I was on 1227 this past Friday and a very short (2 minutes) wait at security. I think the lines in the morning are much longer.

1227 is very tough to upgrade on Thurs/Friday. If you're not Plat and paying a higher fare or checking in really early you have little chance.

Yeah, I'm not too hopeful. Trying to remember why I decided to do CO metal instead of NW. And I'm only NW gold on a super-cheapie...

Guess I'll check in online at 12 hours and hope for the best...

Well, I made it onto 1227 Friday -- just. Tried and failed to check in online earlier in the day. Pre-weekend traffic on the DC beltway was a nightmare and it took more than two hours to drive from Herndon to BWI -- I got to the Hertz lot at 440p. Having read this thread I was sure I was sunk. Ran into the terminal and found CO had inadvertently cancelled my itin, so of course not on upgrade list, lucky to get on at all -- in 11A.

The D concourse security line at 450p snaked back to the E concourse and my heart really sank when I saw it, but to tell the truth it moved briskly and I got through in 20-25 minutes. Jumped aboard 1227 around 520p, sweating a little. (Sorry I missed you, AlphaGolf.) I dunno what Plan B would have been for getting back to SEA tonight had I missed it.

(More and more I miss NW's late bank out of DTW. You used to be able to leave BOS, BWI, DCA, LGA, etc. at 730p or 800p, shoot through DTW and get back to the left coast after midnight. Now, instead, I find myself blowing out of meetings at 230p then stressing over traffic and TSA delays -- it chews up 40% of your day.)

Silver lining -- I got my second leg upgrade IAH-SEA.

For a number of years I've been flying into Washington DC several times annually and I have always steadfastly refused to even consider BWI. Thanks for all the affirmation here. I've never seen the place and I'm fairly certain that I never want to! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Hehe...wonder where you got that... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Standby, the 4:20pm express MARC train from Union Station is what makes BWI tolerable for me for the occasional trip. At least Dulles has an express bus into downtown, not just to the end of the Metro.

pardon my being abit off topic, but can you give me info on the Dulles express bus to downtown? I wasnt able to find anything on it when I searched the wash. airports site. My flight gets in after the last bus-to-metro has left, so I was stuck renting a car to get into DC. The bus seems like a better option if it runs after 11p.

bocastephen, you don't have many more late night options on Metro route 5A-- the last one leaves Dulles at 11:40pm weekdays and 11:35pm weekends.

The schedule is here:

http://www.wmata.com/timetables/dc/5a.pdf

Good luck!

Aaarggghh.. I encountered the same hideous line but also made the flight. No upgrade... 6A (at least 6B was empty). So we were just a few rows away.

I did get u/g on IAH-SNA, and then my first-ever CO bump on the way home, so all was not lost.

Sorry I missed you...

Zipper: hehe

Alpha, which flight were you bumped on? Out of SNA?? I have the SNA red-eye to EWR/ 4 hour connection to BWI booked in July, but I have no prayer for a bump: even standard non-elite awards are still available. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

VJ --

I was on the morning SNA-EWR nonstop. Had been showing all zeroes the Friday before and overflowed because of the 7th Stanley Cup game.

First time I've actually been bumped by CO; been on the list before, but they don't seem to use the vols very often.