Questions and Answers

Hi! We are choosing our flights from LAX to EZE for December 2019. We were hoping to fly non stop on American Airlines but the timing isn’t working out. They do have a flight that meets our criteria with a layover in DFW. I’m looking for advise on what I should be concerned about. I’m assuming since we are staying with the same airlines that our luggage will be transferred but what about having to go through security again since this is an international connection and how long of a layover is long enough, our options are 1.5 hours, 3 hours or 4 hours. Any advise on other airlines to consider, I liked the premium economy option and price point on AA.

Welcome [USER=5136]@SloKat[/USER] – transiting DFW is usually pretty easy though it all depends on which terminal your flights are in. If you take a look at the [URL=’http://www.airportterminalmaps.com/Dallas-Fort-Worth-DFW-airport-terminal-map’]DFW map[/URL] you’ll see that each terminal is shaped in a semi-circle and the gates are all along the outside of that semi-circle. While you can walk between terminals, there are trains (Skylink) that run in each direction. I have made a 20-min connection where I had to change terminals and rode the Skylink so it is possible. Terminal D is the international terminal and lots of international flights leave there though if you’re flying AA it’s possible you’ll leave from a different terminal as they have gates at almost all of them.

Your luggage should be checked all the way through and you can ask the agent at the check-in counter to see your luggage tag to be sure it’s got both DFW and EZE on it.

As for how much time to leave between flights, while 1.5 hours is certainly plenty of time if everything is running on time, it all depends on your comfort level. Personally, whenever possible I like to be sure there’s at least one other flight after my flight to the connection point so that if my flight were to get cancelled that I know there’s another way for me to get to my connection point. So in your case I’d see if there’s another LAX-DFW flight after yours that will arrive in time for you to catch the DFW-EZE flight. Again, that’s my personal comfort level coming from a much smaller airport with fewer connections.

I would add that in my experiences 1.5 hours is certainly enough to transit DFW, but I usually try to give myself a longer cushion on the outbound leg – you don’t want to miss a day if your LAX-DFW flight is delayed for any reason. I am much more willing to accept a shorter connection (even an hour) on the return as long as it is not the last flight of the day. If it isn’t the last flight, I’ll gladly accept a 60-75 minute connection even with having to deal with Customs. Only once did I not make it and had to take a later flight. Has always worked (~10 times).

[EDIT: I do have Global Entry.]