Washington Dulles Airport

We arrived from Italy last night Tuesday September 30th at approximately 7.30pm. It took two hours to go through customs because there was only one agent processing passports. After an hour another agent showed up and then we were told there was a shift change. During that time more flights arrived from overseas only to wait as we did. At no time during that time were there any communications as to why the delay. Many of us had to have flights changed due to the Lufthansa strike so that caused delays and later flights to begin with. Ironically my husband who has a Global Entry Pass sailed through only to have to wait for me for two hours. Does this mean we all have to apply for one too to avoid this mess. Unfortunately this airport is a necessary evil because the majority of overseas flights are out of here. What a shame being we live to close to BWI and have even taken flights out of Philadelphia where we would have arrived home the same time we did last night.

Flew into IAD on an UA international flight at 5 pm with a domestic connection next morning. Very positive experience. No wait time at immigration entire process took just about one minute. Baggage arrived a few minutes later and we were out of the airport shortly afterwards. Same positive experience next morning. At 6.30 am no queues at check-in nor at security and flight left on time.

Flew in and out of Dulles from Toronto city airport. On landing first impressions were not good. We were transferred into a people moving vehicle of sorts which looks a little like an amphibious vehicle used in the army. Immigration queues were awful and customs were staffed by the most bored and unfriendly people I have ever come across. We declared currency we were carrying into the country and the whole process took about 40 minutes! On the return journey things were much better but it was a 9am flight. The check in area is clearly inadequate but the departure gates are large and spacious but only after negotiating a train and a myriad of escalators. Food options airside are adequate not much in terms of retail of any significant value. I would only use this airport if there were no other options.

Arriving and going through immigration was a nightmare - 2 hours waiting in line another hour going through security less than 3.5 hours to do a transfer would be unwise. From all the countries I have visited arriving at Dulles International is by far the worst. I would surely never by a ticket through Dulles again this year I am paying extra to take my luck with Chicago.

The immigration lines at Dulles are horrendous. In May when we came back from Europe we were in line for over an hour just to have our passports stamped. I have travelled to many airports even in third world countries and I never experienced the long lines that we have here. Both the immigration and customs lines are very very long. Security sometimes is OK but a lot of the times the wait is longer than most airports. You need to add an extra hour when you fly out just to be sure that you make it through the security and the convoluted train/shuttle/walk that is required to get to the gate.

Compared to other domestic airports Dulles is one of the worst especially if you fly on United. First off the location is terrible. The airport is about 35 miles from D.C and the highways to get there are always congested. The security line takes forever and TSA does not seem to place efficiency as a priority. You have to negotiate a patchwork of transportation systems just to get to your gate including trams moving walkways very long walks and giant rovers that take you across the Tarmac. Lastly the terminals are outdated tired and dingy. The food options are corporate chains. Avoid IAD at all costs!

Absolutely the worst entry port to the US. It seems to be a retro setup from 60s. The use of so-called shuttles that take you from one terminal to the other are undoubtedly medieval. As if it was not enough you are forced to enter a completely claustrophobic "mini-bus" (i.e. the shuttle) right after your 9-10h flight the ground staff actually stuff people in as if they were cattle being transported to another shipping location. If you can avoid it you should.

Dulles is truly the worst international arrival airport on the East Coast of the United States. Considering that the competition for that "honor" includes JFK and Miami that's how bad Dulles is. The fundamental problem with Dulles is that it looked really "cool" on the drawing board in the late 1950's when it was designed with no airplanes at gates and everyone being shuttled to and from the aircraft in people movers. It worked just fine when there were two flights to London and one to Paris every day. Then they built the "mid-field terminals". Now there are so many international flights that immigration and customs on arrival can take hours and here's a real kicker-there are two separate immigration and customs areas. If you are ending your journey at Washington you go to the main terminal if you are making a connection you stay in the mid-field arrival terminal. If the guy sorting luggage at your origin put your bags in the wrong container you could wait for hours for your bag to show up at the correct customs terminal. If you are really going to downtown Washington fly into Philadelphia Boston or even JFK and go to Washington Reagan National airport. You will save a lot of time.

Dulles has very little to commend it upon arrival from overseas the number of immigration desks to the length of the lines are always low ensuring you will always wait a couple of hours. Short lines only a couple of manned desks long lines not many more desks. It pretty poor for such a major city whether you are from the USA or an overseas citizen. I have visited 5 or 6 times in last 12 months. Outbound the security process is reasonable I gave seen very quick and very slow days there doesn't see to be any fast track option. The shopping area is bland and uninspiring with very few options what they do have is repeated. Dulles only saving grace is the smoking room. Once again immigration is one of the slowest in the world.

I've flown into IAD several times for an annual big conference so I wasn't expecting a quick clearance at immigration or security checkpoints. However the few times I've flown into Dulles outside conferences it wasn't better at all. Waiting times are terrible 2-3 hours on an average of maybe 6 arrivals so far one time a little boy next to me was obviously feeling sick and puked into a plastic bag and he and his mother nevertheless weren't proceeded to a fast access line or something. Checkpoints are rarely ever fully staffed; more than once people next to me missed their connection flights as I almost did myself - there should be a separate line for those passengers with connection flights. Officers weren't really unfriendly to me so far but I wouldn't call them overly friendly either. I try to avoid Dulles whenever I can. As many have said before this is not the best impression a nation's capital can leave.