DCA or BWI+B30?

Looking to visit the DC museums. Prefer DCA (direct rail to L'Enfant), yet flights are more expensive. BWI can be had for much less, yet that appears to include a bus ride to Greenbelt, then a transfer to the yellow line (adding at least an hour to each way?).

Am I missing something here, or for a short vacation, is it just about accepting the more expensive DCA flight costs?

Thanks!

Of course it depends on the destination, but fares, in general, are almost always cheaper to/from BWI. It's all because of WN's large presence at BWI.

As for getting to DC from BWI, the other option is the MARC commuter train - although it only runs Mon to Fri. On the weekends, you can take Amtrak, although that's a bit more expensive.

Why do you have to transfer to the Yellow line? The Green goes to L'Enfant.

That's it as I see it - it's pretty much a time versus money issue. Some people unconditionally swear off the two outlying airports (BWI, Dulles), but all will work so long as you know and accept your transport options.

I find the bus + rather long metro ride (Green line) pretty hard to hack both ways, but if you can do the MARC (or Amtrak) at least one way, it's not too bad. Some have had luck with a one-way car rental having no drop fee between airports, but that's probably not practical here.

My mistake, must have mis-read the map online. On quick-glance, it really appeared to require a transfer.

Thanks. It comes out to about $100/pax more (DCA over BWI), and there's probably a time cut-off that says BWI is acceptable (>4days BWI ok?), while DCA makes more time-sense in the short-term. Frustrating, when comparing to ORD/MDW, the metric (imo) of airport/downtown transport. Thanks for the input, guess for a 2-day trip, DCA is worth the extra cost (to recover the time).

DCA probably works out best - Once you factor in the greater cost to get to/from BWI (B30 is $6, then add on Metrorail component from Greenbelt; MARC rail starts at $6, then get from Union Station to your hotel - minimum $1 on Circulator), it's effectively going to be less than a $100 difference.

Too much of a personal decision for me to speculate what's the "right" BWI vs DCA cutoff.

If the fares price out the same one-way, you could always split the difference: Fly into BWI and deal with the trek to DC, and then enjoy the easy out of DCA. Frankly, if one of your days is a weekday, I'd go that route - especially if it's inbound to BWI, since you'll effectively have double the transport options once you arrive (catch the bus or take the shuttle to the MARC station) and can pick the mode that leaves first.

Did you look into IAD at all? It seems to be between DCA and BWI in price most of the time, and it's got a few more options for getting into DC than BWI. In any case, like you said it's mostly a time versus money trade-off. It'll be 1-2 hours extra to go from BWI, depending on the bus schedule, if you take the B30. There's a pretty good outline of your options at http://dctransitguide.com/dc-airports/

Getting from IAD to downtown DC is only marginally faster than getting from BWI to downtown DC.

I personally equate the hassle and time cost of BWI and IAD at about $50. If the price difference is less than that, I always choose DCA.

Not if you're taking the B30. MARC can be faster if your flight arrives on time and you're not waiting for the bus to schlep you over to the station. (Well, the last time I took MARC they cancelled one train, causing me to wait an extra 40 minutes--but that usually doesn't happen!)

Another thing to factor in, if you arrive later than scheduled and miss the last train or bus: Cab fare from IAD is a lot cheaper than from BWI to downtown D.C. too.

To be sure, I've oversimplified. The calculation depends on a lot of factors (time of day, day of week, etc.) that affect both traffic levels and how frequently the various transit services operate. From IAD, the Washington Flyer bus to West Falls Church is a pretty decent option since it uses the airport access road (no traffic-choked roads to slow you down) and then you take Metro through the areas that would be jammed with traffic.

I agree that the B30 is rather slow. Therefore, I don't use it. The Metrobus to Dulles isn't much better, especially if you are traveling during rush hour when I-66 is a parking lot.

If I'm traveling to/from BWI at the times of day when MARC is running, I take MARC. Otherwise, I either take Amtrak or rent a car. For Dulles I generally either use the Washington Flyer option, or (if I'm traveling when they aren't running...ie late at night) I rent a car.

I frequently arrive late at both airports and find that renting a car one-way into the city (with a good discount code) is generally cheaper than a cab, and is way faster than SuperShuttle. That's true at both IAD and BWI.