BWI or Regan Airports?
 

How would you rate the time / cost to get from BWI to downtown DC vs Regan? I can get a flight to Regan for about $35 more than to BWI. I'm traveling solo and will only have carryon luggage.

If you're going to downtown DC, it's Reagan, hands down. From where National Airport is in Arlington, you're almost downtown already, and you can easily use Metro to get over to DC. Or a cab ride would be pretty quick. BWI is a great airport to maneuver around in, but it's about 25 miles outside of Washington.

Definitely Reagan if downtown DC is your destination. Well worth the $35.

I flew into BWI because I was on Southwest which doesn't fly into Reagan. I spent easily $35 getting into DC and back to BWI and also the time/inconvenience of this would have been well worth $35. However, Southwest was considerably less than the other options so in the long run it worked for me.

Reagan, no question.

I did the BWI deal to save money a few months ago and it sucked. I took the train from BWI to DC and back, and the service was horrid. Amtrak is perpetually late and, because it is the dominant line, it also slows service for MARC trains from BWI to DC that run on the same track.

If you go by taxi, you'll negate most if not all of the ticket difference and still have to spend over an hour total to get to and from DC. Is your time worth nothing? If not, fly into Reagan.

And once you do, it's a short shot on the Yellow Line to downtown DC.

I agree for $35 I'd fly into National, assuming you're headed for downtown DC. There is another low-cost option to get from BWI to DC, however, if you want to spend the time. You can get a Metro bus from BWI to the Greenbelt Metro station and then take Metro downtown. The bus is a non-stop from BWI to Greenbelt.

As someone who lives here, I need to be able to save more than $100 to fly in or out of BWI. That's my inconvenience and cost fee.

I agree w/ MikeT. My price difference break point is $150.

$35 is a no brainer.

Thanks for the info - Reagan it is.

"My price difference break point is $150."

It's getting close to that for me.

The reasonable way to save money is to take the B30 bus from BWI to Greenbelt and then connect to the Metro. Not AMTRAK or taxi.

B30 is $3.10. Every 40 minutes. Takes about 30 minutes from BWI to greenbelt.

Metro from Greenbelt to central Washington is $3.70. Takes about 25 minutes.

In contrast, Metro from DCA (National Airport) is $2.00. Takes about 15 minutes to Central DC.

So, you'll spend about $5 more each way on your transfer, if you're planning to use subway from DCA anyways. [Different story if you're planning to use taxi.] And if you just miss the B30 bus, your travel time may take up to 50 minutes longer.

You decide if that's worth the $35 saved.