Washington Dulles Airport

The staff at this airport are incredibly rude and abrasive. I witnessed a security staff member scold an elderly man for stepping up to the kiosk before being called over by the staff member. This man's native language was not English, and the signs instructing passengers to wait to be called over were not clear. The staff member basically told the man he didn't know how to read the sign. Secondly, while waiting in line to go through security the staff members were all shouting at the passengers because we didn't know what to do. They would tell us to wait, then tell us to keep the line going.

Washington Dulles International Airport was the worst international arrival experience I had. Poor signage - they compensate by having employees shout to people to direct traffic at immigration (which means mistakes and confused travelers because international arrivals have plenty of people who are not native English speakers. Slow lines for both citizens and non-citizens. Insufficient TSA stations and staff means slow getting things into the X-ray machine, and if anyone needs follow-up bag-check the entire line stops. I saw rudeness to parents of babies who were asked to throw away baby food. People asked to step aside to wait and then forgotten for quite some time. Will never fly international arrival through IAD.

Never allow less than 3 hours for transiting Immigration, then Customs, and then the worst TSA processing line since Denver when it first opened. You have to remember these are federal employees - you cannot complain about poor efficiency or performance, they don't care. And, you better not complain or you'll be selected for special screening - delaying yourself and those behind you in line. Poor signage, no apologies from the slow acting employees. Is this really the best the U.S. can master?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.