IAD info
 

Changing terminals D to A If I am carrying a duty free bottle will I have to go through security? How much time does it take? Thanks

Welcome to Flyertalk bif42. There is a dedicated Forum in the United States Forums for discussion relative to IAD.
I am moving this over to the Washington, D.C. Forum. Please follow there.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Last week, when I was at IAD, they announced that you need to put your tax-free liquor in your checked luggage before you turn it back in.

If you are arriving in the USA on an international flight, you will have to go through security, period, bottle or no (and that's not a rule unique to IAD; it's the rule everywhere in the USA). You take a shuttle bus to the International Arrivals Building, go through immigration, reclaim any checked bags you may have, then go through Customs. You then have to go back upstairs and through the main security checkpoint and then back out to Concourse A via either the underground walkway or the shuttle bus.

The USA does not honor any of the "sealed duty-free bag" rules that the EU countries maintain—so if you buy the bottle at the duty-free in, say, CPH, then connect at LHR, you can still carry the bottle on for the leg to IAD, but you'll then have to put it into a checked bag after arriving at IAD (unless, of course, it's your final destination, which you clearly state it is not).

Beyond that, I can't comment on connecting at IAD. Never done it, but then I live in Northern Virginia so that's understandable.

We are flying from Halifax and pre-clear US customs in Halifax. Would that mean we just head off to terminal A??

You will not have to worry about customs anymore since you precleared. However, you will still have to participate in the TSA freakshow.

Why would they need to deal with TSA on US soil when connecting from Canada? They're treated as domestic passengers upon arrival, IAD doesn't have a tsa check but no C&I exit option tmk. They should be able to go direct to Terminal A, although this deal with duty free is interesting. I'm fairly certain they'd figure a way to take it away from you somewhere in your travels but dont' know if they have a pre-screen check before boarding in Canada

Figure 15-20 minutes in case you need to wait for a people mover to arrive for the shuttle to Terminal A from D.

This is correct—when you pre-clear, you're on a domestic flight even though it originates abroad. (This is how DCA can have flights arriving from Canada, Bermuda, and the Bahamas.) I don't know about the duty-free question, which is interesting. I've only done a "pre-clear" flight once, at YVR in 2005 (prior to the liquid rules), and there you have to go through the duty-free shop to get to the USA immigration controls, THEN you go through security. If Halifax is the same way, there's the answer.

According to the map on the Halifax airport web site, you have to go through a special US check-in area, then "US pre-board security screening," then Customs and immigration, and then wait in the "US Departures Holdroom." The map makes it look as though you cannot access any airside duty-free. That would mean the liquor issue is irrelevant since you couldn't carry it on. (Go to http://www.hiaa.ca/default.asp?mn=70...uId&search=129 and then click to get a larger image.)

According to http://www.hiaa.ca/default.asp?id=19...0&mn=70.1.9.32 there is a Duty-Free Shop in the US Preclearance area.

That location is obviously there to serve US-bound travelers who have gone through US Preclearance. Thus you will carry-on your duty-free purchase and, when you arrive at Dulles, you have a domestic-to-domestic connection - i.e. NO TSA security check at Dulles.

OP - please let us know your final experience with the trip.

You actually should be able to go from D to A WITHIN the secure area (mobile loungs from D/C gates to A/B gates, but only if you preclear customs at Halifax