Washington National Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Nice Airport, especially the landside with a great view on the airside. Nice place to eat at the airside, however there is no common use lounge, what a pity when you are not flying in business class. Ready to pay 40-50 USD to get access to a common lounge and be in a quiet area. Hope the airport authority will be more modern in their decision making.

I'll start by saying, Washington National airport is gorgeous. When you walk in to check-in it's very nice and clean. I was flying Southwest, and it was a quick line for check-in. I will say there wasn't really much shopping choice where I was. The staff was very nice and caring unlike some airport employees. If you want to go to DC fly to this airport.

DCA is a good option if you only need a regional flight and can be a great option compared to Dulles. When the weather is poor, the central location of this airport on the seaboard is a drawback. Delays from weather quickly pile up here because they are limited by what airports are within range (a big storm can quickly knock several of the regional hubs like Atlanta out of service). You are better served using Dulles as an international or cross country traveller if only because you arent guaranteed to need a connection. As far as the airport goes, its clean and fairly modern. OK food, relatively comfortable for an older airport. Location is a plus if you are traveling into DC metro area.

This review is for Washington National Airport Terminal B-C; Terminal A is another matter. Washington Reagan's great asset is its location just 4 miles south of the city. Built in 1939, the airport has a small footprint and that makes things both very compact and somewhat limiting. Passenger drop-off and parking for Terminal B-C is very close and convenient. The terminal layout is highly logical and efficient, so check-in is easy and close to the gates. The airport is pre-9/11, so security sprawls out into the main concourse. Depending upon the time of day, there can be waits of more than 10 minutes, but since each pier has its own, the waits are seldom long. TSA Pre-Check is efficient and usually involves no wait or just a short term. Gates are very close by, hold areas can become congested. Ground operations can back up because the space is limited and most operations involve just one runway. Nevertheless, ground hold times are seldom very long. Arrival at Terminal B-C is a snap (at least until you get outside). Gates are a short walk from baggage claim. Bags are seldom delayed. Ground services are just outside. The small footprint of the airport means you've got a lot of pickups in a small area, so ground operations can get congested on the arrivals level. Washington's Metro is right at the airport and very tempting, but consider taxis or limos instead since Metro is undergoing a massive and highly disruptive construction project right now. Hint: If you're coming in during the evening and being met, arrange to meet on the departures level (two levels above arrivals), where there is no congestion. (Sorry, but this tactic doesn't work so well during the day.)

Washington Reagan is the second-nicest airport in the USA. I only rate San Francisco's Terminal 2 (Virgin America hub) higher. Reagan is clean and modern. Despite being 15 years old or so it is kept immaculately clean. The architecture and layout are thoughtful. Well-designed for a pre-Sept 11th airport. The airport clubs are good but not great. The only real drawback are the TSA lines at peak times - Monday through Friday in the morning and in the evening (6am - 9am) (4.30pm to 7pm). I have probably flown out of this airport 400 times. One travelers' tip for departing travelers: Always check your airport. I recently had a mixed itinerary - out on IAD (Dulles) return to DCA. I showed up bleary eyed early at Reagan. I showed my itinerary to a United Airlines agent - she didn't catch my error either. Only when in the second line did I discover my mistake and hightail it to Dulles.

Great location if you are trying fly out of Washington DC. Check-in at the counter was pretty quick but if you wanted to check-in a bag the agent will tag it for you but you will need wheel it off of the scale to the check- in bag area. Thank goodness I had the TSA pre-check. If not the queue was extremely long. My gate was 11 and I did not see any flight monitors in the surrounding area to check for flight updates. Luckily I had my phone which told me that my gate was moved to 10. This airport is definitely old and needs to be updated. Only the convenience factor is the only reason to use this airport out of the DC area.

I have used Regan many times and it is a fine airport but for one thing - the queues for security and the actually layout of the security areas. coupled with a number of staff who do not seem to know what work means. My most recent experience was last month when it took 40 minutes to get to departures amidst dozens of people becoming increasingly worried about missing their flight. Were it not for this my overall rating would be a lot higher and any recommendation I would make to other travellers would include being aware of these problems.

Terminal C US Airways. Kerb-side bag drop was fine. TSA were incredibly friendly and then fast and efficient in processing a busy queue. Food/drink outlets land- and air-side were fine. Pleasant experience no complaints.

Worst customer service I have experienced. I was traveling alone with my 6 month old child through Regan for a layover. I asked an attendant how to proceed to my needed gate and she told me a shuttle. She directed me in the direction of the shuttle which was down 2 flights of stairs. I asked her if she could ask an airport worker to assist me as I had a baby a heavy bag stroller and car seat. She simply told me that it "wasn't her problem". I was assisted down the stairs by another person. When we reached the bottom and tried getting the stroller into the shuttle every airport worker stood around watching not willing to help once again. When we arrived at my destination they then expected me to carry all of my belongings back up the 2 flights of stairs. Had it not been for random strangers my son and I wouldn't of made our flight. This airport is by far the worst public place I've encountered.

All in all a fairly modern clean and easy to use airport though if one arrives early (before 5 am) to get one of the earlier flights expect long lines blocking the counter areas as people wait for the counters to open. We saw very long lines for security in the afternoon but in the morning the lines were much shorter (glad we were flying first class so had a special line). Decent variety of eateries both inside and outside security. The rental car facilities can be a bit confusing to find by car (when returning a rental car) and nearly impossible to reach by private vehicle (eg if someone dropping you off to get a rental car). Signage for the wide variety of vans shuttles etc. could be better.