Enough layover time in Houston
 

Hi, I'm planning on booking a trip from London Heathrow to Dallas and have been quoted for a United flight that connects in Houston. There is a 1 hour 44 minute layover on the journey out and 1 hour 12 minutes on the way back. Is this enough time? I've not flown to America for a long time and am not sure whether we have to go through immigration at Houston or when we arrive in Dallas? Could do with some advice from all you experts! Many thanks for your help

Everything is done in Houston on your outbound - immigration, baggage claim, customs, security. 1:44 is enough time, though by no means a lot for non-citizen or non-resident. UA has lots of flights to both DFW and DAL each day, so if you miss your connection, they will put you on next one.

1:12 is enough on your return. You just go to new gate and board.

Hi rkkwan, thanks so much for your reply. Does this mean we have to collect our luggage and re-check it from Houston to Dallas? Will the airline not do this for us?

You have to collect the bags before going through US customs. Once out of customs, you'll drop them off to UA at a special counter. You bags will already been tagged to Dallas.

Nothing to do with the airlines. It's how US Customs require.

Thanks - that's really helpful

If you do miss your connection to DFW do not panic, they will put you on the next flight at no charge. They run several flights a day from IAH to DFW so you won't lose much time.

Plus, Houston is a really nice airport, and an easy one to negotiate.

I wouldn't call IAH easy to navigate. It is confusing to many that C, D and E are connected, but A and B are not; and domestic bags can only be claimed at C when arriving at E.. Or that C's north and south gates are far apart. Or where to find the TerminaLink train, or when to use it and when to walk.

In fact, I always recommend those to print out the map from united.com or rip out from the inflight magazine when transiting IAH.