Originally Posted by
flyingeph12
I wonder, would DCA-CLT-JFK or DCA-BOS-JFK be an option, rather than DCA-LGA//JFK?
Those routings do automatically pop up on AA award searches for WAS-NYC; they've been coming up intermittently here and there but not for the day I'm flying.
Originally Posted by
flyingeph12
If it were me, I think I would prefer the extra flight over the ground transfer.
On paper, perhaps. But with the summer thunderstorm machine already having gotten started for the year (see last week's chaos all up and down the East Coast), I'd rather be in DC with a bunch of direct shots at NYC (via hourly LGA shuttles or the couple JFK flights) than stuck in CLT or BOS. There are lots of options onward to Europe from NYC; fewer out of those markets.
Originally Posted by
IADCAflyer
If you want a little trick that helps you avoid the mayhem of LGA --> JFK connectors and transits, consider flying BWI to JFK non stop. The MARC/Amtrak service to BWI airport from Union Station is much more predictable and convenient than the bus. $7.00 on MARC and $12.00 on Amtrak. That puts you into BWI and there is a 10:30 BWI-JFK flight that gets you into JFK by noon and ample time to enjoy the Flagship Lounge. I booked this for $110 one way.
Alternate #2 which is cheap is to simply take the Amtrak NEC to Penn Station for $49.00 (sometimes as low as $39.00), take the E train from Penn Station to Sutphin Blvd. and the JFK Aitrain from there to JFK.
I generally avoid adding paid feeder flights to award tickets just out of principle. Plus, I'm more time-rich than cash-rich at this juncture, so saving a couple hundred bucks is worth it.
Re: Amtrak, the whole flight to LGA and transfer to JFK would come in at about time parity with getting to Union Station and NEC to Penn for me, even assuming Amtrak runs on time.
Generally, my philosophy is that I want to be on my single-ticket itinerary as soon as possible. I trust myself to get from LGA to JFK more than I trust Amtrak to get me to Penn Station (or BWI for that matter). It's an imperfect philosophy, for sure, but it's worked OK for me so far.