Washington Dulles - Anyone had bad experiences?

[NickN]

I have a tight layover in Washington, and was wondering if anybody has any horror stories? Or in exchange any good stories?

My layover is 1 hour so I hope It works out.

Will be my first ever time on a CRJ200 I'm looking forward to it, and I believe it is an Explus service.

[Chris B.]

Watch Die Hard 2...you'll see. ;)

[NickN]

I hope it's not like that!

[Gabriel S.]

Depends on what terminals you're arriving and departing from. The A gates, which handle most of the CRJs, can be a mess sometimes.

Also no CRJ-200s are Explus, only 700s and E170s.

[Sarah C]

I was there last year for a few days so didn't have to connect. The success of your connection really depends on which terminals you have to go to and the amount of walking. It is similar to Sydney in a way - you have to get on a mobile lounge to change concourses (terminals) so you might have to wait a couple of minutes for the next one to arrive.

Other than that, it is like any other US airport - my experience was smooth and they have some sections with nice large windows to take photographs.

[NickN]

It must be a 700 then the itinierary just says CRJ2 I assume it meant -200.

[Edward Terry]

If possible try to get on board one of those buses with stilts!

[Philip Argy]

The trick with the shuttles is to know that you leave through the end opposite to the one you entered - they rarely do a U-turn unless a door is broken. That way you'll be first off if you're in a hurry. A lot of people crowd the entry door wrongly imagining that they'll leave through the door they entered.

Of course a more obvious clue is that the driver also changes cabins - they have dual control cabins so that the driver always faces the direction of travel - and is directly adjacent the door latching mechanism to ensure a smooth docking with the terminal entry door on each trip. There is a door either side of the driver's cabin.

[Tim C]

I was at IAD 2 weeks ago and to be honest found it a bit of mess. Lots of lines and all the terminals apart from each other. Not the quickest to go through.

[NickN]

Any way of having my bags transferred from my inbound to my outbound flight to avoid security and re-checking in?