Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - BWI - this airport is a joke - a BAD joke

I promise I searched before starting a new thread. I thought for sure there must be a thread on how bad BWI is. But I couldn't find one.

I normally fly DCA. I am spoiled by my 11-mile, 20-minute drive and the fact that once there, I can get from my car in daily to the gate in minutes. Even if I walk really slowly. From long-term, which is at the end of the runways (no kidding!), it takes maybe 2 minutes more.

Due to scheduling, I had to fly BWI-LGA-BDL yesterday morning (reward for a 5:30 a.m. flight ... a KILLER view of Manhattan at sunrise). Well it is ridiculous. You have to leave the main airport loop to get to the daily garage. There are lots of signs but they are hard to read in the dark because they are on a dark purple background against an even darker sign, and there are no lights over the signs. So I missed the turn, even though I could see the huge garage with a huge bright blue, illuminated P sign. The area around the airport is very confusing. I get myself turned around, go into the garage (I do like that green-light system), and park. I walk to the elevator lobby. The doors to the elevator lobby are broken. They won't open. I go down the stairs. Now I am in a waiting area and nothing to say when the shuttle buses run/arrive. Wait. Why do I need to take a shuttle bus from daily to the terminal? When they re-built this airport, why didn't they put in an underground train? OK, scotch-taped to the window is a faded piece of paper in a grungy piece of plastic and it says that the shuttles start running at 4:01 a.m. Bus arrives, takes about 10 minutes to get to the terminal.

Once in the terminal, I head for my gate. At this hour, security is a breeze. On the other occasions I've been to BWI, the lines have been horrendous and I'm not sure why as they do have plenty of lines.

Get to my gate in Siberia. The whole lower section of Pier D looks like a Soviet-era prison. Some airport worker comes in through the sliding doors and the doors won't close. Blast of cold air. He says to no one in particular gotta call that in.

Overall impression - shabby, run-down, poorly maintained, badly designed.

Sounds as though OP didn't park in the incredibly convenient lot directly across from the terminal, but rather parked in one of the off-site or far-away shuttle-served lots. The parking across from the terminal is only $22/day (as opposed to $36 and it is a 30-second walk across to the terminal itself. For those not familiar, it's all on a BWI parking website which shows locations too:

http://www.bwiairport.com/en/parking/information-rates

OP liked the security line, but didn't like the gate. He was, of course, at one of the tiny commuter gates for his BWI-LGA hop. No different than being bussed to a CRJ from the US commuter "gates" at DCA.

I happen to hate BWI because I don't consider it to seriously be a DC area airport given travel times. It is designed as and largely serves a different demographic than DCA and IAD. But, there's nothing wrong with the airport itself.

No airport is paradise at 4:00 AM.

Yeah, the lot directly across from the terminal is the Hourly Lot.

The last time I flew out of BWI was just post September 2001. The first major holiday after the airports "Re-Opened".
WHAT A MESS. There was at LEAST a 2 hour wait to get through security, and I am being VERY kind with this time statement. 90 percent of us missed our flights that day. Those that got on the places were lucky.

So my last memory of BWI is horrific. It's hard to get over that kind of memory. I assumed that this airport was suffering as most during that time. Sorry to hear your experience was so bad at present.

The last time I flew out of BWI was just post September 2001. The first major holiday after the airports "Re-Opened"... So... you're judging today's BWI by one peak-volume transit you made more than ELEVEN years ago? :confused:

IME the only really bad part of the BWI experience is the rental car center. Miles from the terminal, impossible to find, adds 30-40 minutes to arrival and departure times.

IME the only really bad part of the BWI experience is the rental car center. Miles from the terminal, impossible to find, adds 30-40 minutes to arrival and departure times.

I've had one arrive/depart at BWI and the rental car center is the only part I remember about it. You may be understating its awfulness.

Since this is specific to one airport, we'll shift this conversation over to the DC/Baltimore forum. Thanks! :) /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

I happen to hate BWI because I don't consider it to seriously be a DC area airport given travel times.

So, you hate BWI because you don't consider it to be a DC area airport given the travel times. Question, do you also hate Dulles? They are roughly the same distance away from DC.

No offense, but this thread is a BAD joke. :rolleyes:

BWI may not be perfect (which, come to think of it, I can't name one perfect airport) but I much rather fly in and out of it compared to other airports in the country. Other than the long wait for baggage, I really can't think of anything negative about BWI. If you're flying into Baltimore, BWI is really your only choice. If you're flying into DC of course National is best. But BWI comes in second.

dear FD, i usually do not comment on such things, but since you demand close to perfection,i would like to point out to you that your use of english language is pathetic.

if you vote yes for more taxes, i am certain they will add the amenities you desire.

to get bwi turned into the boutique that you think dca to be, get some more congressmen over to bwi. where's the inexpensive long term lot at dca? where is the pickup bus service? why is terminal A so far away? and no train service? why do i always have to wait for a bathroom on C? why are so many small planes serviced out in the weather? my wife slipped and fell in the ice on either b or c. why are the food service lines so long on c in the morning? where does that mob come from at tsa every morning at C?

if you want to actually go somewhere from dca, fly to jfk, ord, lax(woops, no lax) or such , and transfer. great time saving.

So, you hate BWI because you don't consider it to be a DC area airport given the travel times. Question, do you also hate Dulles? They are roughly the same distance away from DC.

Depends on where you are. With the White House at Ground Zero, IAD is 25 miles. BWI is 31 to 40 miles depending on which route you go (BW Parkway v. I495). I know of nobody in my office who favors BWI over IAD unless 1) they live close to BWI or closish (i.e., anything east of Georgia Avenue) or 2) the fare difference is in the hundreds of dollars. Even then, the notion of trekking up the BW parkway to then be stuck in traffic owing to a major wreck (which seems to happen all. of. the. time.) counsels against BWI.

Granted that I-66 is never guaranteed to be a joy ride, but I find the risks inherent in taking I-66 and the Dulles access road are much less than 295.

:confused:What's pathetic about OP's English? s/he got a point
across expeditiously and without committing any major
grammatical crimes (one dubious tense shift, if you're counting,
one that I would probably do myself).

As far as the jokiness of the airport goes, the far reaches of the
already foul D pier are the stuff that horror movies are made of.
More than enough to make one run screaming into the welcoming
arms of the Airspace Lounge.

the solution is to bring all of bwi and iad for that matter to dca. all nice and close. now, this would require extending the two "main" runways to 8 or 9000 ft. there is plenty of room in the potomac for this. a lot more terminal space can be generated in the south parking lot. and parking can be generated in garages replacing the unusued space at Christal city, potomac yard, and paving most of the rest of the potomac.

would no longer be a happy little airport, but something akin to LHR. has the op ever done lhr?

I live three miles from DCA but I sometimes use BWI to get lower fares. I am familiar with the journey in my car and the parking choices at the airport. I like the BWI facility. My gripe with all of the WAS airports is the lack public transit that is convenient for me.

Depends on where you are. With the White House at Ground Zero, IAD is 25 miles. BWI is 31 to 40 miles depending on which route you go (BW Parkway v. I495). I know of nobody in my office who favors BWI over IAD unless 1) they live close to BWI or closish (i.e., anything east of Georgia Avenue) or 2) the fare difference is in the hundreds of dollars. Even then, the notion of trekking up the BW parkway to then be stuck in traffic owing to a major wreck (which seems to happen all. of. the. time.) counsels against BWI.

Granted that I-66 is never guaranteed to be a joy ride, but I find the risks inherent in taking I-66 and the Dulles access road are much less than 295.

I would have to be saving many hundreds of dollars to even consider BWI. From just north of Georgetown, I can get to IAD in roughly 30 minutes off peak and 50ish during rush hour (Avoiding 66, of course...). BWI is easily 75 minutes off peak and roughly two days during rush hour (Exaggerating only slightly...).

As far as the contention that it's a dump, it really depends on which part of the airport. The WN terminal A is actually decent, while D is a massively rundown remnant of the former US mini-hub pre-9/11, which was never nice to start with.

I flew out of the evil 35A at DCA this week, which, while it's awful, is easily made up for by the 20 minute taxi ride home on a Thursday morning and the river visual approach.

I live three miles from DCA but I sometimes use BWI to get lower fares. I am familiar with the journey in my car and the parking choices at the airport. I like the BWI facility. My gripe with all of the WAS airports is the lack public transit that is convenient for me.
My break point on BWI is $500 savings. Time is money and anything less doesn't make BWI worth it.

It is the cheap cousin airport to the BIG guys.
DCA - Business airport
IAD - International
BWI - Cheap Leisure fares

The efficiency in operation of all three airports shows - as DCA is public transportation and easy.
IAD - while they are improving tremendously had alien spaceship looking people movers between terminals (decades behind the concept of a tram or subway)
BWI - not enough time to comment but very cheap fares to a lot of non-business destinations so it doesn't need to be efficient.

I fly DCA any time I can, because it's so convenient to take the Metro. Second choice, if schedules work out, would be BWI because of the connection into DC via the MARC train. BWI is nothing fancy, but it's never tried to hurt me, y'know? Maybe it's a different experience if you're driving to it, but it hasn't been difficult taking the train. On the other hand, I did incur a $100 cab fare (from BWI to IAD at midnight) when flights were cancelled (hail storm) and rebooks were all going out of IAD the next day. But I still can't blame that on the airport. ;)

DCA is my idea of a functional bus station. It's not a place I'd enjoy spending much time in, kinda grimy baggage areas if I recall correctly (had to check bags a couple times), but it works. IAD is more fun in a way because there's more going on, more people-watching to be had, and of course it's BIG so there are more planes to watch coming & going. But what a royal pain to get to!!! Will be nice in, what, 2016 when they extend the Metro?

BWI is reminding me a bit of OAK. No respect. Both work, but nobody wants to call either place home. But it's not a bad joke.

DCA is my idea of a functional bus station. It's not a place I'd enjoy spending much time in, kinda grimy baggage areas if I recall correctly (had to check bags a couple times), but it works.

Are you sure you didn't mean to type another airport's initials there? You can criticize DCA for any number of things--limited nonstops, the cab line, the really old parts of Terminal A around the low-numbered gates--but if National as a whole is a "crummy bus station," I hate to think of how you regard a sprawling, aging, transit-deprived airport like IAH or LAX.

Are you sure you didn't mean to type another airport's initials there? You can criticize DCA for any number of things--limited nonstops, the cab line, the really old parts of Terminal A around the low-numbered gates--but if National as a whole is a "crummy bus station," I hate to think of how you regard a sprawling, aging, transit-deprived airport like IAH or LAX.Whoa, you went way beyond what I was saying. A "functional bus station" isn't "crummy." It works, does what it's supposed to do, whatever. I just remember a couple times in the summer, picking up baggage at DCA and there was no air conditioning, just fans not doing much of a job, not the greatest last thing to remember about an airport, y'know?

And what makes you think I'd like anything about LAX? It's not like I don't know my way around airports, but this past November, getting from customs to the gate for my connecting flight to SFO I took a wrong turn and missed the terminal for the UA gates and had to backtrack quite a ways. In the construction they had signage telling you which way to go, but no signage telling you when you were there. It was far more confusing than even BRU coming in from the train.

Whoa, you went way beyond what I was saying. A "functional bus station" isn't "crummy." It works, does what it's supposed to do, whatever. I just remember a couple times in the summer, picking up baggage at DCA and there was no air conditioning, just fans not doing much of a job, not the greatest last thing to remember about an airport, y'know?

And what makes you think I'd like anything about LAX? It's not like I don't know my way around airports, but this past November, getting from customs to the gate for my connecting flight to SFO I took a wrong turn and missed the terminal for the UA gates and had to backtrack quite a ways. In the construction they had signage telling you which way to go, but no signage telling you when you were there. It was far more confusing than even BRU coming in from the train.

I'm from New Jersey: You say "bus station," I picture the Port Authority :) But National, aside from the '60s-era "banjo" extension to A, is a legitimately beautiful piece of architecture that also flows well--no weird connections between terminals, no crowded gates, good views. Never had any a/c issues there that I can recall.

DCA is my idea of a functional bus station. It's not a place I'd enjoy spending much time in, kinda grimy baggage areas if I recall correctly (had to check bags a couple times), but it works.

Have you been to DCA since 1994 or so? It's changed a little.

Have you been to DCA since 1994 or so? It's changed a little.I haven't dealt with baggage claim at DCA since maybe 2003 or so. I really don't mind the airport at all, although the gate area for my flights out is usually very crowded. In any event, it's not on my bad airport list. I'd go back and edit out my earlier criticism except that the follow-up remarks wouldn't make sense.

BWI is ok for cheap domestic fares, or flying WN when you're trying to avoid RJs. But it is very inconvenient. IAD at least has dedicated lanes once you hit the Beltway. Even from close-in NoVA around Arlington, BWI requires a trip through DC side streets, 295, or a ride around 1/2 the Beltway.

BWI is ok for cheap domestic fares, or flying WN when you're trying to avoid RJs. But it is very inconvenient. IAD at least has dedicated lanes once you hit the Beltway. Even from close-in NoVA around Arlington, BWI requires a trip through DC side streets, 295, or a ride around 1/2 the Beltway.Nobody takes public transit in DC? I've connected pretty easily from BWI via MARC to Union Station and beyond. And DCA is a breeze. IAD? Until they get the Metro out there, that's a long haul.

what an egocentric bunch pf posters. all are live next door people going to ord,nyc, atl, or clt.
1.dca is not close to where I live.
2. no direct flights to where I go.

3.long term parking is terrible and expensive
4. nobody to help me with my luggage.
5. close one toilet on a concourse, and the backup is tremendous.
6. morning backup on C concourse tsa can be really ugly.
7. US ticket counterbackup can be really bad.
8. lousy news stands.
9. no amtrack connection
10. big delays when big wind from the west.
11. no widebodies
12. no business class seats.

i forgot
13. the cell phone lot fills and overflows
14. the parkinglots fill
15. the seagulls dump on the cars in the long term lot

this commentary is purposly made to sound as childish as the anti-bwi whine.

the welcoming
arms of the Airspace Lounge.

:)

thanks for the mention violist

BWI is reminding me a bit of OAK. No respect. Both work, but nobody wants to call either place home. But it's not a bad joke.

Why wouldn't anyone want to call BWI home? Despite the prissy DC-centric attitudes on this board (really, why the hell is "including Baltimore" in parenthesis as if it's some afterthought) BWI is a great airport. My favorite in the Baltimore-DC metro area.

what an egocentric bunch pf posters. all are live next door people going to ord,nyc, atl, or clt.
1.dca is not close to where I live.
2. no direct flights to where I go.

3.long term parking is terrible and expensive
4. nobody to help me with my luggage.
5. close one toilet on a concourse, and the backup is tremendous.
6. morning backup on C concourse tsa can be really ugly.
7. US ticket counterbackup can be really bad.
8. lousy news stands.
9. no amtrack connection
10. big delays when big wind from the west.
11. no widebodies
12. no business class seats.

this commentary is purposly made to sound as childisn as the anti-bwi whine.

I agree.

I'm not a huge BWI fan (though used it a lot when we used it in Silver Spring-- unlike the poster in Georgetown, for us it was much quicker to get to than Dulles or National). For one thing, no airline clubs; for another, there consolidasted rental car facility seems to have a small selection of cars. And a dearth of decent shops outside security. However, I've been in far, far worse airports, and BWI has two things going for it: 1) sometimes-- not always-- lower fares, in part due to the presence of Southwest (yes, I know they have some flights from Dulles; 2) it's easier to get to using public transportation than is Dulles. Not easy, but easier. From Washington, either Metro bus from the Greenbelt Metro, or train from Union Station to the BWI train station, and shuttle bus from there. From Baltimore, light rail. Again, not my favorite airport, but I don't like Dulles any better. On our last trip to the area, we had appointments in Baltimore. Using BWI was a slam-dunk.

Why wouldn't anyone want to call BWI home? Despite the prissy DC-centric attitudes on this board (really, why the hell is "including Baltimore" in parenthesis as if it's some afterthought) BWI is a great airport. My favorite in the Baltimore-DC metro area.

Haha, ^

I live in Baltimore and BWI is a nice 15-20 minutes from my house in the city. Parking's cheap (we use Fastpark and it's reasonable enough to park for 1 week+ if no one's free to drop you off at the airport), there are direct flights to tons of places, lines are short and security's easy. It's calm and laid back compared to lots of other airports. And you can get a DuClaw! (though only pre-security - they do need to change this)

BWI FTW.

Are Southwest flights to/from IAD still higher than those using BWI?

for a bad joke, we got out of the plane in fRA, and faced 2 flights of stairs. saw no other way other than up. on return to iad, terminal c seems to me to have been modified with more gates for int'l. i think if you deplane at one of the far west gates, the walk is about 4000 feet. we got through immigration first, and our bags had already been taken off the conveyer for us. couldn't believe those were our bags. must have taken forever to get to there.

I just recently flew in/out of BWI (Johns Hopkins commencement) and it was fairly easy for that purpose.

I planned to have lunch at the Airspace Lounge and timed my ride accordingly.

Imagine my disappointment when I found that I had to go OUT of the secure area (I came in on AA) and back IN to the secure area for the OTHER concourse that houses the Lounge.

BUUUUT since I timed my ride ....... back thru security :rolleyes::o


Here are some pics of the lounge:

http://www.danpassaro.com/img/s1/v22/p552156158.jpg

http://www.danpassaro.com/img/s11/v27/p613789927.jpg

http://www.danpassaro.com/img/s3/v42/p963398744.jpg




The amenity kit wasn't offered but I asked because someone here had mentioned it.

Complimentary alcoholic drink OR food item. Definitely the food item :D

http://www.danpassaro.com/img/s3/v44/p805573367.jpg

My brother lives in Easton, MD and I HATE making the drive from Durham, NC to see him so I often fly into BWI. I've yet to have a problem with this airport. Sure, it's not the greatest, but it gets the job done. I've yet to wait in line at security or have a delay waiting on my gate. Plus, THEY HAVE A POTBELLY'S! That earns them huge points

Are Southwest flights to/from IAD still higher than those using BWI?

as far as i know yes. i've been checking occasionally. plus they don't have as many non-stop flights from san diego, if at all.