Scheduled out of IAD last Sunday at 5:25 pm to SFO. Got there 2.5 hours early and found the biggest disorganized mess of an airport I have encountered in a very long time. Very nearly missed our flight. Half mile long lines for everything, no line ropes/dividers etc. Complete chaos. I have been in 3rd world countries whose airports worked better than this.

Have the misfortune of being also scheduled to come through IAD on a flight back from Paris on a Friday (thank you ual for discontinuing the non-stop to Paris) and just last night heard a horror story about customs etc. at IAD. Aside from spending $400 to change the routing on two tickets any suggestions for dealing with what is seeming to be a chronic problem there? I had hoped this was a one time, especially busy, late Sunday afternoon anomaly, but I am beginning to fear that this is just SOP at IAD. Any tips appreciated!

How odd

That's not usually the case with IAD.

I know that lots of people complain about customs but my experience has been mostly excellent. I usually return from Europe via AMS which arrives relatively early in the afternoon but not always before banks of other flights arrive. In every instance I have been able to get off of the plane and get through mid-field customs with very minimal delays. I have frequently made it through in ten minutes after opening the door. Of course I never check a bag and make sure that I am near the door when selecting a seat.

IAD is a nightmare on just about any day after 3:00 PM in my experiece. If it's a weekend from Friday to Sunday then it's twice as bad. Chalk this up to the international departures for Europe that are scheduled by just about every single airline flying out of IAD. I try my best to avoid scheduling departures out of IAD in the late afternoon for domestic flights.

Customs at IAD is no worse than MIA where I don't even feel like I am arriving in the US.

TSA has a reduced staff working on Sundays.

If you ever wondered what would happen if you crossed an airport with a dirty bus depot with a third-world refugee camp with a Marrakech street bazaar...you could get something pretty close to IAD. On a good day.
(why are fares to/from DCA so expensive? People are willing to pay a serious premium to avoid IAD at all costs!)

I know I am.

(gotta love the power of the ellipse when quoting someone! )

Have you tried catching a UX flight out of IAD? My flight from SEA-IAD-ROA was delayed over 4 hours Saturday morning because operation apparently forgot to schedule the entire flight crew! Be glad they got rid of the "Connections Barn" G Termain. What a mess that was!

Silly me assumed that DC of all places would have a class act of an airport. I wish I had known all of this before booking the Paris trip. Connecting in Detroit would have been better than this. We are scheduled to depart IAD on a Friday at 5:25 (same flight as before) with a little over 2 hours to clear customs and get to a new gate and I can only imagine what kind of nightmare this will be. Any advice on what to do about this at this point? (I can't think of any way out of this that won't cost me $400... )

Do you really think your second flight will leave on time?

Connecting in downtown Detroit would be better than connecting at IAD.

Hope for your flight to be delayed! Seriously, I've only checked in at IAD once; mostly I'm just flying through. I didn't have much of a problem when I checked in on a Sunday late-afternoon using the Premiere line (I was only a 2P then ... the horror!). You might ask one of the agents if they can get you a pass to use the quick security line. Sometimes at SEA they affix a "First Class" sticker to your boarding pass envelope which lets you get out of the cattle line. Just remember to dress nice and be curtious!

The one last Sunday did and whoever was supposed to be sitting in front of me did not make it. I ended up with no seat leaning back on me, but it was at the unfortunate expense of some poor person stuck in security.

But DC DOES have a class act of an airport -- it's DCA. You just picked the wrong one.

That is the only reason we made our flight last Sunday. I saw a "Premium" line for security and since there was no indication of what "premium" meant, or who was entitled to use it I asked several people. Everyone said the same thing - that they hoped it was for Premier members (as opposed to business of first only). We are both Premier members and my husband had been on the upgrade list (but didn't make it) so we got in the line and they let us through. Still not sure who it is really for.

Also, part of the mess was that since my husband was on the upgrade list the curbside check-in people could not give him a boarding pass (after standing in a half milel long line) and he had to go stand in another half mile long line. When did it become impossible to get a boarding pass in the usual way if you are on the upgrade list??