Layover in DCA
 

Evening all,

been a while since I’ve posted. My apologies if this is the wrong place or not a worthy question as I typically travel with less adventurous family and topically direct.

I’m traveling for business later this month and would typically just fly direct but you only live once and debating a 5 1/2 hour stopover in DCA. It looks like this is enough time to leave the airport for a bit but I’m wondering a few things from seasoned flyers.

-I assume my checked luggage will stay with the airline, right? This would be a DFW-DCA-YYZ flight on AA.
-Do I just simply exit the sterile area and they’ll allow me to enter afterwards?
-How long before my flight do I need to re-enter? This is a Canadian-bound flight but clearance is obviously done upon arrival so I guessing not super early.

Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks so much! :)

This can be done. If it's your first time to DC, get an Uber to whatever you want to see most (nothing indoors unless the weather is miserable) and walk. If you are anywhere on the mall from Lincoln to the Capitol you'll love it.

Book a window seat too. This is one of the better views arriving and leaving. Also, a great Admirals Club, should you have access. That said, yes, easy access if all is on time. Plan a destination and enjoy. Security is usually not too bad. Of course, variances may be time of day, whether you have Pre-Check, etc., but DCA is an easy airport for the most part (or I find it to be, but I also find ORD to be, so you might consider your source :D)

AA runs only 2x daily DCA-YYZ and the fall schedule shows both being CR7s so you'll most likely be departing out of the D or E gates. That's a 3:00 pm departure and a 5.5 hour layover means you have to be on the 5:30 am out of DFW which gets into DCA at 9:30 am. That's an early departure! The good news is that 9:30 is moving past the morning rush surge in DC. You should have at least 3.5 hours of time to go see stuff inside DC - one to two museums are doable. Bigger museums like the National Gallery can eat up all of 3 hours.

Eminently doable, and you should! But, with just a few hours you really have to be focused on what you want to try to do: 1) a quick spin around to take in all the iconic sights with a couple of brief stops, 2) visit one or two museums for an hour a piece, or 3) an extended visit at a particular museum/sight (as previous poster wrote, any one museum/sight can easily take hours)?

If 1) then the BigBusTour hop-on, hop-off ticket around the Mall might be a good way to go (or, rent an e-bike if weather is nice). Not cheap, but gets you around to all the big sights (Lincoln, Washing Monument, WWII, Vietnam memorials, WH, Capitol, etc). if 2, most of the Smithsonian Museums, esp. the art museums, have a "quick hits" map of the most important/famous items that is very useful. If 3, then pick what interests you most and take your time to get the most of that visit.

DCA is generally very quick to navigate IN-security and get to your gate - it's the smallest big city airport one can imagine. Uber or any street taxi will generally be quickest for getting to/from to the airport - but do keep an eye on traffic reports, things can change quickly and sometimes Metro is quicker.

If you have pre-check and only a carryon 60 minutes is usually ample time, 75 if you're cautious. Your checked bag will remain with airline and be transfered to your next flight. You can reenter with your boarding pass for second flight.

You could Uber or, better, take Metro, which will get you right downtown as quickly and certainly more cheaply, including to the many museums on the Mall. The walk to the Metro station, which is connected to the airport, is no longer than to the taxi queue.

As for what to see, really it's up to your interests. For ease I would stick to the Mall area and nearby - there are plenty of restaurants just off Pennsylvania Ave, as well as cafes at some of the museums. They are all free to enter, though you may need timed entry tickets for the African American History Museum. You could easily spend all your time in any one of the museums, but do as you choose.

Agree with all posts that this is totally doable and very worthwhile, especially if you've never been here before.

In addition to the DC options mentioned, Old Town Alexandria (founded in 1749) is a 5 minute cab ride or 2 metro stops south of DCA on the Blue/Yellow lines. Lots of great walking spots, museums, etc. and good places for a casual lunch. Have fun!

Totally agree. Specifically - you'll want to be on the left side (A seat) on arrival, and the right (F seat) on departure for the best views.

If you land at 930 and leave at 3 pm…

subway( metro) or a cab? There is a smart phone app you can download and use. Outside the baggage area is where the cabs are located. Special cabs for where you go like DZc will have certain cabs while alexandria has others.

There are 3 exits from the secure area.therr is an exit atvthr end of D where it hits thr main hallway. E woukd also exit this way. Therr is a middle exit aligned with C and a south exit aligned with B.


from D/E you exit going downstairs then to the left into baggage claim area. C has two exits after going downstairs. The Right turn is from American. Left for other airlines. Outside from here is where you can find cabs or Uber/ Lyft. Around the mid point therr is an escalator up. Whrn going up you will cross a bridge to a parking garage. Themetro is before the garage.

Metro heading north is largo ( blue) mt vernon sq( yellow). South is Franconia ( blue) or Huntington ( yellow).

yellow is the better way for DC mall. You exit at L’Enfant to Maryland exit puts you behind air and space museum.
from lenfant station u can take blue/ orange/ silver to Franconia/ vienna/ ashburn one exit to smithsonian ehivh puts you on the mall closer to Washington monument

You want to be back airport by 2 pm fora 3 pm flight. Right after your flight you getting to thr mall might be around 10:20 am so you want to be at metro or in a cab/Uber/ Lyft by 130 pm.

thr DC mall does not have restaurants. The museums have basement restaurants. There are food trucks all around thr mall are options.

food options along metro stations ( close to exit)

pentagon city is a shopping mall area the main exit from metro has a left or right. Left bring you to a mall which has a typical food court on the floor you enter the mall. On the other side of street ( going right) you have a chick fil a and a few other chains

king st alexandria has a bunch of restaurants. There is a free trolley down king st.

on the north side of the mall with galleria place, metro center, faragut, Foggy bottom, roslyn, and courthouse and Clarrndon on orange/ silver there are a bunch of places just off of metro station.

You're assuming arrivals on 19 and departures off of 1.

Not necessarily. For that direction the choice is obvious. On the southside of DCA, I'll take Old Town (and Mt Vernon, depending on the turn-out) over National Harbor.

Sometimes (f you're on E175s and CR7s), you get a treat of landing on 33...............

Nothing like driving Northbound GWMP when one of them comes over. Whether landing on 15 (I think it's 15) in a south easterly direction or taking off from 33 (I think) in a north westerly direction! Makes standing on the fields/marina area of Gravelly Point seem like watching planes for afar!

Yes, 15/33 is the "second" runway at DCA. It's not uncommon at all to watch commuter aircraft using 33 when winds are out of the northwest or the tower asks aircraft on the Mount Vernon visual to circle-to-land on 33 due to traffic.
What's really cool is to see mainline aircraft (B737/B757/A3xx) use that runway...I've seen it when winds are howling out of the northwest or when 1/19 was closed late at night due to maintenance. So cool...

All Dash bus service in Alexandria is free. So you can take the trolley or the 30/31 Dash bus along King Street. They all run between the King Street metro and city hall/waterfront.