I hate that feeling of having to type as fast as possible, so the instant fetching won't waste bandwidth or distract me before I've finished giving it all the information it will need. Multi-step processes like getting directions can be annoying this way, as it reloads every time you change a parameter (like entering an address, swapping source and dest. addresses, or changing transportation mode), so if you have to do all three to get what you actually want you're really going to be waiting. Am I just a weird user? I mean, I know my frustration isn't very rational, but is user frustration ever rational? It hurts the product either way.

Sometimes I just do a general Google search (from Chrome's omnibar with Instant searching disabled) for the directions I need. It usually auto-detects it's a maps query and has a card ready to go with options. Then I don't have to wait for suggestions to load or for the map to pan around.

I just tried a one-step query in Google Maps itself, and it worked, so that's helpful ("From Address 1 to Address 2").