Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the stupid Dulles tram

Hate it with a passion. Why don’t the build a below ground train between the terminals?

Umm...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroTrain_(Washington_Dulles_International_Airport)

Anonymous wrote:I hate the stupid Dulles tram

Hate it with a passion. Why don’t the build a below ground train between the terminals?

I am in MoCo...pretty much between the three. IAD is my least favorite. No public transit options (aside from a 2 hour metro ride). The trains and busses are just another hassle. Parking is more than BWI (but less than DCA). But a good price will bring me there. I prefer SW to United though.

I don’t like having to use the beltway to get to BWI so I prefer Dulles.

I live equidistant from all of the airports. I tend to choose BWI and DCA for domestic flights and IAD for international flights. It's mainly tied to the airline mileage programs that I frequently use.

BWI is fine- definitely either do the daily garage or else the park and relax offsite long term parking. For Dulles we mostly do the garages now but try to reserve.

I slightly prefer the drive to Dulles over bwi even though you have to cross the American Legion bridge but I definitely check all the airports because I am fine leaving from any of them

Feel lucky to have both great airports just under 40 minutes away (with no significant traffic). That being said, I prefer BWI (and I have flown in internationally to Dulles twice this summer, not a novice). Parking is more convenient at BWI and I find the set up easier to navigate. Excellent flow throughout airport to easily get to gate. Both have great food. Dulles security has been quicker and more efficient last couple years. And if you have to check luggage it comes out much quicker at Dulles in my experience. Don’t like how BWI funnels you to one to small security passage until peak times. The traffic over the bridge to Maryland getting home is main drawback of Dulles for me. But overall all both great airports and I often go with which has cheaper flight to my destination.

i live 20 min from BWI so if I have a choice, I always fly BWI.

My guess is that those from page one who were talking about IAD being nicer or faster haven't been to BWI in the last 10 years. The airport has been redone and is newer and nicer. There are many food options and the place is much easier to get around. There is a food court in the middle, then there are food stops about every few minutes along the concourses. There are people movers on the concourses to make travel to even the far gates easy.

The daily parking garage is fantastic. They have space monitors so you can tell immediately where is convenient to park. As you enter, it tells you how many open spaces are in the garage. As you go up, there is an electronic counter telling you real-time how many open spaces per floor. When you pick a floor you can look across the ceiling and there is an individual light above each space "green" means open, "red is full". So you can see the open spaces and head straight for an open space without having to hunt for a space. You can immediately see which spaces are closest to one of the elevators too. The shuttles circulate continuously and even in the middle of the night, there is no more than about 20 min to wait for a shuttle. Conversely when I went to IAD, parking was almost impossible to find, we had to park somewhere closer to Richmond than Washington and waited about 30 minutes for the shuttle to get there. We got there early and still barely had time to get a bite to eat because the shuttle trip (with waiting) took 45 min, and with security and waiting to check bags, it took us well over 1.5 hours from when we parked to when we got to the gate. I have never spent anywhere near that long from parking to gate at BWI and I've flown there many times.

I find IAD to be stressful and BWI to be relaxing. Makes all the difference in how I want to start and end my trips.

Anonymous wrote:If it’s international do NOT do IAD. Their customs setup is horrific. Took us 3 hours in April.

For international, BWI flies has one daily flight to London, Iceland and some Caribbean routes. From Dulles you can fly anywhere. I like BWI, but Dulles has way more options, especially for going overseas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BWI is a hassle wherever you are coming or going from. Everything takes longer than at IAD.

I found the opposite to be the case, both domestic and international. IAD immigration and customs is INSANE.

I totally disagree. If you live in MD but equidistant to Dulles and BWI, you have to cross the American Legion Bridge and the IAD people movers are a pain. A BWI you park at Fast Park 2, it’s so cheap and picks you up right at your car. Security at BWI is a breeze.

I prefer BWI, it’s smaller, more compact, much less time to get through security and get out.

Anonymous wrote:Never fly into/out of Dulles unless you are forced.

BWI and National are much better.

+1

Our June flights in and out of crowded, frenzied Dulles reminded me why I hate it. BWI and National are much saner experiences - sometimes even, dare I say, fun!

Selections and prices for flights are almost always better from IAD but BWI is a much better experience if you have that option.

Never fly into/out of Dulles unless you are forced.

BWI and National are much better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think BWI is far nicer, no people movers being the primary reason. It’s just much easier to get through the airport quickly. Not sure why someone said no food options, the whole airport has been redone in the past 10 years and there are p,e rumor options, it’s better than Dulles in that regard.

Not sure how often you fly or if you've been to IAD in the past decade but they've had a train between terminals since 2010.

I think a lot of folks here who prefer BWI are leisure travelers who fly 1-2x/year and book their fare by sorting low to high on Expedia. If you travel often you have:

-status with an airline (crap-tier airlines like Spirit/Southwest/Frontier don't offer any benefits for frequent flyers)
-lounge access (it looks like BWI only has a lounge in a single domestic terminal, no SkyClub/United Club/Admiral's Club)
-flying out of an airline's hub is 1000x more convenient in terms of mechanical issues and scheduling changes (United at IAD and American at DCA).

IAD and DCA are both much better options for frequent flyers.

Still need to take the moon buggy to terminal D at Dulles.

And BWI is a huge hub for Southwest.

It just depends on where you live and where you are going- each has their own advantages.

No, you're just proving my point that the BWI cheerleaders don't fly often. You can get off the train at terminal C and walk to D gates. We did it a week ago as a family with small kids.

Delta doesn't have a hub in DC metro but people who travel a lot for work and leisure are flying AA/United/Delta and not booking the "Wanna Get Away" fare on Southwest out of BWI because it's the lowest cost.

It's 0.6 mile walk from the C train stop to the far D gates- I just mapped it out. That's through a crowded terminal with tons of people getting in your way. God bless you if you choose that over the moon buggy.

As stated, there are situations in which BWI works better. Just depends. We evaluate each trip on its own- depends on destination, time of day, flight options, etc