Originally Posted by abramom
I must be lucky. My flights IAD-GIG IAD always return at 6AM and the place is alwys empty and with picking up luggage never takes me more than 15 minutes from entering to exiting.
On the otherhand have you ever been through MIA? Now that is a joke.
I find that my arriving S. American flights are usually a breeze as well, also, due to them being so early (though the GRU and EZE flights sometimes compete with each other); the NH flight from Tokyo is never a hassle, either. But the afternoon bank of European arrivals? UGH! I now avoid at all costs. The people in my corporate travel department now book me automatically through ORD for my European inbounds (mostly from LHR and FRA), and I need to ask them if I want direct IAD flights.
Begin Rant
I can handle cancelled flights, late flights, traffic jams, rude f/a's, general ineptitude, culture clashes, language barriers, weird foreign customs (most of which I'm used to, anyway), a bug in the sandwich, a mouse in the hotel room, missed connections, erroneously cancelled hotel reservations, a gate agent vomiting in front of me as I'm waiting for a shoeshine, an f/a with her wig on sideways (literally), a broken 1st class seat on a trans-con, a guy from coach literally shoving me aside as he runs up to be the first person off the plane, J-41's, regional jets that sit on the ground delayed in summer with no a/c, people who get to the bottom of the escalator and then stand there looking poleaxed, air vents that drop ice pellets on me, the face grease left on the window by a previous seat occupant, and a host of other general annoyances and insults.
I cannot, however, stomach IAD customs (nor the G terminal). I may be the only one to feel this strongly, but I do. I can't explain it. Maybe it's a control thing. Beats me. I just have a physical aversion to the place.
End Rant
I've never arrived through MIA, only departed there. I've heard it's pretty bad there, too...
Will