how crazy are things at DCA?

[Anonymous]

A colleague flew last week for work, no checked bag, pre check was over 45min at DCA (mid week).

I understand no one wants to sit around, but the alternative isn't fun either.

I rather get their early and be relaxed than scrambling.

[Anonymous]

I went last night at 4:45 and was at the gate by 5. The flight was eventually canceled as was the rebooked flight today.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad I found this thread! Leaving out of DCA tomorrow morning for work and panicking now about the parking situation. Will probably book at a nearby hotel and Metro over (I don't trust Uber/Lyft to be on time these days).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I found this thread! Leaving out of DCA tomorrow morning for work and panicking now about the parking situation. Will probably book at a nearby hotel and Metro over (I don't trust Uber/Lyft to be on time these days).

There is usually economy parking, but I typically don't allow enough time for that on work trips. So your other option is to just go a little earlier and do economy if Term 1 and 2 parking is full. Agree on Uber - it can be 15-20 minutes before I can get one to pick me up, which adds stress for an early flight. The recent time I reserved in advance the guy was 25 minutes early and we weren't ready so had to rush out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I found this thread! Leaving out of DCA tomorrow morning for work and panicking now about the parking situation. Will probably book at a nearby hotel and Metro over (I don't trust Uber/Lyft to be on time these days).

I've taken Uber to DCA about a dozen times over the past four months and never had a problem. I put in the reservation a day or so before the desired pickup time. Nine times out of ten the drivers arrived early. Only once did a driver arrive right at my desired pickup time.

If you don't have a bag to check, I'd arrive an hour before departure. The longest I've had to wait in security is 40 minutes. Most of the time it's been between 15-25 minutes. Lines are generally longer with the new configuration.

If you have a bag to check, I'd arrive two hours before departure. This will give you more than enough time for the bag check, but it provides you with some padding in case there's a snafu at the check-in counters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I found this thread! Leaving out of DCA tomorrow morning for work and panicking now about the parking situation. Will probably book at a nearby hotel and Metro over (I don't trust Uber/Lyft to be on time these days).

There is usually economy parking, but I typically don't allow enough time for that on work trips. So your other option is to just go a little earlier and do economy if Term 1 and 2 parking is full. Agree on Uber - it can be 15-20 minutes before I can get one to pick me up, which adds stress for an early flight. The recent time I reserved in advance the guy was 25 minutes early and we weren't ready so had to rush out.

Weird. You don't need to rush out. If they're early, they wait for you. Late charges don't start incurring until 5 minutes after your requested pickup time. This is all clearly communicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A colleague flew last week for work, no checked bag, pre check was over 45min at DCA (mid week).

I understand no one wants to sit around, but the alternative isn't fun either.

I rather get their early and be relaxed than scrambling.

On the United side two weeks ago precheck lines were longer than the regular lines. Still both pretty manageable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I found this thread! Leaving out of DCA tomorrow morning for work and panicking now about the parking situation. Will probably book at a nearby hotel and Metro over (I don't trust Uber/Lyft to be on time these days).

I've taken Uber to DCA about a dozen times over the past four months and never had a problem. I put in the reservation a day or so before the desired pickup time. Nine times out of ten the drivers arrived early. Only once did a driver arrive right at my desired pickup time.

If you don't have a bag to check, I'd arrive an hour before departure. The longest I've had to wait in security is 40 minutes. Most of the time it's been between 15-25 minutes. Lines are generally longer with the new configuration.

If you have a bag to check, I'd arrive two hours before departure. This will give you more than enough time for the bag check, but it provides you with some padding in case there's a snafu at the check-in counters.

Thanks to you and 12:43. Maybe I've just had terrible Uber luck the past few months, but have had multiple last minute cancellations, and I don't want that added stress. I'm in MoCo, so it's not a quick trip to DCA.

I ended up booking parking at a hotel very close to the airport, so will take the shuttle or Metro (one stop away). It probably won't add any more time than circling through the Economy lot would take, haha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me, 3 hours seems like way too much for a flight to Philly. Are you flying out the weekend before 4th of July or something? Do you have TSA pre? Ive never had it take me longer than 20 mins to get from the curb to my gate.

But it's not just a flight to philly - it's an int'l flight connecting via philly. Because there's an int'l component, I would treat this as an int'l flight and get there 3 hours ahead of time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, 3 hours seems like way too much for a flight to Philly. Are you flying out the weekend before 4th of July or something? Do you have TSA pre? Ive never had it take me longer than 20 mins to get from the curb to my gate.

But it's not just a flight to philly - it's an int'l flight connecting via philly. Because there's an int'l component, I would treat this as an int'l flight and get there 3 hours ahead of time

+1 most people are responding seem to be talking about domestic flights. Completely different situation for international. Especially since DCA does not have that many international flights, so there’s not a huge check in area for each airline. Long lines. Definitely recommend three hours ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, 3 hours seems like way too much for a flight to Philly. Are you flying out the weekend before 4th of July or something? Do you have TSA pre? Ive never had it take me longer than 20 mins to get from the curb to my gate.

But it's not just a flight to philly - it's an int'l flight connecting via philly. Because there's an int'l component, I would treat this as an int'l flight and get there 3 hours ahead of time

No, it's a domestic flight to Philly that's part of an international ticket. The OP doesn't have to treat the first leg from DCA to PHL like the second leg. The OP's plane will likely be a regional jet or A319/A320 at most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, 3 hours seems like way too much for a flight to Philly. Are you flying out the weekend before 4th of July or something? Do you have TSA pre? Ive never had it take me longer than 20 mins to get from the curb to my gate.

But it's not just a flight to philly - it's an int'l flight connecting via philly. Because there's an int'l component, I would treat this as an int'l flight and get there 3 hours ahead of time

If.you can't check-in online. Many countries are now dropping all requirements, so you don't need to upload anything to check-in. If you can check-in online you can drop of bags at the kiosk and don't need to worry about lines.

[Anonymous]

Is there any way you could just rebook the flight so it skips the DCA-PHL leg and take a train or drive to Philadelphia? The train is quite pleasant and driving doesn't take too long, either, especially if you're in MD.

[Anonymous]

I flew out of DCA last week in the evening on a flight to Canada. No checked bag and have pre-check. Got there 2 hours early and was through security in 10-15 minutes. Took longer to walk to Terminal A than to get through security. The non-pre check line wasn't much different.

[Anonymous]

OP here. The big question is whether they treat it as a domestic flight or international. Will probably just go there early (I think I got it down to 2.5 h lol) and hope for the best.