I will be flying LH to IAD and (possibly) connecting on a separate ticket on UA.

Given that the connection at IAD to UA is fairly tight, I also have a backup flight out of DCA later in the evening. Whether or not I have a chance to make the UA flight might not become clear until I get my luggage at IAD.

Question: if I were to ask LH at check-in to through-tag the bag to my UA connection on the separate ticket (which I know isn't guaranteed, but I'm flying F so they may do it), I'd do immigration and baggage claim at the midfield terminal. If at that point it becomes clear that I can't make my UA connection, could I exit from the midfield terminal to the city with my baggage, after customs but before transit security?

Alternatively, I would not ask LH to through -tag the bag, do immigration and customs at the main terminal, and then see if I can make my UA flight by going landside, dropping my bag at the regular bag drop, clear regular security, and take the train back to midfield. (or make my way to DCA if I can't make the connection at IAD)

It is my understanding that LH flights do not arrive at midfield. If this is true, it will simplify your question. Yes, you can simply take your bags and head to DCA if you cannot make your connection at IAD.

You should ask LH at check-in to check you all the way through.

Your LH flight will arrive at the B concourse at IAD. You�ll board a shuttle (one of those moon-buggy like transporters) to the C concourse, where you�ll process CBP at the Midfield Terminal. You�ll recheck your bag and clear security. You�ll take an escalator upstairs, depositing you in front of gate C7.

Checking a bag ahead of a self-connection is more involved than a standard connection. You�ll need to alert the LH check-in agent of your connection at IAD and provide the ticket information.

Also, unless the checked bag is small enough to carry on, you can't take it through TSA security onto the C Concourse (which at that point would be the only exit to landside). It would have to go on the recheck belt and then delivered to the final destination.

Thanks! Yes, the bag is too large to get through TSA, and you answered my question by confirming that there isn't a way in the C concourse area to get landside with my bag (not dropping it off at the recheck, not going through TSA). So, to keep my flexibility between the UA connection from IAD and the backup flight from DCA until I land at IAD and have a better sense of timing, I should not ask LH to through-check my bag (which would then lock me in to Concourse C customs/transit with no way to go landside with my bag and transfer to DCA, even if I can't make the UA flight - I wouldn't count on UA rebooking me on a later connection given that I'm on separate tickets). I'll just plan on having my bags tagged to IAD and decide on options once I clear everything at the main concourse.

How urgent is it for you to get your baggage?

If it's not urgent:

Since there's not PPBM for domestic flights, if the bag is through-tagged and you drop it for recheck it should make it to your destination even if it's not on the tagged flight and even if you don't make that flight, though UA would likely tell you that you're responsible for retrieving it from the airport.

The risk is if anything goes wrong since the other ticket is wholly unrelated the IATA Final Delivering Carrier rule gets murky -- the OAL BSO probably won't be able to help and the UAL BSO will be confused about how you got there.

You may be better off if the connection gets blown letting/asking the transfer desk or UC to rebook you on the alternative out of DCA... They'll send your (rechecked) bag to the landside baggage claim for you to grab and bring to DCA and you won't have to buy the 2nd ticket. It's not the most fun way to connect but I've done it (IAD Silver Line -> Blue/Yellow Line DCA is a bit monotonous but not very expensive; of course taxi/uber also works but I'm not convinced its substantially faster depending on time of day)

A lot of bad choices here. I find immigration, bags and security at IAD �main� much much faster than mid-field. TSA is usually a huge mess and no pre-check. If your flight is soon then there is also likely neither GE nor pre-check and I�d honestly rather not deal with that in addition to the mid-field mess.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, it helped me decide to go with this simpler option and not even attempt to have LH through-check my bag. Less mental stress that way.

If your FRA/MUC-IAD-XXX is all on one res, I wouldn't expect LH to short check the bag to IAD, regardless of your other DCA-XXX.

IAD continues to be a mess (especially with mid-field customs now closed for the morning international arrivals). That being said, when mid-field is open I find its baggage claim to be far quicker than main terminal. The last couple of times I've terminated at Dulles off an international flight, the bags have taken 45+ minutes to come out at the main terminal. My recent experiences at mid-field have always been much quicker (despite the terrible security setup there). YMMV.

I feel really bad for the early morning international arrivals who are connecting onto the 8am domestic bank - as they hardly have any time to retrieve/recheck their bags at the main terminal and then make it all the way back to the C/D gates.

-FlyerBeek

LH is usually o.k. Short-checking. Any recent experience to the contrary?

​​​​​​​30-50 min wait for bags and 30+ for security for me last year - 4 trips through IAD.

Wait, when and why did this happen? I agree this is a massive disruption for those early morning arrivals from GRU and Africa. I went through less than a year ago (connecting from GRU) and it was smooth sailing compared to the afternoon rush.

They're separate reservations, so I wasn't thinking about short checking, but the pros and cons of asking LH to through-check on to the separate UA reservation, given the fairly unique IAD setup where immigration/bags/customs happen in different terminals based on whether the bags are tagged for IAD or an onward destination. At most other airports, there wouldn't be much downside to through checking since I could just claim my bags, ckear customs, and then exit to the city rather than drop off the bag if I no longer could make the onward connection and would move on to my backup option. I wasn't sure about the IAD midfield setup since it's been a few years that I've used it, and I never did so on separate reservations.

It just started this month. Supposedly due to USCBP staffing. I flew in from GRU two days ago and everyone had to take the mobile lounge over the clear customs at the main terminal. Makes it incredibly tight for everyone who needs to make connections for the 8am flights. 90 minute min connections will be very difficult.

-FlyerBeek