Transfer from IAD (Intl) to DCA
 

I stupidly bought a reward ticket from LIS-IAD-DCA-CLE. I just realized I need to get from Dulles to National Airport. I assume this is my responsibility and that I will need to lug my bag after leaving customs and re-check it at DCA. Is this assumption correct?

Also, what would be the best way to get from IAD to DCA? I would prefer not to use a taxi and the shared ride vans seem to require more time than I have. What would Uber or a taxi cost? Is public transportation (Bus to Metro) easy enough to do? What would be the best route?

I am scheduled to arrive at IAD at 3:35 p.m. on Monday, June 6 and depart DCA at 8:00 p.m. Do I have enough time to use public transportation? I will be in BusinessFirst and have Global Entry (never used it at IAD) so that might speed things up a bit. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

Yes, this is your responsibility, and you will need to carry your bag over to DCA. Can you change your reward ticket? :)

Getting through immigration and customs at IAD with Global Entry is really, really quick. If you don't run into any problems, you can be outside the terminal 15 minutes after you walk off the plane.

A cab from IAD to DCA will be about $70 or so, and should take less than an hour, probably closer to 45 min, depending on traffic on I-66.

The Washington Metro goes right into DCA but not IAD. There are a couple of options to connect to the Metro from IAD. See http://www.wmata.com/getting_around/new_metro/. All of them are going to take some time, and honestly if I were flying in on an international flight, I'd bite the bullet and spring for a cab.

Once you clear Customs and Immigration, go find the Super Shuttle desk. It's $30 for a transfer to DCA. Not as fast as a cab, but half the cost, and easier than taking the bus to Metro. If your flight is late and you have less than 3 hours, I'd spring for the cab.

if you choose the uber route, it would not be more than $50 +/- with rush hour/traffic conditions

Dulles to National at 4:30 PM or so is not a short trip. 66 is worse eastbound inside the beltway than westbound. Getting up the Parkway would require sitting in traffic in Tysons as all of the Marylanders start to head home. Best bet - take the Flyer to the Wiehle Metro stop and use Metro to National. Assuming you don't have too much luggage, that shouldn't be a bad trip and should take about an hour or so, and cost about $5.00.

4 hours or so is plenty of time to get between the airports. Its a question of how much you want to spend and how you like sitting either in traffic or on the subway.

Agree with other posters that public transport may actually be almost as fast as a cab or Uber, and far, far cheaper at that hour of the day on a weekday. Washington Flyer to Wiehle Metro stop leaves every 15 minutes and is $5, then the Metro fare to DCA will be an additional $5.90. Assuming you have only one substantial piece of luggage and it's on wheels, no problem. More than one would be awkward however.

Please follow this thread to the Washington DC forum.

Safe Travels,

J.Edward
UA moderator

OP - You have plenty of time. If you are flying UA, when you are through CBP at IAD, head upstairs and ask UA if they will stick you on their 5:30 PM to CLE. Don't ask for SDC as it's not SDC-eligible. Just ask if it's doable and see if it can be done without a fee. If it can be, it's your lucky day.

After a TATL flight, with another flight to go, I would not fancy Washington public transportation which is not exactly designed with the long distance traveler in mind.

Uber is easy and relatively cheap. OP has more than plenty of time. If there's traffic, and there will be, just sit back and relax.

As others have said, you have plenty of time for public transportation. Uber is a good option but will be fairly expensive compared to the alternatives and may not even be quicker since it will be rush hour and 66 gets pretty backed up going east into Arlington every night.

I've taken public transportation from IAD to DCA. As catocony said, the way to do this is to take the Washington Flyer from the terminal to Wiehle-Reston, then the Silver Line to Rosslyn and the Blue line to DCA from there. It'll probably take about an hour door to door during rush hour, maybe an hour and a half.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I would rather be moving in the Metro (and saving money-I'm inherently thrifty), than sitting in DC's rush hour traffic. I will also ask if UA will put me on the nonstop IAD-CLE. Maybe they will be nice and just do it. By the way, I did call UA and the nice agent said that they'd be happy to switch me to the IAD-CLE flight for just 92,500 more miles. I said thank you and hung up!

See if Saver space opens on the xIAD. As you are ticketed in C, but don't likely care about F on the domestic micro-hop, you still need the F Saver to reticket or UA will reprice the entire itinerary xLIS.

You may find UA more willing to do this closer in, especially if you are willing to accept a Y seat on the domestic.

That might be a decent option. A one-way award from IAD-CLE could get the OP home sooner and not cost much more than a taxi or Uber from IAD to DCA.

A OW cash ticket IAD-CLE purchased now (well in advance) runs around $275, so not a great deal. But, as OP is on an award ticket LIS-WAS-CLE, he ought to be able to change to the IAD flight without cost if the space is available. Problem is that he's got a C award, my guess is Saver and although he doesn't likely care about class of service on the IAD-CLE micro-hop, it's pricing high.

I'm not sure he asked correctly, but it's perhaps worth a call back to see if UA will acommodate him on the IAD flight in Y.

I more ore less agree with the idea of taking Metro. Your only annoyance is transferring from Silver to Blue at Rosslyn (infrequent service on the Blue line at that point).