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How Much Time Do You Need for a Layover in Each U.S. Airport?
Keri Stooksbury
Keri Stooksbury
Director of Travel & Credit Card Editorial
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Editing with Upgraded Points for over 7 years, as Director of Travel & Credit Card Editorial, Keri manages the editorial calendar and oversees the efforts of the editing team and over 15 content contr...
Ryan completed his goal of visiting every country in the world in December of 2023 and is now revisiting some favorites. Over the years, he’s written about award travel for publications including Awar...
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A layover can be a welcome break between flights or a stressful race across the terminal, depending on where you’re connecting.
At some airports, you can get from one gate to the next without much drama. At others, long walking times, large terminals, and busy passenger volumes can turn even a standard connection into a tight squeeze.
To find out which U.S. airports require the most time for a layover, we analyzed 25 of the most connected airports in the country. We looked at 14 different factors that can affect how smoothly travelers move through an airport, including airport size, number of gates, passenger volume, departure reliability, walking time between terminals, and the number of restaurants, shops, and lounges available.
The result is a data-driven look at where travelers should plan for the longest layovers, where they can connect fastest, and how airport design can shape the entire travel experience.
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The Airports Where You Need the Most Time for a Layover
Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Not all airports move at the same pace. Some are built for convenience and short connections, while others are sprawling hubs that can take extra time to navigate.
Based on our analysis, travelers should allow the most time for layovers at these U.S. airports:
Houston and Dallas top the list by a noticeable margin, and that lines up with what many travelers already know from experience. These are large, high-traffic airports with heavy passenger volume and enough terminal sprawl to make a short connection feel like an Olympic race.
JFK also stands out; its score reflects the reality of a major international gateway, where passenger flow, terminal movement, and airport layout all matter. Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, and Los Angeles follow closely behind, each with the kind of scale that can add a rush factor to a layover even when everything goes right.
Las Vegas and Newark round out the top 10, showing that long layovers are not only a problem at the biggest airports. Connection time can stretch for reasons that have less to do with runway traffic and more to do with the airport itself.
The Airports Where You Need the Least Time for a Layover
Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Some airports are much easier to connect through. They tend to have fewer terminals, shorter walks, and simpler layouts that make it easier to move from one flight to the next.
These airports require the least amount of layover time in our analysis:
Washington National leads the list by a wide margin, which makes sense for travelers who appreciate a compact, highly accessible airport. Chicago Midway and Dallas Love Field also perform well thanks to their smaller footprints and simpler layouts.
Honolulu, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Baltimore round out the next group of airports where connections are relatively manageable. Even bigger airports like LaGuardia, Seattle, and Washington Dulles can still offer shorter layover needs than major hubs like Houston, Dallas Fort Worth, or JFK.
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Full Data
If you’re planning a trip with a connection, the full dataset below makes it easy to compare airports at a glance. Search for your departure or connection airport, sort by layover time, and see how each airport ranked in the study.
Methodology
To determine the U.S. airports where passengers should allow the most time during their layover, we analyzed data on 14 factors that would impact one’s ability to navigate shifting gates and/or terminals in a timely manner for 25 of the most connected airports in the U.S., according to OAG.
We scaled each data point to allow for accurate comparisons across airports and weighted each factor by its importance. The closer an airport’s score is to 50, the more time a traveler should allow for during a layover.
The preflight arrival time for each airport is an index calculated from each airport’s total score using a 90-minute layover time as our median. All data points and analysis are based on domestic flights.
Final Thoughts
No one wants to spend a layover worrying about whether they’ll make their next flight.
Our analysis shows that some of the country’s busiest airports require a much bigger time cushion than others, especially when terminal sprawl, passenger volume, and on-time performance come into play. For travelers, that means a little planning can go a long way toward avoiding missed connections and unnecessary stress.
Whether you’re booking a quick business trip or heading out for summer travel, knowing how much time to allow for a layover can help you choose smarter connections from the start.
Fair Use You are welcome to use, reference, and share noncommercial excerpts of this study with proper attribution. If you cite or cover our findings, please link back to this page so readers can view the full methodology, charts, and context.
