Anything to do in IAD for 3.5 hours?
 

Hi all,

I will be visiting my brother in Colorado this weekend as he is being sent to Iraq in December for 6 months, and his wife is throwing a going-away party.

I will be flying into IAD from BOS on Friday and have a 3.5 hour layover there (get in around 11:08 AM, depart around 2:46 PM) before continuing on to DEN. It was the only way to get in to DEN around the same time as my sister, who is flying in from ORD, therefore reducing the number of airport pickups.

I purchased a V fare ticket and upgraded using miles for all segments into First. Is there a United First lougne in IAD that would keep me occupied for 3.5 hours? Anything else there I might find interesting?

Thanks.

You will not get access to a lounge on a domestic F ticket.

I always recommend the Udvar-Hazy center, even if it's only for an hour. You should be able to make it there and back with time to spare.

Sorry to say, there's no such thing as a Domestic First Lounge at UA. There are three Red Carpet Clubs, but you will need to be a member or pay a $50 one-time entrance fee to get in. I would also try and stay gateside to avoid the security lines which are bad enough for elites and beyond bad for non-elites.

Given your itinerary, I'd just as soon fly into DEN early and hang out there; better restaurants, comfortable waiting areas, and free wi-fi are nice. It's probably not an option for you with your upgrade, but if I did find an earlier flight with space in F, I'd probably go to DEN early vs. hanging around IAD.

Another vote for Udvar-Hazy LINK HERE

Transportation from IAD LINK HERE

With a 3.5 hour layover and coming from BOS (which is likely to have some delays in the flight), I'd stay in the airport. Go walk Terminal B - that takes a little bit of times these days with the extension completed or even walk the absymal Terminal C/D for the heck of it. That is not a lot of time at IAD, IMO.

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I know you mentioned you're trying to time your arrivals to DEN, but you could always standby for the non-stop to DEN and use mass transit to head to downtown DEN for a few hours.

Another option would be to try to catch mice in the RCC at IAD.

If you have not been through IAD before you could spend your layover exploring the airport and having a 5 Guys burger for lunch.

One airport pretty much like others.
I've been to the National Air Museum Hazy Center, and echo that as a great place to go.
Only 2.5 miles away, there's a shuttle bus for it, or take a taxi.

Then next time you're thru, you might give yourself more time for it.

Bring a novel, a couple of movies to play on your laptop, or work from your job or school. There's nothing at IAD. The shopping sucks. The food is marginal. The ambience sucks. And there are no diversions. The only real alternative is the museum as others have said.

Standby for the earlier flight from BOS-IAD which arrives at 10:12am. Head straight out to Ground Transportation curb 2E for the first shuttle to Udvar-Hazy at 10:30am.

Spend a couple of hours at the museum. When you return to Dulles early afternoon, it is a very quiet period for TSA security - probably won't take more than 5 minutes to get through security. Note that when you re-enter the Main Terminal from the Udvar-Hazy shuttle, head straight for the "Dulles Diamond Lane" between baggage carousels 7-8 - there is rarely any wait at all there at this time of day.

Be sure to get the shuttle schedule - links to it in a previous post in this thread.

Jeez Louise, some of you guys really hate IAD!

He's apparently not been to Vino Volo.

What are you smoking? There is no way anyone is getting to the curb in 18 minutes from scheduled arrival! Especially not without a good idea of the airport layout and how to navigate it.

you can grab a big lunch at Five Guys...

--Russ