Hello folks,

Will be relocating to the DC area shortly and will be flying a bit, both internationally and locally.

At this point, for my domestic travel (mainly between IAD & IAH) am torn between the following:
- Stick with UA and use IAD
- Use flights out of DCA (CO, US etc) and split my miles between Skyteam & *Alliance

While my preference would be to stick with UA, the one time I flew in/out of IAD on CO was a nightmare, mainly due to the looonnnggg security lines. Are there shorter elite security lines in IAD for UA (as in IAH for CO).
Any comments/suggestions would be welcome. (the 737s on CO out of DCA are more enticing than the embraers)

Thanks
-FN

Where will you be living?

I would suggest you stay with UA in most cases. Use US for the DCA flights and have the miles go to UA MP. Then use IAD for everything else, particularly international.

But if you're moving to a location that is far away from IAD, this might not make sense.

Where you end up living in the DC area will probably be the biggest factor, but I'd avoid IAD if at all possible. Security is a nightmare and DCA is so much easier to get to if you live near the city. I fly UA 95% of the time and usually leave out of DCA connecting in ORD. US Air has you covered for any east coast travel. I'll make the trek up to IAD on the rare occasion if it allows me to fly UA.

Welcome to DC!!

As both posters above indicate it's all about where you live. DC is a great area but traffic is a nightmare, really. Figure out where you'll be living than decide which airport is more convenient. It's taken me over 1.5 hours to get to DCA for a morning flight, but only 30 minutes to get home because rush hour was over. And yes, contrary to the opinion posted, my preference is IAD. The security lines can be long but they move, whereas I can sit in DCA's lines for the same amount of time and feel like I'm standing still.

ps Check out the happy hour thread in Community if you're interested in meeting other DC FT'ers

My wife and I are both UA 1Ks, we live in Maryland, and we both primarily use IAD. Obviously we use it for international, and about 80% for domestic. The main benefit we like at DCA is that you can take the Metro subway system directly to/from (provided your flights don't depart or arrive too early or late). IAD is drive only, altho there is a dedicated airport access road from the Washington beltway. We have encounted horrendously long security lines at IAD (stretching the entire length of the main terminal building TWICE, before you even GET to the ropeway to enter the Disneyland lines. BUT, even those only took 25 minutes to navigate.)

I fly through IAD whenever it is an option.

Negatives:
-having to bus to the outer gate areas;
-no easy public transit access;
-potentially very long security lines;
-construction/crowded main terminal;
-prone to weather delays in the winter.

Pros:
-Normally very efficient (and thorough) security;
-Quick baggage handling;
-No hiking for hours as in other international airports on the East Coast;
-Curb-side check-in works well;
-Good layout for picking up passengers on the curb (easy to circle while waiting);
-God-awful smoking lounges (can be a negative, but vital during long delays).

I detest the New York area airports, I'm afraid. Philly is just too big. ORD is out of the way for me, as is Atlanta. Charlotte is nice, but only useful for US. I fly back and forth from FRA to IAD regularly, and rarely have issues of any sort at either end. The problem with DCA is it's only domestic, so I'd have to connect to get there. I like DCA and tend to use it for my domestic travel primarily because the Metro goes there. BWI is a good airport too if you live in the North DC suburbs or anywhere else in MD.

The primary thing for IAD is plan to get there earlier than usual. 2.5-3 hours is my normal target. I always (9 out of 10 times) breeze through and end up sitting around for 1.5 hours after security/the bus. Vastly preferable to being late, though. I also try to fly at odd hours to avoid rush hour, but that's a personal preference. Most of my travelling companions try to kill me when I book the 0600 departure.

You had already cross-posted this here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=415370
so I am going to close this thread.

cblaisd
Moderator, United