Originally Posted by
DCA1983
DCA is a slot-limited airport, the only one in the region and the only one nationwide that's not in NYC. The ability to fly a plane in and out is a precious commodity and the airlines price that as such. It's simple supply and demand playing out when there's a cap on the supply.
Additionally, the taxes/fees that are passed onto the consumer are higher at DCA than IAD/BWI, that's just a fact.
Fares at DCA are, in general, higher than IAD for destinations they both serve.
While in the abstract, this could be a decent argument, it's just not supported by fact. There are a number of other factors that play into airfare pricing (especially at IAD, where a lot of the traffic is connecting).
Note, you've also ignored the fact that AA flies LAX-IAD nonstop.
Your comment to the OP was that LAX-DCA is "verrryyy $$$" as compared to LAX-IAD. That just isn't always true.
Random selection of dates:
2/5-2/9: UA LAX-IAD-LAX $299 AS or AA LAX-DCA-LAX $299
5/20-5/31: UA IAD-LAX-IAD $358 AS DCA-LAX-DCA $370
(the cheapest option with a stop is out of DCA, Airtran at $302)
7/18-7/21: UA IAD-LAX-IAD $422 AS DCA-LAX-DCA $502
1/29-1/31: UA
or AA LAX-IAD-LAX $300 AS LAX-DCA-LAX $822
So yes, in these four random examples, is the nonstop out of IAD cheaper than out of DCA? Most of the time, but not always. Is it "verrryyy $$$" compared to IAD? Once out of four. If you're booking in advance, the difference tends to be less than the cost of one way taxi to IAD.