i've flown that route many times this year because we have business in both cities. my single best piece of advice for you is to get a status comp from america west asap.

i've never paid more than $144 each way (most fares are one way --> very flexible) and have been upgraded 100% of the time. this summer, they had a $100 fully refundable, no advance, base fare between dca and pdx, which was just awesome. more recently, i've had to use bwi to get the lowest fares, but dca and iad are still reasonable (rarely more than $200).

i was thinking more about your situation and decided more convincing is order, so here it goes. like you, i had mid-tier status on a respectable airline last year and was reluctant to switch loyalties to an lcc with a (slightly) below average ff program, but the low fares and the flexibility enticed me.

the fact of that matter is that the majority of the time, hp is considerably than everyone else, including wn. other good points include:

-good terminal at dca; the metro practically goes to the gate
-fox sportsnet bars in phx and las are both very nice (except for the smoke)
-generally short (less than 1 hour) layovers
-lots of capacity ex-was --> many options
-tons of flights between pdx and phx; even when i end up booking the redeye (always cheap), i've been able to switch to something else and they seem to be pretty cool about letting me switch from bwi to dca when there's adequate space
-nice people on the whole
-decent ife

How are upgrades?

as previously noted, i'm at 100% on the year. i think switching flights lowers the odds, but did so times and was always successful.

I live very close to DCA, right across the street from a Metrorail station. I prefer DCA, but just remember, that you cannot exit your seat to use the lavratory 30minutes before landing at DCA or 30minutes after takeoff from DCA! Suposedly, the flight will divert to Dulles (IAD) if any passengers get up during that time. I have been on any number of flights where folks get up and fellow passengers or flight attendants instruct them to sit down--and the flight does not divert to IAD.

The no pee rule is the most annoying thing about DCA aside from the higher cost.

Or even worse . . .

BWI!

On the earlier post about getting from BWI to downtown DC -- MARC is the local commuter train and the way to go (caters to an upscale DC commuter crowd). I guess at hours when Marc service is less regular you might take Amtrak - but never thought of it when I lived there. (though a lot of times the last ticket check on the NE Corridor trains is between Baltimore and BWI, so it could be a free ride).

When I lived in Bethesda, MD (basically in between all three airports), I always flew out of DCA if possible. So much easier to get in and out of. But I would go to IAD for cross-country direct flights or BWI for southwest (jet service to places others fly regionals). So if I was in your shoes in reverse, I would take the United IAD-PDX non-stop. But I also had a car.

The direct flight would still be my suggestion. When I did not want to park at Dulles, I had a driver who would meet me in a private car -- pick me up just like a family member on the middle arrivals level - and take me to Bethesda for about $25. I would think you could find someone for $35 a ride -just ask your first couple taxi drivers in DC. To me, the direct flight is worth the extra cost and 45 minutes of getting in from Dulles to avoid the potential hassles of connecting.

Otherwise, I would be torn between HP and AA. The America West suggestion is a good one. Alaska now has a direct SEA-DCA service, but it is limited like the LAX-DCA service. I think they have two flights per day instead of just one here, but one of those is really early - probably too early to connect to from PDX. So if you miss the Alaska flight, you are out of luck. America West has more flights to Phoenix, so you will always get home.

But the downside of HP is having all those miles earned on HP instead of another airline. Sure, they have NW and BA as partners, but those awards take more miles than a home airline award. It is sort of like the Southwest awards I earn -- a free ticket on SW means I have to fly SW -- and I feel like I have to max the free ticket out. But the last thing I want to do is fly cross-country on SW - that is what I have status on these other airlines for -- upgrading on long flights. HP may be the best airline for your travel, but the last thing you will want to do is take America West for award travel.

All the other options (AA, UA, NW) connect through hubs like Chicago with many winter and summer weather problems. But if connecting so you can fly into DCA, I might be tempted to go AA so that all the miles I earn can have more value and would be easier to use for International award travel.

my thoughts:

-i usually opt for amtrak; that extra 6 bucks makes a world of difference
-the ua nonstop is certainly the most efficient, but is never the cheapest
-if i wanted to fly tomorrow to was in general, i'd pay 141 on hp, 202 on f9, 230 on ua (2 stops), 300 on wn, and a lot more on everybody else.
-into dca, f9 would win, with hp 30 behind
-as via sea is silly because they only have a few flights and aren't that cheap or good

i guess f9 looks ok but i've never really surveyed their ff program. the reason i went with hp in the first place is because they were very cheap this summer and have remained competitive since.

No one has mentioned the cheap way to get from Dulles to Downtown DC. Metro runs a bus (#5) that runs downtown with only 2 stops for $2.50. You can check their web site for details.

it may cheap, but pleasant, it aint. (try it during morning rush hour... with luggage.. some time.)

[QUOTE=dspringer28]Thank you all so far!

I will be working/living downtown with no car, so DCA will be a airport of choice. I saw that Amtrak's biz class fares from downtown to BWI are pretty good. The + to BWI is lower fares (even after the train) and more upgrades than DCA.

I will most likely be splitting between DCA and BWI. Cost is not that big of an issue, but I don't want to throw money away. When I'm arrving late leaving early I go with DCA, for mid day flights BWI, throw in a few IAD's and so on.
QUOTE]

I say that since you are going to be in downtown DC, stay away from BWI at all costs. Taxi from BWI to downtown is $100, whereas from IAD is only about $50. Also, the traffic on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway gets backed up far more often than the dedicated road to IAD. Put it this way, you will hit the same backups getting out of DCA to either the Dulles Toll Road (which isn't toll for airport traffic or to the BW parkway, but once on the Dulles parkway, it is 20 -25 minutes with no backups. There are also convenient shuttle services to IAD or a more roundabout Metro/Shuttle connection. From downtown, I allow an hour to get to IAD and 1.5-2 for BWI depending on time of day.

As for the train to BWI, allow yourself two hours before you even allow time for check in/security. The rail station is not at the airport. It is several miles from the airport and is served by a very inconvenient shuttle service, where you litterally have to push your way on the shuttle bus, otherwise you get left behind and may have to wait 15-30 minutes for the next shuttle. Here is my timeline for BWI - 15 min. taxi/metro to Union Station, 5-10 minutes to navigate the station, 25-35 min. train ride, 20-40 min shuttle service, so anywhere between an hour or two depending on time of day, timing, and luck with the shuttle from train to airport.

DCA is the most convenient. From the central business district you either hop on the yellow line (Gallery Place, Navy-Archives, L'Enfant Plaza) or the Blue line (Foggy Bottom/GWU, Farragut West, McPherson Sq., Metro Center, Federal Triangle, Smithsonian, L'Enfant, etc) and you are anywhere from 10-15 minutes to DCA. Front of the train for DL, CO, HP, NW and Frontier, and back of the train for US. UA, AA and Alaska are in the middle of the main terminal, so doesn't matter. You are litterally dropped off 100 yards and a moving sidewalk to the gate level. Security is a breeze at DCA because each gate area has its own screening, thus no bottlenecks.

As for airlines, HP probably offers a good connection through Pheonix and DL has two good connecting options through ATL and CVG (although CVG is more often than not, a RJ into DCA these days. Also with DL you get the option of CO and NW now and with that more options for rerouting if there are problems with one of your flights or connecting cities.

Good luck

I would use IAD if I were you. The asinine 30 minute no-pee DCA rule is enough to justify any other airport IMHO.

i disagree. unless you live in fairfax or w. montgomery counties, iad is the least convenient of the 3. imo, the convenience of dca easily offsets the no-pee rule. bwi is pretty ok too, particularly if you live near a red line station. unlike some of the others here, i've never had any problems with the train-->bus connection at bwi rail station (there always seem to be vans waiting when i get off the train).

For the most part I haven't had problems with the BWI rail station bus to the terminal either.

It can be bad at peak travel times like Friday afternoon. For me, all of the times that the lines to get on the shuttle buses have been bad there have been taxi cabs lined up to take people to the terminal for $5 a person. Unless you're on a tight budget that's not so bad.

This is not true. It is much less. To downtown Washington it is closer to $65 bucks. I think my last BWI-to-Capitol Hill taxi ride cost $60. Here is a link to BWI ground transportation that lists average taxi fares to different points in the Greater Washington area (and lists a trip to downtown Washington as averaging $63):

http://www.bwiairport.com/ground_tra...d_private_car/