Actally, they sent the man in front of me to the regular security line and did seem to be paying some attention. There was also some official looking guy giving some other official looking guy grief, the the latter just kept saying that he didn't have many personnel to work with and was doing the best he could with what he had. Why they can't put up some ropes to snake a line back and forth is beyond me. SFO does a fine job of organizing a lot of pax with a minimum of hassle and you can see where you are going.

I would love to be connecting through DCA, but the formerly non-stop flight to Paris now goes through IAD and I was afriad to fly through ORD because of the weather.

For all of us WAS-based (and even those that aren't), there still are some advantages for leaving from IAD. I don't like them so much, but they definitely revolve around time and cost benefits. If I need to get to the west coast early, I'd fly from IAD on the ~6:00 a.m. flights direct...no time or need to connect in ORD. Also, the obvious answer are the direct Int'l trips that no one would want to risk with connections. Perfect example: I was blessed to get an award trip this summer to ICN & HKG. Luckily, I was leaving from DCA...my girlfriend was leaving from ALB. We were to meet in ORD for 4 hours and then continue on to NRT, then to ICN. Well...it was completely messed up by the day before (20 July 06) in ORD causing everyone the night before to miss their flights. It turns out, we missed our flight in ORD by 2 minutes and had to spend the night in ORD and miss a day in Seoul. So, even though you might pad enough time in a stop in ORD, something could come up. Then there is the FCO and KWI (I know...who is REALLY going there?) flights that are only served from IAD.

I live two stops away on the metro from DCA and love its convienience...however, I do still fly from IAD every so often. It's not my favorite, but I don't hate it. However, if I was a GM and had to put up with every bad quirk...I might hate it.

IAD still has a necessity here in the region and I really wish they'd start improving things instead of start adding more flights and more options, which will in turn, make things even worse.

-jeremy

I fly out of IAD every Monday morning and I have seen TONS of ppl being denied the Premium line. I think there's 0% chanse of a non-Elite/non C/F going through the Premium line!

In general I am indifferent about IAD. If I am truly going to DC (rare) then I'd, of course, prefer to fly into DCA given its proximity to the city. But for connections it's not so bad.

The only time I truly loathe it is after flying 12 hours all night from South America and arriving at the crack of dawn at IAD, then having to walk half a mile to the people mover shuttles, wait in more lines for immigration, collect luggage, clear customs, re-check luggage, and then go wait in the security line again. At that time I'm usually a very unpleasant person to be around. ORD is much better for those early AM arrivals, IME. However, I have not had the chance to try the new premium security line at IAD so perhaps that would help things. I still hate the people movers at 6 AM, though. At 8 PM they're sort of fun and retro; at 6 AM they are rage inducing. :)

Animal Farm backwards
 

In George Orwell's novel the idealistic farm run by the communists (the pigs) eventually becomes indistinguishable from the farms fun by capitalists (men).

IAD has transformed in the opposite direction, from free-market-efficiency into an embodiment of the old Soviet Union: shuffling queues, unexplained delays, unhelpful staff, meaningless security-checks.

Only made possible, of course, by a cowed population who dare not raise their voices to complain.

I have actually thought of trying to call someone in charge there to get some idea of how anyone can actually think this is even remotely acceptable. But I am sure it would be a waste of time and being forewarned will help me try to avoid this airport. Unfortunately we also transit IAD going to and from Argentina right before New Year's. Now I know why we were able to get ff tickets with this routing!

Unless you travel at peak travel times, IAD is usually all right for international connecting travel. The exceptions to this are summer and holidays, where high passenger congestion makes it cumbersome to clear customs.

But if you originate in the WAS area heading for Europe you get the full benefit of the incredible check in lines.

Wow.
This is easily the deepest, most thought-provoking post I've read in a long time.

With the exception of the ones written by me, naturally. ;)

[QUOTE=flyinryan]Wow.
This is easily the deepest, most thought-provoking post I've read in a long time.
QUOTE]

I am pleased about that, not because I started this thread, but because this is the major international airport at our nation's capitol. It is bad enough that our leaders and our politics are making us wildly unpopular across the globe and making traveling more difficult for us (I realize I am treading into politics here ...). Flying out of IAD as an American is bad enough. But to welcome international visitors via IAD or subject them to this phenomenal ineffeciency as they try to leave is a disgrace, plain and simple. If only the thoughts it provoked were in the minds of those who had some accountablity for this disaster of a transportation hub we might be on the way to solving this mess.

Calling Washington Dulles a third world airport is doing a disservice to third world airports, some of which are much more tolerable than the massive mangled hell hole that Washington Dulles is. Incompetence, Inefficiency and Idiocy lurks at every corner. Whether it is the RCC, United Agents, Airport Staff or even the monster truck people movers. My monster truck driver took four or five times to park the horrid thing. I swear we spent 10 minutes attempting to park the thing which was like being put in a soda can and shaken.

IAD this morning, 10/30
 

I got here at 4:30AM, and there was a sizeable, but certainly not monstrous crowd waiting for security. TSA was only running a couple of lanes. Premium line did not open until 5am when TSA opened up more lanes, but there was quite a crowd waiting for the premium line. I jumped in the regular line. Whole thing might've taken 20 minutes. I beat most of the people who were waiting in the premium line through the checkpoint. However, I think things were working better for that line once TSA opened up more lanes at 5am.

Last time I flew out of here was 10/8. The checkpoint entrance has relocated to the opposite end of the terminal since then, closer to AA. So that will be a change for those of you who haven't flown out of here in a few weeks.

Thank God the Brits have LHR - a perfect model of efficiency for a major world capital! BTW, IAD is not in Washington, DC -- it's in the Commonwealth of Virginia, home of world class Senator George Allen. :rolleyes:

Apparently things have changed since I last took a 6AM flight a couple of months ago - security used to not open until 5AM no matter how many people were waiting. I wondered how they all made their flights.

Dulles is not operated by the State of Virginia. It is run by a multi-state board, which may explain why it is such a mess:

"The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors with five members appointed by the Governor of Virginia, three by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, two by the Governor of Maryland and three by the President of the United States.

The Airports Authority operates a two-airport system that provides domestic and international air service for the mid-Atlantic region. The organization consists of more than 1,200 employees in a structure that includes central administration, airports management and operations, and police and fire departments.

The Airports Authority is not taxpayer-funded but is self-supporting, using aircraft landing fees, rents and revenues from concessions to fund operating expenses. The Dulles Development Program is funded by bonds issued by the Authority, Federal and State Airport Improvement Program funds, and Passenger Facility Charges."