Sightseeing and checked baggage issues on a DCA to IAD connection
 

I am considering an award routing on United to ROM (ORD-DCA, IAD-ROM) with various 3 to 6 hour layover options. My thought was that this might offer the opportunity to do some taxicab-type sightseeing in DC since we've never been there.

We will have large checked suitcases that I was asssuming would be checked for free at ORD since we have a transcontinental flight. Can anyone explain if indeed our luggage would be free of charge on an itinerary such as this, and if sightseeing within such timeframes is realistic?

i'm really curious. does UA do that luggage transfer? or you required to pick up at dca and carry to iad. i presume that itenary can be written on a single ticket.

3-6 hours seems pretty marginal to me, though I guess it depends on what you mean by taxi sightseeing. It varies on time of day/traffic, but I would budget 1 hour for the taxi ride from DC proper (like the National Mall area) to IAD and then you'd want to arrive at least 90 minutes prior since you are checking luggage so that 2.5 hours plus 15 minutes or so to taxi from DCA to DC -- that's almost 3 hours right there, without any sightseeing.

I seriously doubt you can check baggage like that -- DCA to IAD is like 26 miles and DCA is a small station for United. But maybe I'm wrong on that.

You are responsible for transporting your luggage from DCA to IAD. It will be checked to DCA where you will claim it and then check it at IAD.

Most car services have hourly rates for sightseeing and you could simply arrange to be picked up at DCA, do your sightseeing in DC and then be dropped at IAD. Travel time from downtown DC to IAD is anywhere from 45 mins to 1-1/2 depending on time-of-day & traffic.

Thanks everyone. Sounds quite doable.

You should double-check with your specific car rental company, but you can probably rent a car at National and then return it to Dulles for the same location drop off rate. That might be your best bet on sightseeing on a limited schedule. You could drive down GW Parkway and see the monuments from the river, then cut across the Key Bridge to Georgetown and back track down to Constitution (or Independence) by the museums up to Union Station and Capitol Hill.

With 3 hours, I wouldn't consider anything other than going directly from DCA to IAD. You're going to an international flight and will need to check your bags, so I assume they'd want you there 2-3 hours in advance (confirm with the airline). With 6 hours, your taxi idea sounds possibly realistic, though not cheap. Rental car might actually work out a bit cheaper, but you'd also be using up time getting from the DCA terminal to the rental car location, renting the car and, at the end, buying gas and returning the car to the Dulles locastion and taking the shuttle from there to the terminal in time for check-in (do confirm with the airline how early you need to check-in at Dulles; it's not like your transferring between flights at the same airport so it's not so automatic). You will have to check-in and go through security at Dulles (not sure if you still need to take the mobile lounges).

Yes, you'd be responsible getting for your luggage between DCA and IAD, just as you would be transferring between two different airports in other cities (e.g., L.A., New York, Chicago). No place to store luggage at DCA that I'm aware of. Maybe there's a private company like at LAX that will store luggage for a fee off-site, but your time is pretty short. You could always see the larger Air and Space Museum annex very close to Dulles (I think there's a shuttle) after you check-in for your second flight. http://www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy/

I don't know what you mean about a suitcase being chceked for free because it's a transcontinental flight. You can get info on baggage fees from the airline.