myshaft

Booked YUL-WAS-SFO using Google Flights... well when I purchased it on United I didn't really pay attention at the WAS airports... turns out I'm landing at DCA then leaving from IAD. Have about 3h in between flights and in rush hour traffic. Passed the 24 hour cancellation policy.
What should I do? a) Uber or cab from DCA to IAD b) talk to gate agents in YUL to switch me to an IAD flight c) pay the change fee + fare difference to connect in IAD (fare has gone up by $150)? Thanks!

Aussienarelle

How far off is the trip? If there is a schedule change you may be able switch at no cost due to missed connection. If trip is soon you need to be the judue of alternatives but what happens if your first flight is late? In this case, unlikely to have a schedule change, I would probably call and plead my case to UA

sexykitten7

How far past are you? If it's only a few days, they will probably let you cancel. Even if longer, it never hurts to try! I've never understood why they sell such bizarre itineraries. It's just asking for trouble.

fightingsioux09

Also when you're thinking about change fee/fare difference, it would probably be at least $40 for you to uber between airports so take that into account. If you are worried about not having time to transfer between DCA/IAD you could same day standby for an earlier flight into DCA for $75.

dcfromdc

This. Or, cough up the change + fare diff. DCA to IAD by ground is miserable and stressful to make a three hour connect where you have to clear security again in a different airport. Depending on the time of day, having TSA Pre at IAD can make little to no difference.

It's do-able (generous adjective..). But, I value my time and sanity and would opt for any alternative for avoiding the ground game.

jsloan

UA doesn't fly YUL-DCA; I don't think UA's same-day standby policies will be useful here. It may be possible to do an SDC to an all-UA operated itinerary, but I believe that's a policy exception, not a guarantee.

I do agree that calling UA and asking for mercy may work. Alternatively, as suggested, if the flight is far enough in the future, UA may change the IAD-SFO schedule enough to trigger a free change.

laxmillenial

Call UA and ask for mercy.

If that doesn't work and you're worried about being stressed when going from DCA -> IAD (I personally think you should just uber and not be worried about it since the toll road is amazing) then now would be an excellent time to sign up for that free month / 3 months of CLEAR if you haven't Get you through that TSA-Precheck line like nothing! Although I've never had to wait more than 2-3 minutes in pre-check but I am not based out of IAD so I defer to @dcfromdc judgement.

mherdeg

Rush hour is bad for cars but pretty good for trains. With 3 hrs, try to make the connection by public transit, and if it doesn't work, ask a UA agent at IAD for help -- 99% sure that although they're not OBLIGED to put you on a later IAD-SFO they WILL if you miss the connection.

DCA to Wiehle-Reston should take under an hour. It's $6 peak/$3.85 off peak with a DC area transit card. It's not a bad transit by train assuming the DC trains are running on time. Unfortunately they haven't finished the Silver Line so you get to take a 15 minute bus ride provided by a private company from Wiehle-Reston to IAD -- this runs every 15 or 20 min and costs $5.

(Alternately take the train 10 min to Rosslyn and take the 5A bus -- I love that bus, but check the timetables as they have cut frequency.)

Bonehead

My guess is that you're on the 6:30-ish IAD-SFO flight. Beg to be put on the later nonstop flight? (I see a 10-ish flight on days that I checked).

Artpen100

I'd probably pay the difference to change to fly into IAD. You can try to talk them into the change, waiving the fee, but I doubt it will work. Still, doesn't hurt to ask. But I also think 3 hours to get from DCA to IAD should be manageable, though a bit stressful. I'd walk out and take the taxi. Main variables are (1) any delay with checked luggage at DCA, (2) traffic, though if rush hour, 66 will be HOV only, and once you get to the dedicated Dulles lanes, you will sail through, and (3) check in lines and TSA lines at Dulles. As to the latter, having priority will get you to the quick UA priority check behind the main ones. You might want to buy that. Precheck will make a difference, too, though those lanes can fill up depending on the time of day.

Aliquot

My understanding is that this in on one ticket. If this is the case they are ollbliged to put you on a latter flight if you miss the connection (unless you do something crazy to make your transit between airports unreasonably long.)

dcaiadflyer

Are you checking bags or carrying on? Traffic in the DC area is bad, certainly, but it probably won't take more than an hour (and could very well take more like 45 minutes) to drive from DCA to IAD. Uber/Lyft will be $40-60, depending on surge, and you'll want to make sure they have an EZ-Pass Flex so you can take I-66 west in the afternoon (66 is now tolled with EZ-Pass only eastbound in the morning and westbound in the afternoon--it's free if you have two people in the car, which an Uber/Lyft obviously will, but the need the EZ-Pass Flex set to carpool mode). If you don't have to wait for your bag at DCA (and even if you do), this should be pretty doable. There is always the possibility of a traffic disaster, but an hour is enough on a normal day.

If you take Metro, it's about 50 minutes on the trains (if all goes right), plus another 15 minutes on the bus from Wiehle Avenue Station to IAD.

coolbeans202

Take an Uber.

Assuming you're not checking bags, three hours is plenty of time, even in rush-hour, to get from National to Dulles. It's a 30 minute drive with no traffic and shouldn't be much more than an hour even in the worst rush hour. Just make sure the driver switches on Waze or Google Maps so they can take the best route and DO NOT use the Uber app map (it's really terrible). There are several ways to get from DCA to IAD that all take roughly the same amount of time, one of them should be in the clear.

windhund

If you opt for the train and take the bus from Wiehle to IAD, know that it's $5. Since you may be in a rush, I'd suggest I usually bring $5 in cash, as it's much faster. You pay when you arrive to the airport, and you don't have to wait for them to deal with the credit card machine if you have cash.
Silver Line Express Bus to Metrorail Station | Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Also:
- If you flying YUL-DCA, my guess is you are on AC, which means you'll fly into Terminal A. It's a good 10-15 minute walk from there to the train (which is nearer terminals B and C). Take that into consideration as well. There might be a bus between the terminals, but I've never taken it. If I were you, I'd just take a car unless there is a major road closure or other significant traffic issue.
- Regardless, I would avoid checking bags as bags can take a while at DCA. (Though it might be better in Terminal A. Don't have a lot of experience with bags there.)

findark

You should be absolutely fine to make the connection with 3h00, and since it's on one ticket you get IRROPS protection. It may be worth calling UA to ask for mercy and a different routing, but I would not pay more than about $100 to get out of this.

Take a car from DCA; should never be more than an hour door to door, and maybe $100 on the absolute worst day (from downtown I usually paid ~$60 and $100 was the worst; similarly about 0h40 most days, never more than an hour). Do NOT bother with Metro - it's a mess, doesn't go to IAD anyway, and will be much slower than driving.