Dealing with DFW
Jul 17th, 2003, 06:58 AM
#1
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Dealing with DFW
Frequent flyers will not consider this a big bit of information, but having been confronted with DFW with only 10 min. to make a connection from gate A-2 to gate C-31, I thought it might be worth noting the following:
If you have a longish distance between gates, you will be directed to the "TRAAIN" tram that runs between A, B, and C terminals. There are situations in which you probably should NOT use that train, however, assuming you are in good enough shape to hustle with your carry on for more than a couple of gates.
Here's the deal: the Traain runs FROM C terminal TO A terminal and then to B terminal and finally back to C terminal. In other words, if you arrive at an A terminal gate, it's very possible that you'd be better off hot-footing it via the moving walkway BACK to C terminal because it can take as much as 5-10 minutes to go by Traain from A to C including waiting for the next tram and circling through all the gates and the stop at B terminal.
Just to be helpful, here is the list of stops in each terminal IN ORDER: C gate 28, then 2; --> then A gate 24 then 13; --> then B gate 5 and, after a certain amount of winding around, back to C gate 28.
So if you arrive at, say, gate A 33 and you have to get to C 14, walking the distance directly would probably take less time than the time you would take walking back to the stop at A 24 plus waiting for the tram plus the time it takes the tram to go to A13, B5, C28, and then to C 2, plus walking from C2 to C 14.
A diagram at the official website is: http://www.dfwairport.com/transport/trains.htm but it isn't all that detailed and does not tell you the direction of the various trains, let alone make clear which are trains external to the terminals (and outside security) and which is the internal "Traain." It's also WRONG in saying there's a stop at A17 and not at A24.
Final hint from Heloise: I cut airport maps from inflight mags and stow them with city maps in my overstuffed map drawer. Helpful not only for planning and orientation but for setting up meeting places with others.
If you are actually IN DFW and have time to kill, the info desks have a map of everything that's very helpful.
If you have a longish distance between gates, you will be directed to the "TRAAIN" tram that runs between A, B, and C terminals. There are situations in which you probably should NOT use that train, however, assuming you are in good enough shape to hustle with your carry on for more than a couple of gates.
Here's the deal: the Traain runs FROM C terminal TO A terminal and then to B terminal and finally back to C terminal. In other words, if you arrive at an A terminal gate, it's very possible that you'd be better off hot-footing it via the moving walkway BACK to C terminal because it can take as much as 5-10 minutes to go by Traain from A to C including waiting for the next tram and circling through all the gates and the stop at B terminal.
Just to be helpful, here is the list of stops in each terminal IN ORDER: C gate 28, then 2; --> then A gate 24 then 13; --> then B gate 5 and, after a certain amount of winding around, back to C gate 28.
So if you arrive at, say, gate A 33 and you have to get to C 14, walking the distance directly would probably take less time than the time you would take walking back to the stop at A 24 plus waiting for the tram plus the time it takes the tram to go to A13, B5, C28, and then to C 2, plus walking from C2 to C 14.
A diagram at the official website is: http://www.dfwairport.com/transport/trains.htm but it isn't all that detailed and does not tell you the direction of the various trains, let alone make clear which are trains external to the terminals (and outside security) and which is the internal "Traain." It's also WRONG in saying there's a stop at A17 and not at A24.
Final hint from Heloise: I cut airport maps from inflight mags and stow them with city maps in my overstuffed map drawer. Helpful not only for planning and orientation but for setting up meeting places with others.
If you are actually IN DFW and have time to kill, the info desks have a map of everything that's very helpful.
Jul 17th, 2003, 07:06 AM
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I'm exhausted!! I pass thru DFW several times a month.Yes, I hear frequent travellers as well as "elites" complaining.But what cha gonna do?Trivia...did u know that DFW Airport is LARGER than the island of Manhattan??
Jul 17th, 2003, 08:33 AM
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I also detest DFW. Not sure there will be any improvement with the whatever-it-is they're constructing.
Another anecdote: Was on approach to DFW and passed over a GA airport with only one runway plus service taxiway. Man in seat behind me said, "oh, there's the airport down there. We'll circle around and land there." I almost laughed out loud.
Another anecdote: Was on approach to DFW and passed over a GA airport with only one runway plus service taxiway. Man in seat behind me said, "oh, there's the airport down there. We'll circle around and land there." I almost laughed out loud.
Jul 18th, 2003, 12:13 PM
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I have flown throuh DFW many times and as long as you have at least 30 minutes between flights you should be okay. If your gate is too far to walk to, the TrAAin comes every 3 minutes. The only advice about the TrAAin I have is to hold on, because the TrAAin can jerk you quite a bit.
The only thing about flying into DFW that I don't like are the nasty cross-winds that you encounter on the approach.
The only thing about flying into DFW that I don't like are the nasty cross-winds that you encounter on the approach.
Jul 22nd, 2003, 02:06 PM
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I was confronted with a similar situation 2 weeks ago--our flight from TUL to DFW was delayed due to an electrical problem--so, instead of having a leisurely 2 hours between flights, we landed 5 minutes before our flight to Vancouver was to take off. We landed at C32 (I think) and the Vancouver flight was to take off from A14. We got off the plane very first thing as the flight attendants knew it was going to be a close call. All four in our family are in fairly good to excellent shape, and I thought that running/fast walking would be our best bet; however, the gate agent pretty much insisted we take the TRAAIN--I regreted it immediately as too much time was spent between starts and stops with people getting on and off slowly, etc.
So we got off at the first A terminal stop and ran the rest of the way. They were announcing final boarding just as we got off the TRAAIN.
We did make our flight (which they had held for us, despite the gate agent telling us they don't do)--I think it was probably because there were altogether 6 passengers on the late TUL flight.
Bottom line--if you're in good shape without a lot of luggage to slow you down, you may be better off getting your workout for the day running between gates.
So we got off at the first A terminal stop and ran the rest of the way. They were announcing final boarding just as we got off the TRAAIN.
We did make our flight (which they had held for us, despite the gate agent telling us they don't do)--I think it was probably because there were altogether 6 passengers on the late TUL flight.
Bottom line--if you're in good shape without a lot of luggage to slow you down, you may be better off getting your workout for the day running between gates.
