WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 27 May 2009 : by M Steinfeld

Customer Rating : 3/5

Dulles seems to be an airport in transition at the moment. There are construction projects all over the place, but I'm confident that "new" Dulles will get things right. Once the new AeroTrain opens later this year, things will improve greatly (mobile lounges - which we all hate - will not be used much for one!), and then passengers will be able to enjoy a brand-new, spacious security and transit mezzanine in the Main Terminal. It will take a while before the permanent Terminal C/D is built (keep in mind that the current building is temporary, and has been that way for over 20 years now), so unfortunately, everyone traveling on United (all mainline flights + some Express flights), Air Canada, or Ethiopian will have to live with outdated facilities for now. Also, it will take some time before the new International Arrivals facilities are finished. If you're arriving on a Star Alliance carrier (and are connecting to another flight), you'll be able to experience the newly-remodeled FIS. For everyone else, sorry, but you'll have to wait for the brand-new International Arrivals Building. Many people don't understand about the international arrivals process, and often complain about it (see many of the comments below). Know that the process is not regulated by Dulles, but rather Customs and Border Protection. Everyone must clear Passport Control. The US government says that you need to be cleared through passport control, you must claim your bags before continuing on, and you have to be screened at a TSA security checkpoint. It's just policy. I do agree that Dulles isn't the most efficient airport in the world - there are plenty of issues there. It sometimes takes forever for non-U.S. citizens to clear Customs, it sometimes is a breeze. It all depends on how many officers are working when your flight arrives, how many people are in front of you in line, if there are any extraneous issues the airline/ airport must deal with, etc. Until the facilities are improved, the most you can do is schedule a longer layover at Dulles (i.e. more than 2 hours for an international connection; domestic connections aren't bad).

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 27 April 2009 : by D Halton

Customer Rating : 2/5

I have given Dulles airport a poor rating - this isn't for the airport as such however, but rather for the service at immigration. I have visited Washington twice in the last 2 months - once in February and again in April. I was on the flight from South Africa - a long 17.5 hour flight, which includes a 1 hour transit stop in Dakar, Senegal. As I don't have an American passport I joined the queue for non-USA passports with other passengers, who also had non-USA passports. We were then basically ignored by the officials/supervisors who tell you which queue you may go to. I admit our flight arrives early in the morning, so it would appear there are not many immigration officers on duty at that time. I do not however think it is acceptable to take the 1 Immigration Officer appointed to deal with non-USA passport holders to assist USA passport holders - when there are already 3 officers helping them. I was 4th from the front in the queue and it took 55 minutes to see an Immigration Officer.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 26 March 2009 : by K Compagnie

Customer Rating : 1/5

We had a little over 2 hours to catch our connecting flight in Washington. I asked United if those 2 hours where enough for immigration etc. According to them, of course it was, otherwise they wouldn't offer this itinerary. We arrived around 2.45pm and our flight to catch was around 5pm. It took us almost two hours to get through immigration (we were told by a very unfriendly immigration officer that we were lucky that we had to wait only 2 hours) Then we had to recheck our bags, go through security again, although there is no chance to get out of the airport at that point. And then we have to run all across the terminal for our flight. We arrived at the exact minute the plane should take off - but we were '"lucky": Our plane was announced to be 3 hours late. It gave us time to wander around at the airport. They should call this airport Washington Dull. It's extremely old and worn out, especially for an airport in a city like this. There were no movable walkways etc. Normally I like hanging out at airports, but this one I really hated. In the future, I will avoid this one!

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 19 February 2009 : by Claus Nielsen

Customer Rating : 2/5

For serving such a big and important area of the world, IAD is below my expectations. First, it's quite small, so there's not much to do there if you arrive early. On the other hand, it does not seem have the benefits small airports normally have - fast and friendly service, short distance from rental/parking over check-in/security to gate/flight. Rather the opposite. Rental car companies are situated miles away, and you have to get on a slow bus to get there and back. Arriving at check-in a bit early, there are no self-check-in counters and you just patiently have to wait until they decide to open the counter. Waiting there, there's nothing to do, no lounge or anything, just a sorry bar. On the good side, check-in and security was very fast, much to my surprise. From the check-in counter opened and till I was in the departure hall, no more than 10 minutes passed. Being in there was a bit sad. The architecture is dull and the shopping/restaurant options are limited. Smokers have to go into a white- walled crammed cell with poor lighting and insufficient ventilation, strange way to treat passengers.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 25 January 2009 : by G Jardin

Customer Rating : 0/5

Immigration and baggage reclaim were up to Zurich standards of speed. Although there is no direct access to the Washington Metro, the coach to West Falls Church station was quick and comfortable. Coming back, security was a doddle. So I found the basics just fine at IAD. The airport could do with internal modernisation and redecoration as it seems stuck in the 70s. Also, if you go through security and expect to see a departure lounge you're going to be disappointed. You need to take the moon buggy to your departure pier where there is a proper range of shops. However, if you need to eat a meal before travelling, better eat elsewhere as the food options seem limited to fast food, certainly not what I would want just before a long haul flight.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 21 January 2009 : by S Meier

Customer Rating : 4/5

I fly through to and from Europe every month and have only once had any problem. Could the facilities be more elegant? Perhaps, but the fact is that most people want to get in and out as quickly as possible and, in my opinion, IAD meets that challenge, especially given the newly renovated customs halls. Last Wednesday I landed at 15.05; I got on the mobile lounge, quickly moved through customs, collected my bags, picked up my rental car and was at my hotel by 16.30. Flying back out the next day, I was through check-in and TSA and at my gate in less than thirty minutes. One simply cannot complain about that. These are not one-off experiences, but rather the norm. Even at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I found the experience of transiting IAD to be quick and painless. I have found staffing to be adequate to meet most needs, but occasionally issues arise that create challenges and, to their credit, the ground staff try to do their best and usually do so with good humor (there are, of course, the occasional grouches, but they are to be found everywhere). In sum, this airport gets more stick than it deserves.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 19 January 2009 : by R Pieters

Customer Rating : 1/5

Dulles remains an awful place to arrive at from the dated bus/mobile lounge transporting you from aircraft to the arrivals lounge which is dreary dingy, dull and more third world. From disembarking to clearing customs from my United flight took over 2 hours. No toilet facilities until past immigration, these are inadequate. Connection to DC remains poor, no direct link to the metro. Returning via departures can be deceiving being fooled by the impressive main terminal which fine and artistic at one time, now to overcrowded and needs expansion to cope with the passenger volumes. Until the over-deferred rail link links between departure /arrivall concourse with the main building is complete. Dulles remains an awful place and nowhere up to the standard of LHR. Baltimore Washington or Reagan National are better choices.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 1 December 2008 : by L Day

Customer Rating : 4/5

Overall, Dulles seemed a pleasant enough airport to spend several hours waiting for connecting flights. The worst experience at Dulles was waiting in the overcrowded terminal for a connecting flight to Syracuse. There were too many flights leaving at similar times, such that the seats were completely full, with people standing and sitting on the floor, crowding the walkways. Meanwhile, many of the flights must have been overbooked, as the desk people were frequently asking for people to offer to take later flights. The environment was so noisy and crowded that I ended up waiting in another terminal, waiting until just before my flight's departure to head back to the area.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 21 November 2008 : by Thomas Fuchs

Customer Rating : 1/5

The worst of the worst. When arriving internationally from Vienna, first you're greeted by a long walk to the "mobile lounges" and their unfriendly and rude operators, next off to the impossibly drab and super-slow immigration, not to mention the weirdo baggage reclaim, which seems like from a bad movie. We had to catch a connecting flight and scheduled 3 hours for it. Plan to have at least 5 hours time. It's so ridiculous, I can't even describe it. Here in Vienna, a busy international airport with tons of connections to eastern europe, the process of immigration (for non-Austrians, or non-EU citizens), baggage claim and customs, and hopping in a cab takes about 15 minutes. Avoid Dulles at all costs.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 13 November 2008 : by Bill Holmes

Customer Rating : 3/5

I've flown through IAD hundreds of times. The best you can say about the airport is that it is "in transition" (interminably). We're stuck with the "mobile lounges" until the train system is completed at some point in 2009. Immigration and customs facilities will probably remain inadequate, although relocating transfer facilities to the midfield terminal will probably improve matters. Restaurants, seating and other passenger amenities will probably remain inadequate until the "temporary" (for the last 20 years) Concourses C and D are replaced by a permanent building. There are some improvements: 1) Most airlines allow online check-in and/or use kiosks at IAD. These can greatly reduce waiting time for check-in, and lines are much shorter since these facilities became available. 2) Security facilities have been improved. Look for them not just on the main level, but also on the lower level. The lower level security facilities are available for "expert" travelers (travelers who have no children or special needs passengers in tow and who are familiar with the routine) and for those travelers who participate in the Clear Channel pre- screening program. There are some better restaurants and cafes available. Most notable is probably Vino Volo, a wine bar and cafe, located adjacent to Gate C3. One trick to use if you are transferring between Concourse B and either Concourses C or D is the mobile lounge connector that goes from Concoure A to C. Rather than going to the main terminal, walk to the connector to Concourse A and pick up the mobile lounge to Concourse C. Lounges run every five minutes and the transfer takes only a couple of minutes once underway. There's a certain irony about all the walking at Dulles. When the airport was built, the concept behind mobile lounges was that passengers should not have to walk long distances to their planes. The longest walk a passenger could expect was 400 feet from entrance into the terminal to the lounge dock. That was fine in the days when 24 gates could serve the entire airport, but woefully inadequate for mass transit. Now, a passenger parking at Garage 1 and embarking from Concourse B can expect to walk at least half a mile from car to plane. Dulles does have some redeeming values. One is that its huge operations area for planes means that ground traffic delays are seldom extensive. Another is that as bad as things may have been, they are improving and likely to improve further.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 28 October 2008 : by Ian Briggs

Customer Rating : 4/5

Not bad at all. My major concern at IAD, as a UK citizen is always the long wait for Immigration. This time it took us less than 30 minutes (both I and my wife later in the week so it probably wasn't a one-off). Previously we have had to wait for up to 2 hours to get through inc. clearing customs - this time it was a breeze and during a peak period too, so full marks to IAD management and Homeland Security for improving matters. We've always had no complaint about the staff at IAD in any event and have always found everyone most helpful and friendly. We were thinking of trying Baltimore (BWI) on the advice of some US friends of ours - but given this experience we think we'll stick to Dulles as usual in future.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 10 October 2008 : by S Koenig

Customer Rating : 3/5

Dulles is still undergoing large scale changes, so hard to say what it will be like in the future. On the plus side, when we arrived on an international flight, we were pleased to see that those with connecting flights could now go through Immigration and Customs at the same infield terminal and not have to be bussed (lounged?) to the main terminal to go through the processing there. The isolation of the various terminals from each other is still a pain. We wanted to go to an American Express lounge in one terminal while connecting between flights, but would have had to take a mobile lounge to the main terminal and then another to the other terminal, then do the same for the return. Selection of restaurants in the terminals is pretty poor. There are lots and lots of late night flights, especially international ones (with large planes) so there can be very large crowds in the terminals (including the restaurants).

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 8 September 2008 : by P Green

Customer Rating : 1/5

A chaotic and disorganized disaster. Arrived from Copenhagen, transferring to Toronto. I was herded onto a pod that refused to move until we were packed up like a can of sardines (with no air condition). Then 90 minutes waiting in line (again, with no air condition) in immigration, to apply for a VISA - from a very rude immigration officer - to be able to transfer planes!! Then a "baggage reclaim" which was beyond chaotic. Bags from a dozen flights were all mixed up and spread out in the undersized baggage hall, making it more of an obstacle course. Then a confused series of signs leading to the second pod!. This airport is a bad joke unworthy a developed(?) country. It will mess up your blood pressure, your connecting flights and your luggage. (Both of by bags were “lost” in IAD and put on a later flight) Avoid at any cost!

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 5 September 2008 : by D Greenaway

Customer Rating : 1/5

Arrived on Virgin Atlantic, the mobile pods still in use. Two flights arrived on stand at the same time, this meant about six hundred passengers were herded down to the double pod docking station, waited for twenty minutes for the first pod to arrive, no air con while we waited. Then down to immigration, two hours to get through into baggage reclaim and we were on the second pod !. Where so many cases had accumulated, some had been removed from the conveyor. Passengers were standing for ages on the side watching out for their luggage not knowing that it had been taken off and stacked on the far side. Another long queue for customs. A truly dreadful airport, one to avoid if at all possible.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 19 August 2008 : by M Simons

Customer Rating : 1/5

Used IAD to transfer from a UK flight to an Orlando flight. Did not use mobile lounges but had to walk up a very thin corridor about wide enough for two people. Then down in to what appeared to be a building site for immigration. This queue took over an hour before being herded in to another wider corridor to get through customs. Then had to re-check bags and make way to connecting flight. At the time or arrival it must have been rush hour with the terminal looking like a rugby scrum. Most flights had passengers on standby with several irate conversations taking place with United agents. For my flight which was fully booked they had a wait list of 39!! people. There was a major shortage of seating with many sat on floors and huge queues for any of the very small eating establishments - major lack of facilities. We ended up eating burger king food sat on a floor - lovely after a long transatlantic flight. I believe building work is due to last another year so my advice would be to avoid IAD if at all possible

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 15 August 2008 : by A Stubbs

Customer Rating : 4/5

We arrived into IAD on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow. Very impressed. Straight from aircraft on to bus which took us to immigration and baggage reclaim. Immigration was very friendly and the officer even made nice, polite conversation. Baggage was going round on belt as we arrived at the carousel so wait for luggage was minimal. Queue for customs was a little longer but nothing serious.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 12 August 2008 : by A Johnson

Customer Rating : 2/5

Despite the fact that it uses IAD as a hub, United Airlines is stuck in the C/D Midfield Concourse, which was intended as a temporary terminal when it was built in 1983 but still remains today, 25 years later. The concourse is accessible only by riding the mobile lounges, which depart from the main terminal on their schedule, not yours. Transferring flights often requires a long walk from one end of the concourse to the other. There is only one moving walkway in the entire concourse and it is often out of service. Shopping facilities and dining are rudimentary compared to the modern generation of airports. The tiny duty-free shops are embarrassing by international standards. The atmosphere in the C/D Concourse is dank, stuffy, and depressing, with all the charm of a suburban commercial office park. The carpet especially is in dire need of replacement. By contrast, the B Concourse is gorgeous, with high ceilings, lots of glass, polished floors, and what is essentially a small-scale shopping mall. These amenities would be great for connecting passengers on United who have time to kill between flights, but the airport authority instead insists on using the B Concourse for origin/destination passengers on other airlines.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 2 July 2008 : by Thomas Graves

Customer Rating : 1/5

Washington Dulles Airport is a disaster. Disorganized and chaotic, it is best avoided, though fliers of United don't have many options on the East Coast. JFK comes out looking good in comparison. Security lines are long and slow-moving, and the completely assinine mobile lounge system in use at Dulles gives passengers endless opportunities to line up, wait, get jammed into confined spaces and be inconvenienced. An "automated people mover" (2 miles with 4 stations) has been under construction at Dulles for over 8 years, and shows no sign of completion yet. I can only conclude that the mobile lounge driver's union is extremely well-connected politically.

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT review : 22 May 2008 : by Jim Kresge

Customer Rating : 2/5

VCE-MUC-IAD - I have seen airports more organized in Central and South America and Africa than the experience I had coming back to the US from Europe . Unfortunately I arrived during the afternoon peak and the line in the main terminal for Immigration and Customs was outrageously long. It all started at the mobile lounge to go from Terminal C to Main Terminal customs. To this day I still do not understand why United Airlines insists on filling the mobile lounges to the brim and holding the lounges for up to 15 minutes after the last of the passengers deplane. The worst part was there was another lounge next to us with a driver there sitting empty and a 3rd lounge arrived before we even left. So it was almost 30 minutes from the time the door opened on the plane before we go to the Main Terminal to begin the customs and immigration odyssey. After arrival, it took about 25 minutes to run through the cue to get to Immigration for US Citizens and the line for visitors was moving much slower. After getting through Immigration I proceeded to the belt where the bags from our flight were supposed to be. When I got to the belt there were no bags on the belt but there were bags scattered all over the floor from various flights that had arrived from destinations all over the world. After looking around for about 5 minutes I was able to locate my bag and then the fun really started. There were people crowding all over the place to get through the 3 agents they had working customs. 3 agents with a International Arrivals terminal that had at least 2000 or more people in it. The worst part about it was there were a group of 5 Customs agents who were joking and chatting off on the side who could have assisted with either forming more organized lines to present customs forms to the agents or could have been working with their fellow agents to move more people out of the door or to secondary screening. There was absolutely no organization whatsoever and you had people crowding into customs with their baggage carts and luggage. A couple of lines did form but they barely moved and most people broke out of them and started heading directly for the mass forming at the yellow line to clear customs. After about waiting 15 minutes in line another Customs agent began taking forms and either clearing personnel or moving them to secondary screening. They could have used 3 or 4 more plus some ropes to form lanes for people to file into. Total time from de-planing to clearing customs for a US Citizen in our nations capitol main international airport was 1 hr and 30 minutes for someone who was travelling with one medium size bag. I can only imagine what our visitors must think when they see this type of operation in the USA of all places.

Washington Dulles Airport review by Barry McKay

15 April 2008   Customer Rating :

Now that I have had a few days to recover I would like to alert your readers to the appalling experience that I underwent at Washington's Dulles International airport en route home to Ottawa from Buenos Aires. I was obliged, through circumstances beyond my control, to fly via Washington. The Southbound trip went well as I pre-cleared Customs and Immigration in Ottawa. However, coming back was a totally different experience. I was told at Buenos Aires that I would have to pick up my luggage at Washington and clear Customs and Immigration there. This despite the fact that I was traveling on a US carrier and all of my hand luggage was thoroughly checked before boarding in Buenos Aires. After a ten hour overnight trip we arrived at Washington at 6-15 am and the fun started. All passenger were herded like cattle into a large holding room where we waited to clear Immigration. All non US residents were obliged to go through the same gates, no matter whether they were merely transitting through the place, as was my case, or landing in the US as was the case with the majority. There were maybe 200 people waiting for clearance and just two officers to handle them. As those landing in the US were required to undergo a thorough interview and have their finger prints taken it was an extremely long wait. After about 45 minutes the line had barely moved, but fortunately the officers who had been handling US citizens became free so they then commenced processing the non-US "great unwashed", whose numbers by now had swelled considerably as several other flights had by now arrived. The additional officers certainly speeded up the process but, what I found most annoying was, that when I finally was processed by an officer I was through in about 10 seconds due to my in-transit status. An hour's wait for a 10 second process!. If it is really necessary to go through this farce than why do they not provide a specific desk to clear in-transit passengers? However, the fun was far from over as everyone was then funneled into another area where we were told to find our luggage from a large heap, lug it about 50 yards where we had to put it into another heap where, hopefully, someone would sort it and ensure it went on the correct flight. What the rational for this was I have no idea as my bags had already traveled for 10 hours on US carrier from Buenos Aires and could have quite simply have been transferred to my Ottawa flight. There appears no possible way that personally dragging my luggage 50 yards did anything at all to improve safety for anyone. I next joined another mass of people all waiting to go through Customs. There were people in wheelchairs, everyone was pushing and shoving, officials were yelling and screaming and it truly resembled Bedlam. When I finally got to the screening area I handed in all my hand luggage for X-raying, took my computer out of its case as instructed, took off my shoes, jacket, emptied my pockets and ventured through the magnetic screening device. The alarm went off and I told an extremely loud and angry women who was monitoring the process that I had an artificial hip and it was this that had triggered the alarm. No matter, she yelled at me to take off my belt which I duly did - then my watch and copper bracelet. Of course the alarm still went off and she got even more angry and yelled that I would have to undergo a "personal search". This was carried out by one of the male personnel and, amazingly while this was happening I noticed that next to me another 70 year old white male was undergoing the same treatment - his artificial hip having also triggered the alarm. I can only assume that 70 year old white guys with hip transplants must pose a serious identified terrorist risk - some kind of "medical profiling"maybe? Finally, after two hours of this nonsense, I was finally free to board the Air Canada flight to Ottawa. While I am well aware that a whole new air safety industry has mushroomed since 9/11, and that basic safety precautions are necessary, I cannot for the life of me figure out how any of this bureaucratic run-around helped make the world safer for anyone. I do know that in years of traveling the world, this is by far the worst situation I have ever encountered. I also know that, in future, I shall avoid transiting through Washington like the plague and I would strongly recommend that others take the same approach in order to avoid an extremely unpleasant and frustrating experience..

Washington Dulles Airport review by Alan Chick

5 April 2008   Customer Rating :

To balance my positive report on arrivals, I have to report that departures at 2pm three days later was dreadful. I used the premium passenger line and it took 30 minutes to reach the x ray machine. The regular queue was at least three times as long and I would estimate at least an hour to reach the machines. People were trying to cut in because their flight time was approaching, but a lot of people were in the same situation. The security point even when fully open does not seem to have the capacity to cope.

Washington Dulles Airport review by P Basil

5 April 2008   Customer Rating :

Have been using Terminal B frequently due to flying on Virgin America. This seems like two different airports. Terminal B is new and has every possible amenity, with comfortable seating areas, good lighting, and a vast array of restaurants. Terminals C/D are long in the tooth. The moon-pod people movers break down a lot (I've had to be "rescued" three times in the past year), and the new train due in 2009 will be very welcome.

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