BWI Airport

[yankebabie]

So I am thinking of flying out of BWI for the first time. Can anyone tell me a little about this airport? Will be driving in the day before so will be in a hotel the night before our trip. Is it best to park at airport or do a sleep and fly package. Can you recommend any hotels near there ?

 

[cruisin5]

There's a chick-fil-a. That's my takeaway. Philly is for cheesesteak, BWI for cfa.

 

[FCDub]

What airline are you flying?

 

[china mom]

Long term parking is $8 per day. Last Sunday, one of the two lots was closed - not full, just closed. The other lot only had about 400 spaces. You have to take a bus to the terminal.

Hourly parking is $22/day but you walk to the terminal.

I would park at the hotel since it is free.

 

[snoopy5386]

BWI is our home airport - it’s a nice smallish airport. There’s lots of hotels in the area and chain restaurants too. Safe, clean area. We always park at the fast park on West Nursery Rd. Never stayed the night but chain hotels are all over.

 

[yankebabie]

We are flying Southwest

 

[china mom]

Southwest rules BWI. They occupy piers A & B entirely and about half of pier C. You can use A, B or C TSA checkpoints since they all connect airside but Pier C is quite a walk from A&B so check the boards before you choose.

There is a pretty big food court between A&B piers and there are additional food options down each pier.

 

[Gary2T]

We usually park in the Express lot ($10/day). A small shuttle bus picks you up and drops you off right at your vehicle. Some drivers jump out to help with bags. When the Express lot fills (which it often does) or when traveling in the winter with higher chances of bad weather, we opt for the Daily garage ($12/day). Covered parking to keep the snow/ice off. Large buses pick up/drop off on the ground floor. Not as quick getting to/from your vehicle as there Express lot.

Security lines usually aren't too bad. Lines for the A & B checkpoints aren't too far apart, so you can scope them out and pick the shorter line. Like china mom said, C is a bit of a walk and is only worth it if you're going out of a C gate or the lines at A & B are really long.

Besides Chick-fil-A, I also like BGR - The Burger Joint midway down the B pier.

 

[rigs32]

BWI is our home airport - it’s a nice smallish airport. There’s lots of hotels in the area and chain restaurants too. Safe, clean area. We always park at the fast park on West Nursery Rd. Never stayed the night but chain hotels are all over.

Um... I'd say it's on the smaller side for being a hub. But it's in no way small. There are 70 jet gates. Plenty of mid to large cities that aren't hubs have a lot fewer gates.

 

[MrKnight]

BWI is a hub for Southwest and is the smaller of the three major airports in the Mid-Atlantic region, it serves both Baltimore metro and indirectly the DC metro. As mentioned previously, there are reasonable parking options on-site at the airport, IMO this would be the most convenient option that way your car is right there at the airport when you fly back.

 

[Weedy]

Security can be a pain and I say that living in Orlando

 

[Huff]

Security can be a pain and I say that living in Orlando

MCO always comes up in forums as one of the worst TSA lines. However, in all the years I've gone I've never waited more than 10-15 mins tops. I found their security rather lacking. My niece walked right on thru while drinking a large Gatorade and her backpack on. She hadn't flown in years and forgot all the rules. TSA at MCO never noticed.