BWI terminal D security lines are always long
 

Has anyone else been frustrated by Terminal D security lines at BWI? I have been going through at different times (most afternoon 3-5pm or late 7-8pm), and every time there is a long line and it take forever, even the Elite line. Even after 7pm your lucky to have more than 1 lane open.

I hate to say it but chalk one up for Southwest, terminals A and B are a breeze! I never even need to use the fly by lane. Even terminal C for Jetblue is easier.

Although I perfer flying Airtran, gate D is a pain!

PS- good resturant though, The Green Turtle!

I'm surprised by your Elite line experience. I fly out of BWI D every week, and when I get there, there's never anyone in the Elite line. I can always walk right up to the podium.

I fly out of BWI a lot, so I know what you're talking about. However, although the lines are often very long, I will say that they actually move much faster than you think they will.

Several times when I've arrived the line has stretched all the way down the hall, and it looks like it will take an hour to get through. So I make my way to the back of the line and watch in amusement as every person makes their way back there with the same draw-dropped expression and saying something like "I've never seen a line this long!"

In reality, the longest it's ever taken me to go from the back of that line to security is about 15 minutes. The line moves very quickly. In fact there are signs along the hall that say "10 minutes from here to security," and no one seems to believe it, but they're true!

Now, as far as the Greene Turtle, I'll also disagree with you a bit there. I ended up having lunch there a few weeks ago after a flight was delayed, and I thought the food was about average for an airport pub/restaurant. Unfortunately there aren't any great food options in terminal D, in my opinion.

I gotta agree...there is no real good food in D. The candy store and the pretzel place are okay, but it's hard to mess those up. The restaurants are all lackluster...sadly, I think due to the much higher volume of pax in A/B all the good fast food is over there too.

I heard that D used to have a Roy Rogers, which closed. I would have even preferred that to any of the options that are there now.

I fly out of BWI D every other week, and I'm also surprised that the OP encounters long elite lines (I never do).

I agree with the last couple comments, there are no good food options in D. Well, I guess if you like mall food courts, then you'll like what's offered in D.

There did used to be a Roy Rogers, but good riddance to them. The food was barely adequate and the service was abysmal, very slow and surly.

A bit OT, but as far as food, I was surprised by how good the chopped salads at Quiznos are...they are served with this delicious heated bread too. Just thought I would mention in case you haven't tried them. Near McDonald's and close to D21 I think.

I've been in the lines when they extend to Terminal E & they never usually run longer than 20 minutes or so. Based on the architecture of the screening area, people usually adhere strictly to the Bell curve when picking TSA lines, so keep your eyes peeled for a scanner or two that has no one in them.

That would be no more of a strike against Roy Rogers than against any other food place or other service at BWI! In fact, when compared to the peer group, "very slow and surly" might rate about a B+. :p

I went through security around 2:00pm on Monday and the lines were extremely low in security. The only hold up was that the security agents weren't moving fast enough to keep bins stocked in 2 lines. Frustrating but still very fast.

I noticed that the agents were very aware of line backups and were constantly opening up lines by opening and closing the barriers to herd us into lines faster. Maybe it was just a good day?

If you're claiming that this happened at BWI then I would call it more like a hallucination! :D

Actually, I take that back...I can believe the part about the lines being short at 2 PM on a Monday...not exactly a prime travel time...and that the employees were moving slowly.

I flew out of Concourse D last October on a Sunday evening and encountered a sizeable line. I was flying UA and didn't spot an Elite line, is it only for Airtran passengers?

It's for Elites on all airlines that use D. It's located on the far right, near the exit from airside.

Don't feel bad about missing it; I've flown out of Concourse D at BWI dozens of times and I still never noticed it until it was mentioned on FT.

I flew into BWI last week and confirmed that the elite line does, in fact, exist and is marked with a fairly large sign. Unless the sign is new, that made me even more :o

That sign has been there for a year maybe, it's just not really talked about (like fight club). They do seem to enforce it somewhat which makes me happy. Also, for those complaining about Terminal D security lines, head on over to C for a prime time TSA run, it has to be the most poorly designed layout. Although wide where all of the scanners are, the bottle neck in the beginning causes sheer pandemonium for those non-frequent fliers... and the elite line doesn't exactly help either.