Several posters caused me to think about the old days at IAD -- early 1980s for me.

During that period I was stationed in the UK and frequently went back & forth between London and Washington. This was in the days before the midfield terminals. I remember boarding one of four mobile lounges that went from the main terminal (the only one existing at that time) directly to a Pan Am or TWA 747. They parked at each of the four door on one side of the 747. There ws no rhyme or reason to the lounge you boarded or which door it parked at. Usually, these 747s were jammed full and you had people crawling over each other all at once getting to their seats. I remember it used to take a full hour from the time you left the main terminal until the aircraft was ready to move. The posted departure time was the time you left the terminal in the mobile lounge, not the time the aircraft actually started moving.

Also, back in those days, the only parking lot was the one right outside the main terminal that is now the hourly/valet lot. During the holidays, it would frequently fill up. If you drove all the way out there and the parking lot was full, you were out of luck. Of course, you couldn't use the couple of dozen spaces reserved for Congressman and Senators. As an aside, all of the rental cars were parked under the terminal where the baggage claims are now located. At least that was convenient!

Ah, the good old days...