Washington peeps...BWI or Dulles

[sully]

Need a little help from DC residents/frequent travelers...how much of a pain is it to fly into BWI as compared to Dulles? I am flying in from Boston and the flights are a lot cheaper into Maryland than Dulles, want to know if I would end up saving anything or if ground travel would eliminate the savings.

Thanks for your help!

-sully

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[Depakote]

If you're going to DC. (Regan) National is the only one that isn't a major hassle.

I know BWI has a shuttle train, not too sure about Dulles, but either way, you're going to have to add time/money to your transit expenses. National is in the city.

 

[n4ted0gg]

If you can, fly into Reagan National. If you are going somewhere downtown DC, then you can take the metro from Reagan anywhere you need to go. Its fast and relatively cheap. Flying into Dulles or BWI and then taking a cab or shuttle to downtown DC will most likely crush an savings you had on your flight.

Also, if you fly into BWI, you can take the MARC train into Union Station in DC and hop on the metro there. That might be your best option as it is not to expensive, 7-10 bucks or so, one way. That is probably what I would do in your situation. Make sure to check the MARC schedule online if you have to be somewhere at a specific time.

 

[SaturdayDwarf]

Need a little help from DC residents/frequent travelers...how much of a pain is it to fly into BWI as compared to Dulles? I am flying in from Boston and the flights are a lot cheaper into Maryland than Dulles, want to know if I would end up saving anything or if ground travel would eliminate the savings.

Thanks for your help!

-sully

Yeah, national is metro-accessible so it's your best bet if you are going into the city. It's usually the more expensive out of the three airports (like twice as expensive as the cheap Airtran flights into BWI). But it's convenient. I would look into how much it costs to rent a car and fly into BWI, it might be cheaper. You'd be surprised. I am pretty sure DC has Zipcar, if you have an account. There is a bus from BWI to the Greenbelt metro station. A really convenient AND CHEAP way to get from Baltimore to Washington. However, it's not always the easiest bus to find. I think it's called the B60 or B80 or something. Check the metro website, www.wmata.com

 

[Tigerstang]

If you can, fly into Reagan National. If you are going somewhere downtown DC, then you can take the metro from Reagan anywhere you need to go. Its fast and relatively cheap. Flying into Dulles or BWI and then taking a cab or shuttle to downtown DC will most likely crush an savings you had on your flight.

Also, if you fly into BWI, you can take the MARC train into Union Station in DC and hop on the metro there. That might be your best option as it is not to expensive, 7-10 bucks or so, one way. That is probably what I would do in your situation. Make sure to check the MARC schedule online if you have to be somewhere at a specific time.

I would echo flying to Regan - it is the easiest way and often will be cheaper (after cabs, time spent, etc). If you fly into Dulles you could take the shuttle to Falls church metro (i think it's like $13), to save money on cabs. It all depends on how much time and patience you have. Flying to Regan is definitely quicker and cheaper. The ride to GW is 15 minutes on the metro from Reagan.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Dulles is a pain because of the lack of travel accommodations into the city (I think you would have to take a cab, which would be more expensive than the $7-10 train to Union Station from BWI). I'd opt to fly into Reagan (DCA) if at all possible... otherwise fly into BWI and make sure to add like 2 hours to your travel time (2 hours is probably an overexaggeration, but it can't hurt to be extra prepared).

 

[LucidSplash]

Also there is a metrobus shuttle (the B30 bus) to the Greenbelt metro station from BWI that is $3 each way. This will get you to the metro system proper and you can take the Green Line in and transfer wherever you need to go.

However, I concur that if you can, fly into Reagan (DCA). This will eliminate the hassle and will be closer. But only do that if it is price competitive. If you will save a ton of money flying into BWI (lots of low cost carriers fly there ie southwest, airtran, etc) then take the shuttlebus to the metro. Just use the metro website to plan your trip appropriately. The bus takes about 30 mins to get to the metro and then it can be a long metro ride depending on where you are going in DC (http://www.wmata.com).

Don't fly into Dulles unless you have to. There is a shuttle there too that will run you from the airport to the nearest metro stop, but it is NOT run by metro and it costs $8 one way or $14 roundtrip (http://www.washfly.com).

 

[Pepper1o1]

(although I might be just echoing everyone on this board)...

Having lived in DC during the entire interview time, I've had to fly out and have used BWI every time, just because the flights are WAAAAY cheaper into there (also flew back and forth between Logan and BWI for Thanksgiving). I really would recommend BWI, as long as you leave enough time.
--Once you fly into BWI, take the AMTRAK shuttle... it will be near all the ground transportation shuttles that take people to the parking garages, etc. The shuttle drops you off at the BWI rail station.
--From there, as long as its a weekday and before 9:30 PM, you can take the MARC train, which comes about every hour (but check schedules online beforehand if you know approx times you'll be arriving). The MARC train goes to Union station for 7 bucks (can't beat it), and takes about 45 minutes. --Union Station is on the metro Red line, right in the middle of the city (pretty convenient). Even if you do fly into Reagan, you've got a pretty hefty metro ride into the city (probably about 45 minutes), so I think that given the cheaper BWI prices, and as long as you can fly in the night before, it's the way to go.

Good luck!

 

[sully]

Thanks for all of the quick replies everyone, I appreciate it. So, Dulles is out...and Reagan prices are >3x higher than BWI ($350 vs $100). The MARC train doesn't run on Saturdays, so I will have to take a shuttle when I fly in (looks to be about $30), but I can ride the train back out, or just suck up the extra $20 difference between Metro/MARC ticket price and shuttle it back out.

For others that find this thread:

Shuttle Bus: http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/dca.htm


Thanks guys, I appreciate all of your help!

ps. anyone else going to AACR the first week in April?

 

[gaganheim]

If you come in on a saturday, you can hop on amtrak instead of the marc. It's ~$18 instead of 6, but still cheaper than a shuttle, and takes you directly to union station. Going to greenbelt is a pain unless you're going to U MD.

 

[DryDoc]

I wouldn't reject Dulles too quickly. I've flown to most of my interviews out of Dulles and have found the Washington Flyer (bus from the airport to Metro) to be a cheap and convenient connection. If there's a cheap flight to Dulles, thats a very doable alternative. Just make sure you have enough time to do bus and Metro.

 

[dsprague12]

Even if you do fly into Reagan, you've got a pretty hefty metro ride into the city (probably about 45 minutes

The rest of your post was very useful, but it takes 20 minutes max to get from Reagan to Metro Center and another few minutes to get to Chinatown. Trains run through Reagan pretty frequently too, so there's not too much of a wait to get on either.

 

[DeadorAlive]

Reagan is first choice.

I actually do Dulles if I can't do Reagan, rather than BWI. There's a direct express bus - the 5A - ($3.00) from Rosslyn metro to Dulles, and from the airport back to Rosslyn. From there you're on both the orange and blue (one stop from GW med) or you can hop on the free shuttle to Gtown med at Rosslyn. (If those are the schools you're going to...)