Washington Dulles Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 213 reviews
3/10
No Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"the worst welcome into any country"

(United States)

This was the worst welcome into any country I have ever experienced. I will never again book travel that has Washington Dulles as my point of entry back into the states. The number of problems traveling through Dulles (the ultimate route was Copenhagen to San Francisco) were so numerous it is embarrassing. No only was there no international signage in the nation's capital; there is very little signage or staff at all to help travelers make informed decisions. This was especially apparent as we headed, en mass, toward security. Because the group of travelers I was in had no proper lines or signage guiding us toward security, we became more of a mob pushing upon each other in a hallway that seemed to have no end. Many of us discussed, as we were standing and waiting for 90 minutes, that if there had been any type of situation which necessitated an emergency exit from this space, there would have been chaos and injury. Washington Dulles lack of organization of space is problematic on multiple levels, human safety being paramount.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitSeptember 2015
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
no
2/10

"the worst in almost every respect"

(United States)

Washington Dulles Airport is the worst in almost every respect - even on a good day it takes forever to get out because of the setup, and there are frequent luggage delays, lines at customs, you name it. In general the staff are not friendly.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2015
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United States)

Immigration and customs lines are unacceptable, took 75 mins just to get thru immigration. Then claim baggage and another hour to get through customs lines. Then you have to figure out (poor to non-existent) signage how to get back to the terminal on a train and go back through security (another line!) and run to your gate just in time to board - with no time to grab a snack or stop at a restroom. To add insult to injury, only of our three bags made it to final destination. You would think the airport would rather have people shopping and eating at the airport during a multi-hour layover. Will avoid IAH for future international travel.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitJuly 2015
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
no
na

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United States)

Signs at the airport to guide passengers should be easy to read not just to native English speakers but foreigners too. If you only write "Transfers" it doesn't mean much to foreign passengers. Flight Connections would make more sense. Passengers end up on the shuttle for the "final destination passengers" as people are being rushed to the shuttle or "transfer" paths. The staff that you have to guide passengers when they arrive they don't help if they are yelling the directions to you; you just get stressed and confused. I saw an agent tell a Chinese couple to read the screen showing in Chinese on how to do the express passport checking as he didn't know Chinese! e.g. you need to read it as I don't know what it says!
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
6/10

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I read lots of poor reviews about Dulles especially queues for immigration. My experience was not too bad with only a 30 minute queue. I do dislike the mobile lounges though which make disembarkation a real pain: off the plane into a terminal along a corridor into a mobile lounge then off again and further walking. A better design is clearly needed.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
8/10

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Arrived 14th April 2015. Electronic immigration an improvement. Baggage delivery now needs to catch up. However in rental car within 75 min from landing. Departure on 23rd April. TSA good with fast travel through security. Arrival mobile lounges are antiquated and must be replaced ASAP.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
8/10

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United States)

Dulles Airport is an excellent airport if you are leaving on an international flight. The TSA officials are very efficient and courteous and the Aerotrain is also very convenient as well. Coming back is another story even though Dulles has improved. First of all are the ancient plane mates which take you to the international arrivals building but which will be used for the foreseeable future. Second even though the electronic kiosks for U.S. citizens in theory are a good idea they are complicated to use at first and you still have to hand the print out to a border security agent. Third the border security agents are extremely rude even to U.S. citizens. The agent who looked at my passport asked me where I visited which I told him and then he began grill me about why I didn't mention the other country I visited (Turkey where I only changed flights) even though I never left the airport to get my connecting flight! Fourth your luggage is routinely removed from the baggage carousel and placed in a pile without you even knowing. I made a complaint to Dulles Airport's Twitter handle and was told that the airlines are doing this and not the airport but that they would look into it. Even with all these complications on my return it only took me about an hour to be out of the airport. If only Dulles could improve the return experience for international passengers it would truly be a great airport.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
8/10

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(Pakistan)

Have used Dulles three times now coming and flying out. Must be honest I found this airport to be pretty good and efficient. It all depends on when you arrive and your luck. I have arrived on the same flight two months apart and the difference was 0 mins to 40 mins waiting in the line. Of course it depends on how quickly you can get off the plane. The TSA going out were really professional polite and it took me only a few mins to get through. The duty free and food is limited but there is plenty of space to sit and there are a few restaurants. Overall a good experience. Better than other US airports I have flown out of.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
na

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Arrived yesterday from London had 2 hour passport queue and after passing noticed that the queues were longer than when I arrived backing by the escalator. This is typical of this airport in my experience and totally unacceptable. The queue peak times are well known so the only conclusion is that the airport thinks it's fine. Ended up wasting time I otherwise would use for business. Me and perhaps 1000 other people were very angry.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
7/10

Washington Dulles Airport customer review

(United Arab Emirates)

I'm clearly in the minority here but I rather like Dulles. I use the airport once or twice a year and in the last decade I've never had to wait more than 40 minutes at immigration and more usually only 10-20 minutes (I'm not a US citizen and have to use the 'long' queues). Security seems to have streamlined their process and in the last 5 years I've never had to wait more than 20 minutes for security at departure. My suitcase is often waiting for me at the baggage carousel. Immigration and customs staff have clearly been taking some customer training and have become much friendlier over the last decade. I like the train between terminals. I even like the mobile lounges that take you from your terminal to immigration on arrival if flying internationally. My only real quibble is that duty free shopping options remain poor. I suppose it helps that by now I know to time my arrival time to avoid peak arrivals and departures where possible and I know how to work with some of Dulles' quirks to reduce (though almost never eliminate) my queuing time but compared to some of the other major East Coast international airports I really don't see much grounds for complaint in terms of either queuing times and facilities. Certainly it's a much quieter airport than some of its competitors which is a real bonus.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes