Originally Posted by
hearna
Early may 2013; but point taken on a car. So I suppose we should try and find a hotel that provides a shuttle at least from DCA, and take the metro out to IAD.
We would land at DCA either Saturday or Sunday night, and leave Sunday or Monday afternoon. Is it advisable to come in sat and leave sunday to miss the rush hour or big security line ups?
We will be flying in UA-J class if this helps with priority lines.
Thanks for the info/insight guys!
Rather that focusing on shuttle buses to an airport hotel at DCA, since you've on got one night, why no spend it in downtown DC? Have a nice dinner, see the Mall at night and the like. Outbound to IAD, the bus is just that, a city bus. It's a worthwhile backup if all else fails, but if you are paying for a premium experience in the air, why not do the same on the ground? Cabs and car services are plentiful in DC.
Sunday will beat the traffic, but it won't beat the length of the security line because Sunday PM is a heavy departure time. Access to premium security doesn't help much either because they adjust the # of lanes for premium & steerage to the volume. For a 5:00 PM flight, I would be in my taxi no later than 2:30 PM.