Details on the connection from International to Domestic at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)

Question

We've had a few questions (like this, this and these) on connecting from an International to a Domestic flight in the states. My queries are specific to one airport, Dallas Fort Worth (DFW).

This weekend, I'll be connecting from an International flight, onto the last Domestic flight of the day to a destination, with an OK but not amazingly long connection time (it's above the MCT, but not hugely). That leads me to wonder what the airport is like for international arrivals with domestic connections.

Specifically, are there dedicated immigration lanes for connecting (non US passport holding) passengers with tight connections? Are there generally enough immigration staff, or can the queues get pretty bad? And are there dedicated bag drop desks just after customs for connecting passengers, or will I have to head over to regular checkin and queue up their to re-check my bags?

Answer 1

Like most airports the time to get through immigration at DFW is variable, and depends mainly on what other flights land around the time your flight does. As a non-US citizen I've passed through immigration there in minutes, and I've also spent over an hour in line - and you'll find reports of people waiting even longer.

There are no special lines for connecting passengers (Washington Dulles is the only US airport I can think of that has this, and it doesn't help - like DFW, most passengers are connecting!).

There is a bag-drop immediately after you pass through customs. Presuming you have a boarding pass for your onwards flight you can then re-clear security in the same terminal (terminal D) and catch the train to the terminal you're departing from. If you don't have a boarding pass you'll need to catch the land-side bus to your terminal, check-in and then pass through security.