Fanjet

I believe that is the former AA AC when they flew out of D. Then, when they moved to B, they opened a new AC adjacent to BA's lounge. However, that AC closed a few year back.

dinoscool3

Are the blue doors actually abandoned? I could have sworn I’ve seen security officers coming in and out of those doors.

HeadInTheClouds

Good info there and matches my memory. I for sure remember the BA clubs there - I think there were two (one for F one for J) and the AA club. And I also remember the LH club in the main terminal. Those were also the days when the “moon buggies” could take you straight from the main terminal to your plane IIRC.

FlyerBeek

Fascinating thread. Despite currently being my home airport, I didn’t start regularly flying out of IAD until around 2006. I really had no appreciation that other airlines/lounges used terminals C/D besides UA. Appreciate the added context and discussion in this thread - definitely learned something new. Thanks.

-FlyerBeek

lincolnjkc

There are a few pairs of double blue doors on D -- at least one set has a bunch of temporary-turned-permanent looking paper signs on the door implying that there are training and break rooms beyond but this set I've never seen with any signs of life -- not that that is in any way conclusive given that I don't routinely stake out random airport doors

I'm in a similar position -- while I still consider Cleveland my home airport by a long distance, my wife started a new job on the Mall in DC just before the pandemic put the world into chaos so I'm doing a lot more O/D flying out of IAD than I ever thought I would a couple years ago. It's quickly turning into a second home airport.

Plus while I really dislike the quality of UA's facilities at IAD as a whole compared to other hubs, it has proven to be a more operationally-reliable connection point than EWR or ORD and the number of CR5s has meant I've been able to avoid the CR2 (which between that and terminal A were my two biggest reasons to avoid connecting at IAD in the past) -- and when things don't work out it's the perfect excuse for a spontaneous dinner and night with the wife

It's always interesting to me to learn about the what came before and the "why things evolved they way they have" particularly at a place like terminal D which I had always assumed was UA dominated and conjoined with C -- from this thread it's clear that neither of those assumptions were true

mozilla

A quick Google search for "DM-390" and "IAD" reveals detailed ground maps dated December 2020. It gives some insight into the current use of these facilities, which is mostly airline use/crew lounge, which confirms that these facilities were most likely originally constructed as a passenger lounge.

For DM-390, it says "United Airlines Executive Suite" and "Air Carrier Office".

The second door leads to what I believe is DM-320, it says "Commute Air Crew Lounge".

For DM-140, it says "UAL Office".

Fraser

That's the entrance to the old British Airways First lounge. It was there from around 2005-2009 when BA moved over to A/B.

A few pictures from my first visit there shortly after it opened. Very small but had a little self serve bar. There was a Terraces (Business Class) lounge just up the concourse and inside that lounge was separate dining room for First passengers.
https://fbgd.shutterfly.com/3790#3791

EWR764

A preview of the Polaris Lounge layout is there, across from C17.

Kmxu

CLT

Interesting, and thanks for the link with the pictures!

That's seriously the most drab lounge I have ever seen, and I wonder what BA was thinking with that weird wooden motif. Then again, I think the point of the "Terraces" lounges was to have some sort of outside/patio-type atmosphere (hence the name Terraces).

Fraser

That wooden thing you see in a few pictures was a sliding door that you could roll across to shut off the back area as a VIP room of sorts. Lots of diplomatic and political traffic on BA between Washington and London.

It was perfectly fine as a pitstop, especially when coupled with the proper dining room within the Terraces lounge for pre-flight dining. You can see the First Dining Room a few pictures further in.

uastarflyer

To get to the Polaris lounge will require stairs or an elevator? That stinks. Much prefer ground floor entrance plus escalator/elevator option with roller bag in tow

lincolnjkc

I don't see that -- CM seems to be the designation for the mezzanine level of terminal C (which is where all of the gates are) and it appears the Lounge is behind the restrooms and Be Right Burger on the terminal level...

That said most of the UCs at IAD are on a lower level with stairs/elevator (and perhaps I'm irrationally perturbed that a party of 2 always seems to stop at the bottom of the D club's stairs to bicker about whether or not to take the stairs or elevator blocking my path...

drewguy

Yeah, from the plans it looks that way - there's no obvious way to get from the entrance on the mezzanine level to the main area without passing the things marked as stairs or elevator.

That said, my guess is that it's a short flight of stairs and a wheelchair lift and the plans just don't show that specificity. If you look at some of the pictures in the Polaris Lounge thread (including post 164) it appears that the floor is raised above the concourse level somewhat - the windows are higher than the concourse windows. (This may be to accommodate luggage facilities underneath)

fumje

If you look at it from the outside, it's apparent that the floor level in the Lounge is about half a storey above the terminal.