I'm flying outbound from Chicago to Washington Dulles to Johannesburg to Cape Town.

My main concern is the changing of flights. I am planning on sending my luggage all the way from Chicago to Cape Town. I have a 1 hour 40 mins layover in Washington Dulles and I wanted to know is anyone knows if this is enough time to change planes?

My layover in Johannesburg is 2 hours - should this be enough time? Customs should be a breeze because South Africa is my home country and I have a SA Passport.

But I have never been to Washington Dulles airport and I need to know if I will have enough time with the 1 hour 40 mins to climb off the plane and catch the different one?

Thanks.

I would have no concern booking a flight with 1hr 40min layover at Dulles.

But you have to ask yourself "what if I miss the connection" due to some delay of the incoming flight.

Well, they said if I miss the flight due to a delay, they will put me on the next available flight. So I'm not too worried if the fault is on them. I just need to know that I will have enough time to get to the new flight in an airport I've never been to before.

I agree that you should be just fine. Now, if you were coming INTO Dulles from overseas, that 1:40 might not be enough! Lines at immigration and security can be s-l-o-w!!

Many airports have helpful websites, IAD among them http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/dulles.htm You can find a terminal map and information on transport between gates. I suggest printing out any pages that may help you with navigation once on the ground.

You have enough time to make that connection. Still, you want to have a backup plan.

>>they will put me on the next available flight

Yes, but the next IAD-JNB flight would be the next day. You are on United and connect to SAA, right?

There are alternate routings that depart after your scheduled departure from Dulles. Would be via JFK with an overnight 11+ hour connection or via LHR (an almost 8-hour connection at LHR during daytime). Either of those would get you to JNB in the morning of day+2. Both are United connecting to SAA. There is also a UA/Lufthansa option.

If you missed the IAD-JNB flight and went the following night then you would arrive day+2 at 5:50 PM.

I picked Nov 12 to see those options. You could do it for your dates of travel. If I were you, I would also check out the schedule to see options from Chicago if the ORD-IAD is hopelessly late.

<i>I just need to know that I will have enough time to get to the new flight in an airport I've never been to before.</i>

It is 2013 and you clearly have a computer with internet access of some sort so having never been to a particular airport before is not an excuse. You can find the layouts of pretty much all major airports online and get an idea of where you need to be before you land. Combine that with reading signage and you should be fine.

Most airlines have maps of airports in the back of their magazines. So if you can find out the gate of your onward flight, you can have a good idea what you need to do after you get off the first flight.

If a delay occurs then as you get off the plane point out to the ground staff that you're late for an imminent flight. Many of them will help speed you to your next gate.