Originally Posted by kevanyalowitz
See - for me - I can get into BWI faster and with less hassle than IAD and can then work in the RCC - whereas at Dulles the entire pre-departure expirence is a pain. I generally do the BWI-SEA route also and up until recently I have just taken the SEA-IAD redeye. HOWEVER, this summer it is scheduled VERY late (11:20 or something like that) which means arrival at IAD is past 7am. This leads to a very long cab ride to DC. So, I have done SEA-SFO-BWI a couple times in order to get to DC earlier.
Yes, the non-stop is easier, but I hate Dulles so much that I would rather stop in DEN, download e-mail, and head on to Seattle than screw arround with the 5p IAD intl bank chaos.
Even though the red-eye runs late in the summer, I still manage to get to downtown Baltimore by 9:30am. The summer traffic is better than the rest of the year. It will go downhill fast after Labor Day.
I leave Baltimore for IAD at 1:30p to catch the 5:25p flight. Thats a lot of wasted time since I have to allow at least a one hour buffer in case of an accident on the way or somethings. Its not that bad getting in... the worst part is the gas wait at the Exxon station. With the new security line that is a breeze (but wasn't bad before at 3p on a Friday, gets really bad at 4p). I take refuge in Terminal B and then take the B-C/D shuttle over to the chaos before boarding. Its really not too bad...