Flying out of IAD and BWI has given me more than enough material for this thread...

* Anything that requires me to pad out the travel time between downtown and the airport: the unpredictable wait for a bus to or from IAD's economy lots; the chaotic scheduling of the shuttle buses between BWI's excuse for a train station and its terminal; the 2 in 3 odds of catching a BART train headed south from San Francisco that won't actually stop at SFO; the taxi line at LAS; LGA's inexcusable lack of a rail connection to Manhattan (not that I've been tempted to fly there instead of taking Amtrak anytime lately).

* Any "airport" rail station that doesn't actually connect to a terminal, such as at BWI, BOS and OAK. (LAX is a special case--although I've never tried taking the light rail there, two years ago I had to take a bus to an off-airport bus station to catch a second bus that would then take me to Santa Monica.)

* Lengthy connections between terminals: IAD, JFK, PHL, LAX, LHR.

* Wireless dead zones that somehow always overlap with my gate.

* Not enough power outlets.

* Not enough room for people to congregate before a flight. See the C and D concourses at IAD.

* Poor plane viewing opportunities. See the C and D concourses at IAD (and, come to think of it, UX's regional-jet pier at DEN).

* Boring architecture that gives you no reason to look up. It's easier to list exceptions--say, DCA, IAD's main terminal, ORD's terminal 1, HKG, PVG--than examples, since there are so many of those available.

* Lack of local food and drink. If I can't get a beer brewed within 150 miles, there's something wrong with your area or your airport, possibly both.