the C gates is not a trivial stretch.

Annandaler

Small correction to your otherwise excellent detailed directions...

Getting off the train at C, there is no escalator between the train and the moving walkway - just a long uphill ramp. As you said, after the moving walkway there is an escalator up to the C Concourse. (You might be thinking of going in the other direction where, after the moving walkway, there IS an escalator down to the train station.)

mallodi

Hey I just wanted to say thanks for these. Weather in the northeast has delayed my first flight and what should have been a 2 hr connection is now anywhere from 1 hr to 30 mins!!!

The inbound aircraft had to divert to get fuel and is still not here yet. If they do a 25 min turn, we'll only be 1 hr late and I may make it with these directions.