Ditto times two (wife is going on this MR :))

Take public transit to DC. (Plus Amtrak is running a buy 2 get 1 free special in the NE now, I think...saw something a few days ago here on the MR Deals forum.)

There is a Metro 5A Express bus that runs right to the terminal at Dulles. I think it's...$6 one way. The bus starts at the L'Enfant Metro Rail station in DC, stops in Rosslyn and at Herndon-Monroe before getting to the terminal.

I've parked at all three DC area airports, and IMO, Dulles is the worst. Usually I just have a family member drop me off at the terminal, since I live just down the road, but on the occasions that I have had to park there...economy is $10/day, and it can take a while to get to the terminal by shuttle bus. (BWI is much better. Even DCA is better, though expensive.)

Sorry folks, but can somebody explain what "UA Metal" and ".bomb" is to this newbie?

"UA Metal" refers to flying on an actual UA plane. ".bomb" is a name for UA's website because of frequent crashes/issues with the site.

UA = United Airlines ;)

Yeah, the $99 base fares ($538 price) looked pretty nice! This is one of the few times I wonder if the Orbitz price guarantee would have actually been useful...

Warning: watch out for UA 4129 (DCA-EWR) as part of this MR.

I foolishly booked this segment without checking its on-time percentage. Turns out it's a lousy 36%, with an average delay of 50m (STDEV=52m) per EF/FlightStats. My second segment, UA 904 (EWR-IST) departs a "mere" 90m after UA 4129 arrives; therefore, I'm worried about missing the long-haul segment and being rerouted - and, worse, ending up in a E- middle seat for 10hrs.

Naturally, I plan to arrive at DCA long before UA 4129 departs in hopes of scoring a SDC on an earlier flight - however, given that I'm on a K fare, I suspect standby will be my only option.

Any chance UA would be willing to waive the change fee in advance (i.e., now) to put me on an earlier DCA-EWR flight? Doing so would substantially reduce the sizable odds of UA having to reroute me and/or put me up in a hotel.

I flew this route about 15 times last year. I don't think I ever missed out on a standby on this flight at peak travel times. It is chronically delayed and I would frequently switch onto earlier flights knowing they would be delayed to my scheduled departure time of the later flight. Your concern is merited and I would show up as early as possible. The early morning departures usually work out but delays accumulate over the course of the day and the afternoons can be chaotic. Best of luck...I'm on this trip out of Newark for Presidents Day weekend myself.

I'm trying to find dates that would work with the LAX-IAD in this thread, but can't find any overlapping dates. Anyone see anything I don't? Would make one hell of a MR.

edit: booking all as their own trip, not one ticket, of course.

Wish I wish I really wish I could do this, but already have trips in Feb and May planned. IST will be a vacation trip and would like to do later this year. There seems to be decent deals a few times a year, so I'll keep fingers crossed.

Sheraton Herndon Dulles has good rates w/14 days of parking particularly if your one night stay is on a weekend. I have a night booked in May for $75 w/14 days of parking. I also like the hotel well enough.

i

Thanks for the pointer. Like you, I'm on UA 4129 as part of an Istanbul MR. Will certainly try to get a SDC to an earlier flight.

So tempting to return to IST in February or March for these airfares.

I flew to IST back in October. I was originally scheduled on UA4129 which got cancelled and couldn't get on an earlier flight. UA put me on the TK nonstop from IAD. Since the TK flight isn't until 11:30 PM, you have a lot of flexibility if UA4129 is going to cause a misconnect.

I am based in DC and I know what you are talking about. Unfortunately, they won't let you make any changes in advance without fee. And DC-NY flights have the highest cancellations rates. Last 4 of my 7 flights in this sector got canceled (different airlines).

Once I was flying to JFK from DC, and then connecting onto another airline (two separate PNRs). Stupidest idea, I know. I got burned. DCA-JFK got canceled. My vacation got cut short by a day plus the next day I had to pay $1600 extra to rebook.

Au contraire! A very kind gentleman at the Premier Desk was able to rebook me and my companion without charge on an earlier flight from DCA to EWR when I explained that the 36% on-time percentage would likely cause a misconnect. ^^^

Those kind of situations can sometimes be great for MRs. It allows for an opportunity for more creative routing and perhaps getting booked in a higher fare class that may even increase the upgrade chances.