Ticketed to BWI, Standby for DCA/IAD?
 

Anyone have experience flying standby to DCA or IAD when they are ticketed to BWI? I'll be flying into EWR on a red eye and EWR-DCA departs almost 2 hours earlier than the EWR-BWI flight I'm ticketed on. My recollection is that CO is not very flexible on this, but it'd be nice to know in advance if there's any chance at all. FWIW, I won't have any checked bags and there appears to be plenty of availability on all flights involved.

Thanks in advance for any info/experiences you can share, I wasn't able to find much on continental.com or on searches of this forum.

If you try at the checkin counter they will most likely try to charge you a change fee for this (hey, it's always worth at least asking). I recently tried to change EWR-MDW to EWR-ORD and was told (rather rudely) at the checkin counter that it would require a change fee. The folks at the EWR PC, however, were able to change our tix with a phone call and a lot of typing. I would suggest that you try asking at the PC if you are a member or can get in. If not, try asking VERY nicely at the gate for the DCA/IAD flights.

The fact that iad and bwi leave out of terminal C and dca leaves out of terminal A will further complicate matters.

I have had very good luck doing this in IAH to DCA rather than BWI. Don't even think of trying at the counter! Go to the gate of the DCA flight you want and ask nicely as XYZZY says. If the terminals are an issue, my advice, is to very kindly approach a redcoat in the terminal where you are waiting and ask if you could switch. The stories of rude redcoats at EWR are not really exaggerated, but usually a non-confrontational "help me" tone with an elite reservation in the computer is enough to sway them.

As to the return, I have been turned down numerous times from DCA, of course b/c sometimes the fare is airport specific and the agents are just too lazy to look up the fare basis and see that co-terminals may just be allowed. I never argue, as I am the one asking for a favor! A DCA-IAD switch is never a problem but BWI is often a deal breaker. JMHO!

Well, I suspect that's a whole different ball of wax compared to BWI and IAD/DCA. Down at the bottom of CO fare rules is typically:

So, my understanding is that fares between EWR-ORD and EWR-MDW are basically the same, and changing between the two airports not considered a routing change. Same with EWR-DCA and EWR-IAD, for example.

However, EWR-BWI has its own (usually lower) fares and moving to IAD or DCA would be a routing change, I believe. Only way I've been able to move between BWI and DCA is during irregular operations. Doesn't hurt to ask, though.

Nevertheless, I feel your pain connecting to BWI from a red-eye. I fly SAN-EWR-BWI frequently on Sunday nights; I hate waiting around EWR for that first flight to Baltimore. DCA is way more convenient, but frequently much more expensive, too. (I'd rather drive up to SNA if it snags me a flight into DCA, but I avoid IAD at all costs -- too many bad experiences there. :eek: )

The first BWI flight of the morning from EWR is late enough that I don't think the OP would have any trouble trying for a DCA flight or two. Does make things a hassle, though, no doubt.

If you can demonstrate cause, you have a stronger case (i.e., if your BWI flight is late, ask them to reaccommodate you to DCA).

In the last few months fares at dca and bwi have become more equal so maybe that will help. Never new IAD and DCA were considered same desitination this is way valuable information Guess it pays to read the fine print.

BTW my experience is that in cases of delays you can make the switch space available. They seem pretty flexible over at term A vis a vis changes of course I've only tried with a DCA ticket but it runs more like a shuttle over there then it was term c from my perspective. Still hate the a to c transfer... Where's the much needed bus inside security!!!!!

I never tried a BWI switch, but I was turned down flat trying to switch a IAD flight to DCA - even though the DCA flight went out over 50% empty.

Although they are considered co-terminals, the fare code that applied to IAD did not exist for DCA (I think X),so they would not do the switch - now all of that info came after calling the elite line.

When I asked at the counter, I was scoffed at rudely by an EWR agent who never even took a moment to check my ticket and see if it was possible. At the gate, I was told 'no' - again, without bothering to check.

So if the answer is "no" - and it's due to a fare basis issue between the destinations - that is OK...but at least the agent should take the time to look up my ticket and explain the situation to me in a nice way.

I suggest researching your fare basis and rules before heading to the airport - possibly even printing out what you find that shows it's permissable (same fare class published, co-terminals allowed) in case you run into an issue.

I hadn't even considered that I'll have to change terminals to get to the DCA/IAD flights. I should be okay timewise, but am I likely to have problems getting through terminal A security with a boarding pass for BWI, a terminal C destination?

Thanks for all the feedback.

That's what I experienced at the terminal A EWR counter with my ORD/MDW request. I was also told (by the folks at the PC) that there was some sort of airport-specific fare in my case. But, since the airports are coterminals it didn't seem to be a problem to change where I was flying. They did go to an extraordinary amount of effort to accomplish the change, however.

Technically speaking, DCA and IAD are NOT co-terminals. DCA and IAD are actually the same point: WAS.

Every fare published into either IAD or DCA is actually published to WAS, and the two airports are interchangeable. The exception would be if there were notations in your fare, such as "VALID ONLY TO/FROM IAD." Generally you see remarks like that on cheap Indy Air-type match fares. Occasionally you'll see the reverse on Frontier-type match fares, "VALID ONLY TO/FROM DCA," but those are few and far between.

ORD and MDW are also NOT co-terminals. They're both the same point, CHI. Look at any Chicago fare, it's published to CHI.

Truth be told, I did actually do my fare search and purchase tickets by entering EWR-CHI in the CO.com search facility. I was told that there was, in my case, a difference in the fare. It was a *really* cheap X fare ($150 RT) that existed for one day. I didn't bother to check the details for that, however. I do note that most CO fares involving CHI have this buried deep within:Note that WAS does not include BWI which leads me to believe the OP is probably stuck in this case, unless there's a particularly helpful agent willing to bend a rule...

Your ticket will price based on the best available fares for the flights selected, regardless of the parameters used for search.

The list you posted is pretty much all the cities considered "the same point:"

CHI - MDW/ORD
HOU - HOU/IAH
NYC - JFK/LGA
WAS - DCA/IAD

A "co-terminal" would be sometihng like BWI/WAS, EWR/NYC, SFO/OAK/SJC, LAX/BUR/ONT/SNA or other such combination. A co-terminal is a completely different animal, and carries with it a completely different (and more restrictive) set of rules.

So...

Standby DCA/IAD = OK (unless prohibited by fare rules)
Standby DCA/BWI = NOT OK

Standby LGA/JFK = OK (unless prohibited by fare rules)
Standby EWR/LGA = NOT OK

and so on...