I do not know if it is a prelude to Potomac Air/DC Air or competition from Midway but most flights between RDU and DCA are now on Express regional jets at absurd times (0615 vs. 0700). No more FC for me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Originally posted by biggs:
I do not know if it is a prelude to Potomac Air/DC Air or competition from Midway but most flights between RDU and DCA are now on Express regional jets at absurd times (0615 vs. 0700). No more FC for me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Hmmm...IIRC, there have been at least three big shifts at RDU. They used to all be Dash-8s; then mixed Dash-8s and jets, now RJs and ???

I just discovered this as well, and it's pretty crummy! I regularly fly to PHL, and the Friday afternoon return trip of PHL-DCA-RDU was a nice way to get an extra segment (and enjoy the Airbus 319 on both legs). Needless to say, I won't be doing that on a regional jet...

Can't we get decent parking *and* decent service from RDU? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

Can't we get decent parking *and* decent service from RDU?

Nope! I personally detest RDU. I love FAY. Quick, cheap, friendly staff and at least there are daily F100 flights. Not the greatest plane but it's only a 30 minute flight. If you complain about that..well..who cares! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Too me, RDU is a definate mini-hub for US. It has flights to PHI, PIT, and CLT, LGA, DCA and BWI (I think and I'm sure others that I forgot). They also have a US Airways club. Too me that seems a bit excessive when one of your hubs is a 30 minute flight away at CLT. Just thought I would share my worthless thoughts. ;-)

Actually, based on this press release, I guess the answer to my question (about parking) is definitly "NO!"...
http://www.rdu.com/news/release_010501.shtml

Originally posted by JetTroop:
Nope! I personally detest RDU. I love FAY. Quick, cheap, friendly staff and at least there are daily F100 flights. Not the greatest plane but it's only a 30 minute flight. If you complain about that..well..who cares! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Too me, RDU is a definate mini-hub for US. It has flights to PHI, PIT, and CLT, LGA, DCA and BWI (I think and I'm sure others that I forgot). They also have a US Airways club. Too me that seems a bit excessive when one of your hubs is a 30 minute flight away at CLT. Just thought I would share my worthless thoughts. ;-)

Looking at US's timetable, they have service to AVL, BOS, BWI, CHS, CLT, DCA, GSP, LGA, ORF, PHL, and PIT - so yes, a lot more service than simply a station.

petersw

You don't know it, but you really pushed one of my empathetic buttons regarding the parking situation at RDU.

Being RDU-based like you (I live just north of the airport) I pass thru the airport a minimum of twice and often 4-6 times a week. The most polite thing that I can say about the parking is that it is absolutely the worst I've ever seen in a moderate to large sized airport.

And they just raised the fees by over 30%.

You'd think, with that type of increase, they'd put in a predictable, reliable, and frequent bus service from Remote Lots 1,2,3, and particularly the Cow Pasture (Remote Lot 4) other than the 'every 15 minutes, or whenever we feel like it' frequency.

You'd also think that when they built that new parking garage, that they wouldn't carve out a whole chunk of the middle for this gigantic atrium which, if it had been made into additional garage space, could probably have accommodated another 200 cars.

What's a mother to do? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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/swaggie

JetTroop

The one thing that RDU offers that FAY doesn't is the presence of Southwest Airlines.

They're a great asset, as they keep fares on all airlines low on the routes where they compete. That's the upside. And it's a good one.

The downside is that people drive from all over the southeast - from South Carolina up through Virginia and West Virginia, to take advantage of these low fares. No other airport in the region has the kind of fares that RDU has to many different destinations.

Of course, this doesn't make the parking situation any easier.

We oughta have a lot especially for out-of-staters. They could use the Remote Lot 4 Annex. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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/swaggie

All of us RDU users will be happy to know that the newest parking deck will take 4 years to build and my favorite space to park will be gone. I hope I am not banished to Lot 4. I do not have time to wait for buses that always seem to be elsewhere.

Also noticed last night that the USE RJs from DCA to RDU were delayed but then again so was I on JI.

Biggs,

Looks like USE is beginning some of the RDU-PIT flights as well. Ugh.



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/swaggie