AirDoc1771

First timer here but wanted to gather your thoughts:

Moved to the DC area from ATL with both an AMEX Plat and AMEX DL Plat (given my med career I rely heavily on spend to qualify for Elite/Medallion status). Actually just upgraded to AMEX DL Reserve before my next Miles boost (I know the benefits are pretty much included in the AMEX Plat, but seeing that DL charged $895 for 5k MQMs last Dec, the extra $250 in annual fees for an extra 10kMQMs is worth it). I'll hit DL elite (Gold or Plat) this year but am wondering, now that I'm out of ATL and into DC where AA/USAir reign supreme, is it time to ditch DL? If so, how do I go about enjoying DL Medallion while establishing on another airline? Plus, the AAdvantage World Elite does not offer the same elite potential as Amex (nor does it have Amex customer service).

Or do I hang on to DL and my cards with better MQM earning potentials and embrace the JFK and ATL connections?

Would be eager to hear you thoughts; thanks so much.

austin_res

Which is the closest DC airport? At DCA USdbaAA has the most flights; for IAD United is king. If you decide to switch airlines, you could ask for a status match.

AirDoc1771

DCA is by far the closest. IAD/BWI only if necessary (will be more willing with IAD once metro gets out there in a few years).

VolareBene

I just moved from DC (lived right downtown) to ATL. While In DC (8 years) I stayed loyal to DL, but it was VERY hard to do so. I remember the days before the slot-swap when there were more flights out of DCA on DL, but even then it wasn't an abundance. Now, it's mostly hub cities. If your travel is mainly to hub cities, I'd say stick with DL. However, if your travel will take you elsewhere, say good-bye to the days of the "nonstop" flight.

I'll end by saying this: Since moving to ATL, I've been so happy not to have so many layovers.

jrl767

welcome to FT

I've lived in the DC area since 2000 (IAD is most convenient from home, DCA from work; BWI is a pain, but public transit from Arlington/DC is actually fairly workable), and have been a pretty regular DL flyer most of that time (in the interest of full disclosure, I divided my loyalty between DL and CO until the latter got swallowed up by UA, and I use AS a fair amount)


I'd say your travel patterns should carry the most weight in your decision: if you can't get to where you want to go without a connection, DL is probably just as good as any other option if fares and schedules suit you ... the limited set of nonstop destinations relative to AA/US out of DCA and UA out of IAD can be a challenge, but the access to pretty much anywhere from ATL/JFK can make up for that

MSPeconomist

I'd avoid IAD but with DL having a (crowded, unfortunately) lounge at DCA, my instinct would be to initially stick with DL and see whether this works for you. You can try a status match/challenge at almost any time, but you should be careful about how your request date impacts how long the status will last.

soxfanndc

OP, I suspect time is pretty valuable to you BUT don't summarily write off BWI. you can get both MARC and Amtrak to BWI right from Union Station and sometimes the fares in/out of BWI make it worthwhile, IMO. I find it always useful to begin my search on DL by putting in "WAS" and not just a particular airport so you can see all the options... Just my two cents....

AirDoc1771

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

My frequent travels take me to NYC and Chicago (where DL wins with the shuttle at the LGA Marine A) as well as ATL - all of these keep DL and DCA as the frontrunner.

The first issue I've encountered was just with south Florida (a frequent trip to MIA/FLL) and no DL options anywhere without a connection. Meanwhile, everyone else offers multiple routes.

I fully acknowledge the privilege of DL in ATL - for example was not expecting a direct JAC (though UA offers it out of IAD) flight on DL. I have seen some pleasant surprises too such as AF's A380 out of IAD (I guess it helps when Airbus' office is next door).

It seems like the move is to hold on to the DL Amex Reserve and see what my status does next year. Maybe in July re-evaluate and see what I'm on track for even with the implementation of the new MQM program. If it's looking bleak (and they don't add any other benefits to the Reserve), then I'll do a status match/challenge.

Is that the move?

DCAproducer

I've lived in DC for about 13 years now. Home is about 1.5 miles from DCA and work is not far either. 90% of my travel is out of DCA and 10% out out BWI. I haven't been to Dulles in years. (Even with Metro the ride will take an hour from Arlington)

About 5 years ago I switched from AA (formerly TWA) to DL. The switch was mainly due to work with clients in ATL and travel to the NYC area. I now travel to the west coast a few times a year, FL, ATL, NYC, ORD a few times a year.

I've stuck with DL, but it almost always requires a connection. 90% of the time it isn't a problem. For me the (3) 70lb bags is a big deal since I'm normally traveling with heavy television production cases. This saves us hundreds of dollars each way, making DL worth the pain. I also get (2) Amex First Class companion passes each year since I have the reserve card and one of my employees has one tied to my business account. These come in handy. I've always found the SWU nice as well and I always use them on leisure trips to the Caribbean.

With that said, once AA and US figure things out my loyalty may change. We'll see.

I also have the DL Amex Reserve as well as Plat Amex and I utilize both enough that I think they pay for themselves. Losing the companion SkyClub access was a big screw job by DL, but AA dumped Amex all together.

WidgetHead

Just to give you another point of reference, I moved from ATL to the DC area about a year and a half ago. I was a DL FO for years (not much, I know...) and never wanted to play the Amex game so it was all BIS miles. Changed jobs when I moved to one where I travel now around 25% to Charlotte and South Florida, with the occasional trip to NY and Chicago. I am about 5 miles closer to IAD, but choose to fly out of DCA because IAD is just so damn cumbersome and United is a hot mess.

I found that DL really was difficult to stay loyal to from DCA. This summer I tried to route one trip through ATL from South Florida and got totally creamed by a T-storm through ATL where I had to overnight in SoFla. Would not have even been an issue with US/AA, even with a connection somewhere.

I decided to start building my status with US and will make Silver by the year's end. I've found that the only market in the Southeast that you'd have to connect to with US/AA is ATL, and even then, I think this might change with the merger. Just my experience. US/AA is not everything that DL is in terms of customer service or amenities, but the continuous devaluations of SkyMiles and the Medallion program made it a good time to switch loyalties and I am not sorry so far.

PS - Precheck at DCA is the absolute best - enormous time saver. If you don't have it already, get it, it's worth the $80 in time and hassle savings.

hoosiereph

A couple of points from a longtime NW, now DL traveler out of DC:

1) Ever since the US slot swap, DL seems to be discouraging connections from WAS through its DTW and MSP hubs in favor of connections through NYC or ATL. This is true both in terms of pricing and the timing of connections. I hate this because -- even though DL builds more time into its schedules for congestion at JFK and ATL -- I find that both ATC and weather delays are far more frequent through these airports than through DTW and MSP (or CVG or SLC).

2) DC-based DMs and PMs are limited in their upgrade opportunities on many routes where DL offers government employees "YCA" fares. FOs and GMs traveling on these fares -- which are often even cheaper than FCM fares -- receive the upgrade priority accorded to any other "Y" fare -- i.e., ahead of higher-medallions on any non-"Y" fare. That said, UA has the same problem.

3) (General note regardless of airline). There are weeks out of the year when the DCA garage is full. There are very few offsite parking options at DCA. The cab lines can be as bad as LGA (Uber has somewhat mitigated this problem). The subway runs on ridiculous headways during weekends and evenings, and has hours that are too limited for early morning departures and late evening arrivals. IAD thus turns out to be more convenient than I would have ever expected.

jkatzen

I used to live in Arlington (before moving to HNL and now ATL) and lived about a 10-15 cab ride from DCA.

One time I overslept and woke up at 9am with a 10am flight. I hadn't even packed. I still made it into my seat with a drink in hand before takeoff. I don't know any other major city airport with that kind of convenience (proximity, speedy security, 60-second walk to gate, etc.)

Before the slot swap with US, there were a number of DL flights from DCA to multiple Florida cities (TPA, MCO, FLL, MIA), BOS, STL, and a number of other cities, but those are all gone now. There might be seasonal ones to MCO, though not sure.

I considered switching to US, but my most frequent routes were to ATL and HNL. US completely avoided DCA-ATL (because of Delta and AirTran), and connection routing to HNL was relatively equivalent between the two. So I stayed with Delta.

If you're going to be a lifer in DC and don't need to get to Atlanta often, US/AA seems like a no-brainer.

US is also known for much cheaper fares on connections than any of the other legacies. They were known to offer connecting flights for 75% of the price of a dominant carrier's nonstop pricing, something you'd expect of all carriers in a reasonably competitive market, which airlines no longer are. (It was actually one of the government hang-ups in the merger approval.) I doubt that benefit will stick around, though, with the airline oligopoly even more secure.

jkatzen

I guess it depends where you live, but it never once occurred to me to drive to DCA. It's no more than a 15-20-minute cab ride from anywhere in the District or Arlington. Most of Arlington's population is no more than a 10-minute cab ride.

Arlington's RedTop cabs use (or used to use) an app called TaxiMagic on which I would summon a cab as I was walking off the jetway. By the time I went to the bathroom and got to the exit (5 minutes after walking off the plane), the cab was usually about to pull up, without waiting in the cab line or paying the extra airport taxi fee.

plinko83

I moved to DC from ATL 10 years ago in 2006. I live about 2 miles from DCA and have stayed DL loyal, and am perfectly happy. I'd say 80% of my DL travel is from DCA, about 15% from BWI and the rare, rare trip to IAD.

While connecting isn't great, it has helped me maintain my status on segments, and, the flight from ATL is only about 1:15, so it just isn't that big a deal to me.

Both the above posts about DCA and BWI are correct - the ease, convenience and location of DCA are second to none in any major city. With Pre Check, I literally have an uber arrive at my house 45 minutes before departure, and I'm usually behind security before boarding starts. My record from my door to the gate is 9 minutes, and the average is about 12. The DL DCA staff, is almost all great and a pleasure to deal with. The DCA Sky Club is a classic location with great views, and while it is sometimes busy, I've never had a problem finding a seat.

BWI is very accessible from DC via Amtrak and Union Station - something I wish I had discovered sooner. I find it to be a much better alternative than IAD...

DL often will have much cheaper fares out of BWI than DCA...it usually takes $100 or more to get me to go to BWI, but since discovering the ease of Amtrak to BWI, it's really not too bad.

Both DCA and BWI have heavy service to DL hubs, especially with DCA's hourly service to/from ATL which allows lots of convenient connections.

I can say with great certainty that I'm perfectly happy being a DL customer here in DC.

mot29

I moved to DC from the Los Angeles area 10 years ago, as a NW flyer. I first made Platinum on NW when I lived in St Paul from 1977 through 1991 (or whatever the top status was back then). Since leaving St. Paul, I've lived SoCal (but mainly flying from ONT), Tampa Bay (flying our of SRQ), western Mass (flying from BDL and BOS). I've chosen to stick with NW/DL. It was easier when CO was part of skyteam.
I did try out US for a year shortly after moving here. I hit Platinum on NW in March and got a status match -- US made me Chairman and I managed to earn Gold for a second year, but my NW experience was better.
hossiereph notes the possible upgrade issues with the number of folks flying on gov contracts -- as a NW Plat and now a DL Diamond I've not missed many upgrades. But I can generally avoid flying the peak days.