Layovers Made Simple: What to Expect & How to Navigate

Your flight lands in Dallas at 2:47 PM and your connection to Phoenix boards at 3:30 PM. You stay airside without re-clearing security, the airline transfers your bags automatically on single-ticket bookings, and Dallas's layout gives you a real shot at making the gate. But will it survive real-world delays when a client meeting depends on it?

This guide covers four key areas: what happens during layovers, how security and baggage transfers work, minimum connection times at major hubs, and booking strategies that protect your schedule when delays hit.

What Actually Happens During a Layover

Your flight lands in Charlotte and your next flight leaves from Gate D12. You walk between gates and stay in the terminal the whole time. That's a layover.

How your connection works depends on your ticket type. Single-ticket bookings put the airline on the hook for your connection. Separate tickets put everything on you.

Book on a single ticket and the airline accepts responsibility for the connection. American Airlines' baggage policy establishes Minimum Connecting Time guidelines that prevent selling impossible connections. The airline rebooks you automatically if delays cause you to miss your flight. Separate-ticket bookings mean you handle everything yourself with no airline obligation to accommodate missed connections.

Security and Baggage: What You Touch and What You Don't

What you encounter during your connection depends on your routing. Here's what to expect in each scenario.

• Domestic-to-domestic connections require no security re-screening when you stay airside. Airlines transfer your checked bags automatically on single-ticket bookings. You never see them during the connection.
• Terminal changes create the main exception. Some airports connect all terminals within the secure zone. Others require you to exit security, transfer terminals, and clear TSA again.
• International arrivals to domestic connections follow a different process. U.S. Customs and Border Protection typically requires you to claim all checked baggage after immigration, bring it through customs, then recheck it for your connecting flight. You also re-clear TSA security. However, American Airlines and United Airlines launched CBP Remote Baggage Screening pilot programs on select routes that let passengers proceed directly to TSA security after customs without reclaiming bags.

Understanding Minimum Connection Times

Every major hub sets its own minimum connection times based on terminal layout and customs processing. Here's what the numbers look like at four busy airports.

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)

• Domestic-Domestic: 40 min
• International-Domestic: 90 min

Chicago O'Hare (ORD)

• Domestic-Domestic: 60 min
• International-Domestic: 120 min

Atlanta (ATL)

• Domestic-Domestic: Not specified
• International-Domestic: 70-115 min

Newark (EWR)

• Domestic-Domestic: 60 min
• International-Domestic: 90 min

These minimums aren't safe for business travel. Add 30-60 minutes for important client meetings. Meeting the minimum doesn't guarantee you'll make your connection when delays happen.

Staying Ahead of Connection Problems

Connection delays create cascading problems. Tools that monitor flights and surface alternatives before you land give you more options than waiting until you're stuck at the gate.

• Otto the Agent monitors your flights before departure. When delays threaten your connection, Otto presents rebooking options before you land, solving connection problems before you reach the airport.
• Airline apps deliver earlier notifications than third-party services. United's ConnectionSaver technology sends real-time alerts when the airline holds connecting flights and provides turn-by-turn directions to connecting gates.
• Elite status gets you priority on standby lists during tight connections, including priority baggage handling that increases the likelihood bags make tight connections.

Booking Connections That Actually Work

Direct flights eliminate connection risk entirely. When connections are unavoidable, these strategies reduce your chance of missing important meetings:

• Avoid airports with poor on-time performance. Delay data shows Newark, Chicago O'Hare, and Dallas/Fort Worth experience significantly higher disruption rates. Seattle-Tacoma performs best among major hubs with average delays of just 53 minutes.
• Check weather patterns for your connection hub. Winter storms create the highest disruption risk at snow-prone hubs. Weather delays are among the most common cancellation causes.
• Match connection length to meeting criticality. If you're presenting to a key client at 9 AM, arriving the night before beats risking a delayed connection. Build buffer time into your trip planning and schedule meetings at least 2-3 hours after expected arrival.

Make Connections Work for Your Schedule

Layovers don't have to derail your schedule. Single-ticket bookings handle baggage transfers and rebooking automatically, and knowing your connection time requirements at each hub keeps you from booking itineraries that fall apart under pressure.

When delays do hit, manually tracking flights and searching for alternatives wastes time you don't have at the gate. Otto surfaces rebooking options the moment delays threaten your itinerary, so you confirm the best alternative before you land.

Try Otto to stop missing connections when delays compress your schedule.