No rental car. I'm planning to use mass transit at rush hour on Friday and then have a family member drive me back to IAD.

Another key factor is that you'll be hitting town around evening rush hour. You DEFINITELY don't want to drive from either airport to Baltimore.

I can't really see a smoking-gun advantage to either airport, given that you want to get to Baltimore. Obviously, the non-stop will give you two less take-offs and landings on the round trip. Either way, you will want to wind up at Union Station in downtown DC and take a train to Baltimore. Once you get to Charm City, there is a decent light rail system and city bus system.

As others have stated, the ground itinerary from Dulles would be to take the Washington Flyer bus to the West Falls Church Metro Station. Last I checked, the bus costs $16 r/t, so it's not exactly cheap. From there, you can get on the Orange Line and follow what others have said. From National, you can catch the Metro right at the terminal.

My wife accidentally bought an AMTRAK ticket rather than a MARC ticket to go from Union Station to BWI. The MARC ticket was $7.00 and the AMTRAK ticket was $15.

Here are some relevant web sites you can use to plan your trip:

Washington Metro Web Site

MARC Train (You want either the Penn or Camden Lines).

The light rail and Metro Subway links on the left will give you info about those services in Baltimore.

Good luck!

Ah! it shoud be fine.. Just give some more time @ IAD, security lines
could get very long.

3:30 pm DCA to Baltimore on a Friday is going to be a heck of a ride (IAD might be worse, though). I'd park a seat at the great restaurants/bars (outside security) at DCA (sushi bar, TGI Fridays, Legal Seafoods) and wait out the traffic until 6 pm.

I'm planning to use mass transit from either IAD or DCA on Friday. The drive will just be on the return out to IAD.

I would recommend DCA for a Friday afternoon arrival. Also, in case you haven't heard, IAD has a new "Elite Security Line" that is wonderful -- makes flying out of IAD almost bearable.

How about Southwest from OAK to BWI? I'm no fan of Southwest, but the commute from IAD is very bad and DCA isn't great. The trade-off might be worth it.

Check out OAK-BWI. WN just started flying that route and has good fares. I believe competitors are matching. That will save you a lot of commuting time.

UA is at $380 for the times I want into DCA and out of IAD, while WN is close to $500.

If you are traveling into the Baltimore business district, you might find that PHL is a convenient alternative to IAD. The distance is somewhat greater, but you won't be confronting the I-495 (Beltway) traffic.

Instead its a straight shot down I-95 from the airport. There might be some traffic around Wilmington, but otherwise you should be able to do 65 - 70 all the way.

I have done both many times. If I were making this choice, living in Baltimore, I would choose DCA over IAD. While both boast "public transport options", the trek from IAD can become downright depressing. A bus, to the metro, to a switch of metros, to a train...and you have a 3-hour trip to Baltimore. The lovely SuperShuttle will cost you $50 to Union Station, and will take over an hour, forgetting rush hour traffic, with several stops in the District prior to getting to Union Station.

From DCA, a $15 cab ride to union station will put you on Marc or Amtrak. If you choose Amtrak, avoid the "Acela Express", which only gets you to Baltimore seven minutes faster than the "regional", but costs more than double at certain times. Marc is a good option, but the train can be extremely crowded to the point of SRO at least for the first several stops. And, there are several. Amtrak makes two - New Carrolton and BWI, before Penn Station Baltimore.

Your other option from DCA is a 15-minute metro trip - one of two lines to Metro Center, then Red line to Union station. Easier than it sounds, and less than two bucks. And FAST. Stops are right outside the terminal at DCA.

When I travel on public transport from DCA to Baltimore Penn station, it takes me just over an hour.

Better stay out of OMNI! :D

I 100% reccomend DCA as it is much easier; much closer to downtown and is just overall a much nice airport.

Have you check WN's fares, OAK-BWI?

I was checking flights for WAS-LAX for fall travel. WN is charging about $360, which is about the same price the legacies are charging.

It looks like WN has established a comfortable market share at BWI and letting prices float up to match competitors.

WN was more expensive and 5 hrs on WN is not my idea of fun at all.

However, as it turns out my employer required me to do some travel at the end of that week so now I get to fly into BWI (although still back out from IAD) and the ticket costs me a lot less.