This is my first post. I am looking to find the best first class service from DCA/IAD/BWI to CUN. When we were married we never had a honeymoon and for celebrating our 10 year anniversary I want to take my wife to a romantic stay in Riviera Maya, Mexico to an all-inclusive. I want the flight to be a nice part of the experience. I am in no way a frequent flyer and need help in choosing the right airline. Living in DC, I can go to any of the 3 airports to fly out of. All help/suggestions are appreciated.

go on expedia/other & see who flies to cun from the dc airports.....look for easiest routes/schedules/prices for your dates.....

post the top few here for specific info....

happy belated honeymoon...

Ok. I'll bite. Why is a flight between Washington DC and Cancun Mexico considered domestic?

what dates?

Dates will help, but because this is domestic first class (identified that way because the airlines almost certainly won't be using an international-type plane for the service but rather domestic-type planes with two-class cabins with a business product serving as first), I'd suggest that rather than focusing on the first-class (or business-class) cabin, you attempt to get the shortest flight possible for the most reasonable cost in coach and then spend the money on something like AA's Five Star Service, which will provide you with Admiral's Club access if you don't already have it through other avenues as well as departure, connection, and arrival assistance. I don't discount the value of a two-seat row for a couple celebrating a ten-year anniversary, but other than that, I'm not sure about the value of first-class in a domestic cabin, especially at five to eight times the cost of coach.

On the other hand, I do see value in lounge access and the personal touch that something like Five Star provides. And there are some flights out of DC that do not involve extended connection times, shortening the flight experience. I'd be more tempted to save the time and money for a unique experience on the ground.

Nonetheless, I do understand that a first-class experience might be the only thing that will work for your trip; I just thought I'd suggest alternatives that might be close while saving you some money that could go towards making the experience on the ground better.

Thanks for the clarification, lwildernorva. I can see how the plane type and configuration would be important for first-class considerations (that's why I started to read this thread).

rfreddy321:

Welcome to Flyertalk!

I have not flown to CUN from any of the DC airports yet so I can't provide you a trip report about the route you are inquiring about. However, if you do some research, you will find that there are a number of airlines that will fly business class from the area airports to CUN, with DL having the most number of flights, FL flying nonstop from BWI to CUN and UA flying nonstop from IAD to CUN. There are fewer carriers flying "F class" on these routes, with US having the only one stop F service using 767 wide-body planes connecting from CLT and UA having the only nonstop service from IAD to CUN.

Good luck and have fun exploring the flight opportunities. Please let us know the itinerary you finally come up with.

Thank you to all that replied. I will definitely look into the AA 5 Star.

Just to be clear, most of the airlines have a similar program; I'm just most familiar with AA's program. If you can get a nonstop from WAS to CUN, I'd want to take that flight, no matter the airline.

go to orbitz.com. choose was and cun as destinations. look at both first and biz class. go to seatguru and look up seat descriotions for both classes. domestic first is usually 37" seats. intl biz is 50" seats. i do not show any nonstop. in biz class, air tran.

domestic f is an upgrade deal for frequent tarvelers and an expensive ticket. no lounge, not real special seats, food barely an upgrade from the back of the plane. the virgin isls, canada, hawaii, and mexico are considered domestic.

save your money and just fly jetblue.

The Domestic F (which is what this is, even though the OP is crossing a border) experience depends so heavily on the service/flight attendant that it's almost impossible to say which carrier will give the "best" flight; every airline has its stars, and its duds, and while you can choose the aircraft carefully, you have no control over the crew you get. Because you can't reasonably guarantee service worthy of the additional cost, I'd not pay more than a few hundred dollars for it, for a special occasion.

Personally I'd fly in Coach and use the extra money on a nicer hotel room.

The flight is not domestic because it crosses an int'l border, obviously, but the configuration and service class would be domestic F. Even on UACO, UDUs include Mexico and even Central America.