BWI or DCA?

[DCTooTall]

So I'm checking out flights in March to Orlando, and am So Far seeing some cheaper non-stop flights out of Reagan vs. 1-stop flights out of BWI. I've normally flown out of BWI since it's a bit closer to me, but I'm wondering what people think of Reagan.

Would the potential cheaper flights (maybe $50-$100 round trip) and nonstop availability to MCO be worth the slightly longer drive to the airport? The flights I'm looking at are Sunday flights, so I don't think DC traffic from the north side would be that big an issue.

 

[grimley1968]

So I'm checking out flights in March to Orlando, and am So Far seeing some cheaper non-stop flights out of Reagan vs. 1-stop flights out of BWI. I've normally flown out of BWI since it's a bit closer to me, but I'm wondering what people think of Reagan.

Would the potential cheaper flights (maybe $50-$100 round trip) and nonstop availability to MCO be worth the slightly longer drive to the airport? The flights I'm looking at are Sunday flights, so I don't think DC traffic from the north side would be that big an issue.

That's pretty rare (in my experience) to find cheaper flights out of DCA than BWI, and to find more non-stop availability to MCO is even better. I'd jump all over that.

One thing DCA has that BWI doesn't is a convenient metro stop. If you wish to avoid having to drive into DC and then pay a lot to park there, you could possibly park at a park and ride in Virginia or Maryland and ride the subway to DCA.

I like BWI just fine, except that's it a bit out of the way unless you live closer to Baltimore. DCA, though, is extremely convenient for DC or VA residents, though the fare prices are usually not very favorable versus BWI, except in your case.

 

[rwdavis2]

I find that pretty surprising since Southwest flies out of BWI. Make sure you compare the long term parking rates. You will add about 45 minutes to the drive to get to DCA and if you're not paying attention you'll be back tracking. The fastest route is I-295 to NY Ave, then I think I-395 to the airport (or something close to this route).
Bob

 

[marshwiggle]

I don't think SWA or Airtran have released fares yet for all of March - those 2 fly non-stop BWI<->MCO and are usually the cheapest. I'd wait a little longer if you can (or make sure you can easily cancel whatever you book now). DCA is an extra 45min-1hr without traffic vs BWI if you're coming from the north.

I suppose it also depends on your party size - if the difference is enough and your schedule permits, you could even spend a day+night in DC before your trip.

 

[DCTooTall]

I'm probably not going to buy tickets for at least a month, but current pricing has it about $160 (plus fees) for a round trip nonstop from DCA, vs $180 (plus fees) from BWI.

I'm located up in York, PA, which is about 30min north of Baltimore. It's just me flying down, so the extra drive isn't THAT big a deal. But I do have some preferred airlines, so it'll depend on the price break if I decide to jump to another airline. (I travel occasionally for work so I have FF miles with their preferred airlines, and would prefer to add my personal travel to the same airline to increase my ability to use the program.)

 

[maciec]

DCA isn't that much farther for us than BWI. However, the main reason that we don't ever fly out of DCA is because it is extremely expensive to park there. After adding that to the cost of the ticket, it is cheaper for us to fly out of BWI.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We prefer DCA to BWI. We are about equidistant to both (less than a 10 min difference), and DCA is a lot nicer. It's cleaner and smaller. Though parking is more expensive at DCA, the difference is parking would be a LOT less than the difference in air fare you mentioned.

USAir has very good and inexpensive flights out of DCA to MCO, non stop.