Minimum Connecting Time?
 

:(

I don't know but I felt like I made the biggest mistake of my life. I'm only 17 years old and I made my mom buy a ticket for 2 to Philippines through airticketsdirect. The problem now is that I've just realized that we only have 48 minutes lay-over in Dulles Intl. Airport from Ottawa connecting to the airport in Tokyo. I feel like it's too short and worried about it being an illegal connecting time or something like that that the airline wouldn't book us on the next available flight w/out us paying a really high charge.

Ottawa, Canada - Ottawa Macdonald Cartier Intl (YOW)
9:58AM >>> Washington, United States - Washington Dulles Intl (IAD)
11:37AM

Washington, United States - Washington Dulles Intl (IAD)
12:25PM >>> Tokyo, Japan - Narita Intl (NRT)
3:10PM +1 day

I feel so burdened now. I'm so lost or am I just paranoid? Please help.

Also, how long does it usually take for a C-1 visa application to be processed?

If you're flying with United you should be OK.
You go through US Customs and Immigration at Ottawa so the flight into Dulles is considered "domestic". Minimum connection time is 35 minutes.
http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...Times_%28UA%29

I don't like OP's odds. While he's arriving as a domestic pax at IAD, UA requires intl. departures to be at the gate no later than T-30. That's 18 minutes from brakes locked on arrival to the NRT gate. The MCT for IAD for UA on DOM-INTL is 35 mins. But, Intl-Intl. is 50 mins.

On the grounds that this is an intl-intl connection (even though it's preclearance), OP has an argument that this is an illegal connection and that the 3rd party website needs to rebook him without fee. Given that there is hardly hourly service, this isn't about just hopping the next aircraft.

There are so many flight number and destination exceptions to the standard MCTs at IAD for UA-UA connections though. Without the flight numbers, it's hard to know if it is legal or not.

I won't read through all of them, but one that stands out quickly is "CANADA - ALL" which is 35 minutes.

It isn't INT-INT; that's the whole point of pre-clearance.

will be cutting it EXTREMELY close

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Are all three flights -- YOW-IAD, IAD-NRT, and NRT-Phillipines -- booked on the same ticket?

Please reread what I wrote. I made it clear that this is a pre-clearance arrival and such pax are treated as domestic. But, this is nonetheless an intl. arrival and to the extent that this gets OP a free change, it's a good thing.

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It's not an international arrival for purposes of MCT. There are separate MCTs for true international arrivals because of the extra time needed to clear immigration and customs. That's obviously not a factor on arrivals from those Canadian airports which offer pre-clearance.

As noted upthread, there is a separate MCT at IAD for UA arrivals from Canada.

While it might have been unwise to book such a tight connection, if the ticketed itinerary satisfies the MCT, I would be surprised if the travel agent or ticketing carrier would agree to change the flights without charge.

Assuming that there is a legal connection at IAD, the passengers should be protected in the event of a mis-connect. But if the passengers' NRT-Philippines flight is on a separate ticket, then the passengers might not be protected on that flight if their arrival into NRT is delayed because of a mis-connect at IAD (or for any other reason).

We booked all the flights (to and from Philippines) together. My mom only had to pay once. I'm assuming that's just 1 ticket.(?)

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Don't assume. The ticket number or numbers for each passenger should be listed on your receipt -- if the tickets have already been issued.

Really. Perhaps we need a few more people to tell him the same d**n thing. :rolleyes:

Take a look at the on-time performance of your first flight. Most airlines build in extra flight time, so you may end up with more time than scheduled. Of course, if your first flight is delayed then you need to get an agent to try to rebook the remaining flights ASAP and there typically wouldn't be a fee (if the delay is IRROPS or UA fault).

As long as all the flights are booked on the same ticket you shouldn't have a problem in most cases. I might get all your boarding passes at the beginning of the trip so at least UA knows that you have checked in to your connecting flights and may be able to see that you are a connecting passenger. I've seen an airline hold a flight if there are numerous passengers on a connecting flight that has been delayed.

Me and my mom each have our own e-ticket number

eTicket Number: 205-**********-12
eTicket Number: 205-**********-14

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That's good.

The remaining question is:

Are you booked on UA803, or on NH1 for the IAD-NRT leg? If it's NH1, you will have to get from one concourse to another at IAD.