Moving from NYC to WAS area - Flying DL in WAS
Mar 22, 2019, 6:25 am
#31
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 4
Just got back from DCA. I live in Austin and have switched to Delta from AA. It’s been over three years now. I’m Diamond, and the benefits and customer service compared to American are exceptional. Delta has a nice lounge in DCA. I’ve been extremely impressed with my Delta experience. I will say that AA does have a few Flagship lounges (First Class type lounges) and they are exceptional, but that benefit is not worth giving up the exceptional customer service and perks of Delta Diamond.
Mar 22, 2019, 6:30 am
#32
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: DCA
Programs: DL DM, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 68
Not just a PITA to get to but then a PITA to go through security (no TSA Pre-check or CLEAR to VS). Then when you get back a PITA to get from the airplane to the terminal with that hideous people-mover instead of a jet bridge. Plus VS Upper Class is far inferior to DL Delta One. Ugh. Did it once. Never again.
Mar 22, 2019, 6:50 am
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 47
I live roughly halfway between BWI and CHO, so I don't use BWI much any more (I used to live in Annapolis, MD and BWI was a 25 minute drive away).
I live 15 miles south of IAD and 30 miles west of DCA. Delta's domestic facilities at DCA are much better than they are at IAD; however, a number of Delta's international partners fly out of IAD, and hopefully the AF/KLM lounge will reopen by the end of March (it has been closed for reconstruction and enlargement).
When I use DCA, my practice is to drive my car to the Huntington metro station park-n-ride (south of the Beltway (I-95) between Exits 176 and 177), and park in the area in the structure in the back designated for multi-day parking; and then ride the train to DCA (about a 12 minute ride for the 5.5 mile trip). First train out of Huntington is 5 am sharp, so I can make any of the 6 am flights that Delta has pretty handily (CLEAR comes in handy). My total cost for this will be around $12 ($7 for the transit fare and $4.95 for the parking charge, which is flat regardless of how many days you park (the limit is 10 days)). By contrast, at IAD, I park in the Green Zone of the economy lot, over 2 miles from the terminal; it is a 7-10 minute shuttle bus ride.
At DCA there is a simple and straightforward walk to the Delta security entrance (maybe 100 yards between the metro station exit and the "National Hall" landside concourse, then a turn to the right and maybe 20 yards to the entrance to both the regular and pre-check lines, and another 20 yards beyond that for the Clear line. The SkyClub is accessed by an elevator to your left just after passing through the Security Checkpoint area, and the gates are all pretty close beyond that.
By contrast, IAD is very cumbersome. The parking shuttle lets you off on a ground level at the middle of the IAD terminal. Delta's check-in is at the west end of IAD (to your right). You enter the building and walk up a ramp which is beneath the roadway for cars meeting arriving flights. When you reach the end of that ramp you are on the baggage claim level. You then need to go up to the next level (there are elevators at roughly one o'clock), with escalators further down to your right. The security entrance is in the middle of the building, so if you have to check a bag with Delta you have a 100+ yard traipse to make. From Delta, the CLEAR entrance is more convenient than the pre-check or regular security lines, which are another 20+ yards down. After clearing security, you go down either stairs or an escalator, then you have to walk a short distance, and then turn to the right until you reach the escalators that take you down to the AeroTrain station. The train takes 75-90 seconds to run you out to midfield Concourse B. After detraining there, you have to go up a long escalator to reach the concourse. Then you turn left and you have at least 200 yards to cover to reach Delta's gates, which are numbered in the 70s).
Bag claim seems always to be Carousel 14. On the reverse, it has never taken me less than 40 minutes from deplaning until reaching my car in the economy lot.
The Delta staff at Dulles has won internal company awards for "best station", and they are a good group, so there's that.
I live 15 miles south of IAD and 30 miles west of DCA. Delta's domestic facilities at DCA are much better than they are at IAD; however, a number of Delta's international partners fly out of IAD, and hopefully the AF/KLM lounge will reopen by the end of March (it has been closed for reconstruction and enlargement).
When I use DCA, my practice is to drive my car to the Huntington metro station park-n-ride (south of the Beltway (I-95) between Exits 176 and 177), and park in the area in the structure in the back designated for multi-day parking; and then ride the train to DCA (about a 12 minute ride for the 5.5 mile trip). First train out of Huntington is 5 am sharp, so I can make any of the 6 am flights that Delta has pretty handily (CLEAR comes in handy). My total cost for this will be around $12 ($7 for the transit fare and $4.95 for the parking charge, which is flat regardless of how many days you park (the limit is 10 days)). By contrast, at IAD, I park in the Green Zone of the economy lot, over 2 miles from the terminal; it is a 7-10 minute shuttle bus ride.
At DCA there is a simple and straightforward walk to the Delta security entrance (maybe 100 yards between the metro station exit and the "National Hall" landside concourse, then a turn to the right and maybe 20 yards to the entrance to both the regular and pre-check lines, and another 20 yards beyond that for the Clear line. The SkyClub is accessed by an elevator to your left just after passing through the Security Checkpoint area, and the gates are all pretty close beyond that.
By contrast, IAD is very cumbersome. The parking shuttle lets you off on a ground level at the middle of the IAD terminal. Delta's check-in is at the west end of IAD (to your right). You enter the building and walk up a ramp which is beneath the roadway for cars meeting arriving flights. When you reach the end of that ramp you are on the baggage claim level. You then need to go up to the next level (there are elevators at roughly one o'clock), with escalators further down to your right. The security entrance is in the middle of the building, so if you have to check a bag with Delta you have a 100+ yard traipse to make. From Delta, the CLEAR entrance is more convenient than the pre-check or regular security lines, which are another 20+ yards down. After clearing security, you go down either stairs or an escalator, then you have to walk a short distance, and then turn to the right until you reach the escalators that take you down to the AeroTrain station. The train takes 75-90 seconds to run you out to midfield Concourse B. After detraining there, you have to go up a long escalator to reach the concourse. Then you turn left and you have at least 200 yards to cover to reach Delta's gates, which are numbered in the 70s).
Bag claim seems always to be Carousel 14. On the reverse, it has never taken me less than 40 minutes from deplaning until reaching my car in the economy lot.
The Delta staff at Dulles has won internal company awards for "best station", and they are a good group, so there's that.
Mar 22, 2019, 6:57 am
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 47
My two cents as someone who used to live in the Courthouse area.
There is absolutely zero reason to choose AA. You'll be in the exact same boat as with DL -- some direct flights to a select number of hubs and connections to everywhere else but you'll have to start from scratch plus AA has been driving to tighter and tighter configs on their 737s (both MAX and non-MAX) where DL seems to have reached a stopping point (as you know as a current DL flyer). The additional non-hub direct flights that AA has out of DCA are only relevant if OP has extensive travel up and down the east coast to smaller cities like BTV (which doesn't appear to be the case).
The only airline that you can make some argument for switching to is UA solely due to route network ex-IAD. Since they do have a hub, they have a number of direct IAD - XYZ flights that you simply won't be able to get from AA or DL (for good reason, why would DL run flight like IAD - SAN with no feed on either end?) and they may have 3 or 4 of those flights giving you greater flexibility on timing (IAD - SAN, IAD - LAS, IAD - PHX are three from your list that come to mind though AA does have DCA - PHX). Plus their route network from DCA captures DCA - SFO, DCA - IAH, DCA - ORD, and DCA - DEN.
When I was living in DC as a consultant I flew mostly UA (having come from Chicago previously so was already invested) and found them to be quite strong. The only reason I eventually left was during the low point of the Smisek era and AA was running IAD - LAX (my weekly flight) so it was an equal trade for me.
There is absolutely zero reason to choose AA. You'll be in the exact same boat as with DL -- some direct flights to a select number of hubs and connections to everywhere else but you'll have to start from scratch plus AA has been driving to tighter and tighter configs on their 737s (both MAX and non-MAX) where DL seems to have reached a stopping point (as you know as a current DL flyer). The additional non-hub direct flights that AA has out of DCA are only relevant if OP has extensive travel up and down the east coast to smaller cities like BTV (which doesn't appear to be the case).
The only airline that you can make some argument for switching to is UA solely due to route network ex-IAD. Since they do have a hub, they have a number of direct IAD - XYZ flights that you simply won't be able to get from AA or DL (for good reason, why would DL run flight like IAD - SAN with no feed on either end?) and they may have 3 or 4 of those flights giving you greater flexibility on timing (IAD - SAN, IAD - LAS, IAD - PHX are three from your list that come to mind though AA does have DCA - PHX). Plus their route network from DCA captures DCA - SFO, DCA - IAH, DCA - ORD, and DCA - DEN.
When I was living in DC as a consultant I flew mostly UA (having come from Chicago previously so was already invested) and found them to be quite strong. The only reason I eventually left was during the low point of the Smisek era and AA was running IAD - LAX (my weekly flight) so it was an equal trade for me.
Mar 22, 2019, 7:26 am
#36
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Falls Gulch VA
Posts: 222
I've lived in Northern Virginia nearly all my life. I'll admit that flying coast-to-coast isn't as convenient as it was 50 years ago when we had United, American, TWA, PanAm, and maybe a couple of others each flying three or four coast-to-coast flights a day, mostly at nearly the same times with a few fill-ins. Back then, if you had a reservation (remember those?) on a United flight and, when you got to the airport, found that American had a better movie on board that day, you could just take your United ticket over to the American counter and make the switch.
Today I do most of my coast-to-coast flying on United or Alaska, using Southwest - because of their no change fee policy - when I think I might have to change or cancel the flight. I'm not a high mileage flyer and, while I have most miles on United, don't have any particular allegiance to one airline. I understand, however, that if you have a large investment in Delta's mileage plan, and you make use of your miles and perks, your situation is different from mine.
When I was working for the Gov't and flying IAD-LAX 3 or 4 times a month, I got up to a premium level on United, because they had the government contract for that route at the time. The contract switched to American at one point, so I called American, told them that I was a United Premier Exec and was just a peon on American, but that I'd be flying them regularly in the future and asked if they had any sort of "well, we'll bump you up" policy. Turned out that they did - a challenge, but one easily met - after three flights they'd upgrade my status. Maybe airlines still do that. It wasn't advertised and I hadn't heard about it, I just thought I'd ask.
So ask. You might not get top tier on another airline, but you could get a head start.
Forgive me for living in the pasture. I watched Dulles airport being built, and I absolutely loved the original design with the shuttles from the terminal building direct to the plane. That's long gone, and IAD is just like any other big airport - shuttles, trains, moving walkways, escalators, and a lot of good exercise. Flying used to be fun, now it's just a way to get places, and I'm continually amazed at how inexpensive it can be if you aren't trying to reach a mileage goal.
Today I do most of my coast-to-coast flying on United or Alaska, using Southwest - because of their no change fee policy - when I think I might have to change or cancel the flight. I'm not a high mileage flyer and, while I have most miles on United, don't have any particular allegiance to one airline. I understand, however, that if you have a large investment in Delta's mileage plan, and you make use of your miles and perks, your situation is different from mine.
When I was working for the Gov't and flying IAD-LAX 3 or 4 times a month, I got up to a premium level on United, because they had the government contract for that route at the time. The contract switched to American at one point, so I called American, told them that I was a United Premier Exec and was just a peon on American, but that I'd be flying them regularly in the future and asked if they had any sort of "well, we'll bump you up" policy. Turned out that they did - a challenge, but one easily met - after three flights they'd upgrade my status. Maybe airlines still do that. It wasn't advertised and I hadn't heard about it, I just thought I'd ask.
So ask. You might not get top tier on another airline, but you could get a head start.
Forgive me for living in the pasture. I watched Dulles airport being built, and I absolutely loved the original design with the shuttles from the terminal building direct to the plane. That's long gone, and IAD is just like any other big airport - shuttles, trains, moving walkways, escalators, and a lot of good exercise. Flying used to be fun, now it's just a way to get places, and I'm continually amazed at how inexpensive it can be if you aren't trying to reach a mileage goal.
Last edited by Mike Rivers; Mar 22, 2019 at 7:32 am
Mar 22, 2019, 7:31 am
#37
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Miramar, FL
Programs: DL Charter DM/3.4 MM, DLAmex Plat, PC Plat, MR Gold, HH Diamond, National Exec Elite, Hertz Gold 5*
Posts: 263
From that area, the GW Parkway is a great (and very pretty) route down to DCA. I had a client in Gaithersburg and would fly into DCA, spend a night near the airport (lots of great restaurant options in Crystal City) and then drive up the GW in the morning against the inbound commuters.
Mar 22, 2019, 8:16 am
#38
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BOS, BWI, DCA, IAD
Programs: American, Delta, JetBlue, United
Posts: 2,044
I live in the NE quadrant of DC and generally fly from DCA or BWI (conveniently reached by the inexpensive MARC commuter train from Union Station), except for transatlantic flights. I rarely fly to the West Coast, but you may wish to check Alaska Airlines' nonstop flights from DCA to various West Coast cities. In addition, it may be worth noting that DL is starting nonstop service between DCA and BOS on September 8.
Last edited by JPG3392; Mar 22, 2019 at 8:33 am Reason: Added more specific information.
Mar 22, 2019, 8:43 am
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: Back to UA, missing DL; Marriott Gold
Posts: 10,486
Just got back from DCA. I live in Austin and have switched to Delta from AA. It’s been over three years now. I’m Diamond, and the benefits and customer service compared to American are exceptional. Delta has a nice lounge in DCA. I’ve been extremely impressed with my Delta experience. I will say that AA does have a few Flagship lounges (First Class type lounges) and they are exceptional, but that benefit is not worth giving up the exceptional customer service and perks of Delta Diamond.
Mar 22, 2019, 11:14 am
#40
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL DM/MM, and major hotels
Posts: 501
I have been Diamond for a while and have lived in DC for many years (>20!). As someone who flies enough miles, but few segments, I have found Delta the better choice for me. I don’t mind the connections from DCA as a drive to IAD, plus IAD’s drive- walk-park-bus-wait-train-walk, adds about an hour anyway. I would rather sit in a lounge than a car/bus. I do go to IAD for some long international flights on partners that others mentioned just to avoid double connections. As a hub, IAD also has lots of UA elites, but there are lots of elites everywhere I suppose. AA offers lots of destinations from DCA, but as others said, these are limited in range with a few exceptions. My luck with upgrades on DL from DCA has been quite good.
Mar 22, 2019, 12:16 pm
#41
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Delta PM, Delta Reserve, Amex Plat, Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold ;)
Posts: 1,774
If you're going to be close to the city center and DCA, DL is a good choice. Super convenient airport, if you have PreCheck/Clear you're through security very fast. Nice SkyClub.
On DL you'll mainly take flights to their major hubs: ATL, JFK, LGA, SLC, MSP, DTW and they also have a NS to LAX on a D1 75S. It depends on where you travel the most.
I've been a PM with DL since 2008 and fly DL exclusively. I switched from AA.. and then back in the day TWA. DL's service is just better in my opinion.I probably fly 50-60 segments annually.
If you want more NS routes from DCA look at AA. If you are close to IAD look at UA. If you're closer to BWI look at WN.
Mar 22, 2019, 12:23 pm
#42
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: NYC, ROC, HNL, PEN, BKK, KUL, SIN (check out http://my.flightmemory.com/kkua)
Programs: DL Diamond charter member; 2 million miler (45% from NWA, 2MM achieved 5/2018)
Posts: 682
Consider it a blessing you’re not living in a DL hub city. That means you have to connect in order to get to your destination… and also means you’ll get upgrades easier than in hub cities. Don’t switch to UA (IAD) or AA (DCA)… take advantage of connecting in MSP, ATL, SEA etc and watch your status get elevated quicker.
Mar 22, 2019, 2:00 pm
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 47
I live in the NE quadrant of DC and generally fly from DCA or BWI (conveniently reached by the inexpensive MARC commuter train from Union Station), except for transatlantic flights. I rarely fly to the West Coast, but you may wish to check Alaska Airlines' nonstop flights from DCA to various West Coast cities. In addition, it may be worth noting that DL is starting nonstop service between DCA and BOS on September 8.
Mar 22, 2019, 2:32 pm
#44
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 47
Consider it a blessing you’re not living in a DL hub city. That means you have to connect in order to get to your destination… and also means you’ll get upgrades easier than in hub cities. Don’t switch to UA (IAD) or AA (DCA)… take advantage of connecting in MSP, ATL, SEA etc and watch your status get elevated quicker.
Mar 22, 2019, 3:35 pm
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,353
Consider it a blessing you’re not living in a DL hub city. That means you have to connect in order to get to your destination… and also means you’ll get upgrades easier than in hub cities. Don’t switch to UA (IAD) or AA (DCA)… take advantage of connecting in MSP, ATL, SEA etc and watch your status get elevated quicker.
maybe on alternate Tuesdays at 145pm 
