Help - suggestions for long IAD layover
 

Calling all IAD experts..

I am going to have a long layover in IAD next week, arriving from London at 1115 and departing for Miami at 1806.

I am Prem Exec.. any recommendations for best lounge at the airport?

Is it worth leaving the airport and heading downtown, to a local attraction, or even buying a dayroom at an airport hotel and sleeping?

I am hoping that the UA923 on 10th Mar is full, and that we will be bumped over to the next flight. :)

Mark

If you like airplanes, visit the Smithsonian's Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center - which is basically a huge hanger with many many many airplanes on display, including a Concorde, Space Shuttle, SR-71 Blackird, etc.

The Center is located approx. 2.5 miles from the Dulles terminal. Taxi service is available to the museum with rates averaging $8-$12.

Click here for more information

I'd say that downtown DC is too far away, given the time you have and the poor transportation options.

There is a Smithsonian museum at the edge of the Dulles airport:
http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/
This is practical if you are so inclined.

At the very least, there should be an earlier flight to MIA you could standby for...

Otherwise, volunteer at checkin to be bumped to the next flight. 925 should still give you heaps of time.

Udvar-Hazy is one of the holy sites of the FT religion, and must be visited the faithful.

You could always go sight-see in terminal G. :D

Seriously, downtown DC is too far away and too hard to get to to make that a worthwhile trip - you'd need to be starting back just about as you got there. The Smithsonian is a great idea.

Agreed. Great viewing deck at the end of the runway and all sorts of stuff to amuse the airplane enthusiast.

Agreed. The pilgrimage ... it must be made.

But in terms of lounges... the RCCs are pretty standard fare. Not much to shout about. I'm sure the others in the A/B terminal are much better.

Really, though, get out of the airport. IAD pretty much sucks.

Agree with others - DC is too far away - solid 45 minutes without traffic and probably a $75 cab ride. Public transport is a pain - bus to metro - Tyson's Corner is closer (20-30 min) but not really all that interesting.

If you won't have to carry your bags with you I would go to the Smithsonian as suggested. Very large and open - see the Space Shuttle, Blackbird and stretch your legs. They also have an observation tower that you can go up and look down onto Dulles.

If don't want to do Smithsonian but you really want to get out of the airport, you could taxi to Reston Town Center which has some restaurants and shops, but nothing overly exciting. Prob $10 - $15 taxi. (not sure if there are taxi's readily available to go back though - get a phone number from the taxi that drops you off).

Best Lounge? If you have 7 hours to kill, you can probably go visit all 3 :) . Between landing, clearing customs and immigration, and getting a car, I would guess you would have about 3-4 hours tops to leave and come back. I still haven't been to that museum, but it's on my list of things to do.

Best case you will be out of customs at 12:00, probably more like 12:30 if you have luggage. You should plan to be back at the airport by 4:00. you will need to go through security which will be 10 minutes to 75 minutes (REALLY!) and then take the buggy back to the gates etc.

I just remembered something. There is a (relatively) new wine bar near C3. I did check it out briefly and it looked kind of interesting. Sorry, don't remember the name.

If you've never been to DC before and are on expense :) I think you should consider hopping in a cab and touring DC. The downtown area is rather easlily accessable during the middle of the day and is certainly one of the nicest to see in the U.S. (at least it was before it become the land of fences and jersey walls). You should have a about three hours to tour. Not ideal, but you'd at least get a taste.

Too bad you wont be here about two weeks later, you would probably get a chance to see the cherry blossoms, which are pretty spectacular.

I once had a long connection at IAD. After connecting there hundreds of times, I finally got to actually see/do something at DC.

First, I rode the Washington Flyer to West Church Falls. From there I rode the Metro into DC to visit the Viet Nam Memorial. I recall that the whole visit was a success.

I also recall a big relief when I returned to the 1K room to reclaim my bag that I left there earlier.

BTW, this certainly took more than 2 hours.

It's Vino Volo... http://vinovolo.com/