Washington National Airport

While DCA is being renovated the renovations will end and the facility will be improved. During the 15 years I lived in the area the renovations at Dulles never ended and the facility was never improved. Note however that some DCA TSA employees (and airline employees at other airports) do not understand the concept of visa on arrival and are fully prepared to keep you off your flight because "you don't have a visa for the country you are going to".

Washington National is a mixed bag. While it has a great location and a metro station it doesn't really offer too many flight options. Also while Gates B/BC/C offer beautiful architecture the older Gate A is beginning to show how really rundown it is. One of the most frustrating issues with the airport is the lack of updating of information. For example there were signs all over the airport warning travelers that all the bathrooms past the security checkpoint of our gate were closed due to renovation. Well that turned out to be old news as the bathrooms in our gate had already undergone the dreaded renovation. There were also updating issues with the directories which didn't show half of the restaurants/stores beyond our security checkpoint.

The airport is quite convenient if you are staying in DC either a short cab ride or Metro ride to anywhere in DC proper. My biggest complaint (other than the A Terminal being rather run down and dirty) is that ATA only flies in to DCA on a very limited schedule and there is NO ONE from ATA staff on site once the flight has arrived and deplaned. Not even a sign at the ATA ticket counter informing passengers of this fact. The baggage handling is spotty at best.

Clean modern and airy (lots of windows; even a nice view of planes the Potomac River and Washington). Decent stores. What a contrast to the old dirty downright depressing Dulles (which has been under renovation for years). Parking is limited and pricey.

If I think about DCA Reagan Airport necessarely I have to think about Dulles as well. What a difference. DCA is great for the very simple reason that the alternative is a far expensive unorganized airport calles Dulles. If you're living in the DC area arriving at Reagan is just an excellent way to get to downtown in some minutes by metro. Try the same with Dulles: wasted time wasted money and patience gone.

This airport was quite efficient. I flew to and from Terminal A on Northwest. Prices at the Terminal A store were surprisingly only a bit above average non-airport prices. The airport was also rather calm and Terminal A has interesting architecture. The only downside was that I had to meet a group in Terminal B which is also where my tour bus dropped me off on my return flight. To get from Terminal B from Terminal A I had to walk down a very long narrow and hardly occupied hallway enclosed with glass. This made it very hot especially carrying a 50lb bag. Plus it was November 30 degrees in Minneapolis and 80 degrees in Washington.

It's clean relatively quiet new (except for the ancient Terminal A 8 or 9 gates that will soon be remodeled) and convenient to downtown and the rest of the city. It offers an excellent alternative to dragging all the way out to IAD (Dulles) or the worst BWI (Balitmore Washington). US Airways is the dominant carrier at DCA taking up all of the North Pier and a few gates in the Central Pier but other carriers are plentiful as well - Delta also has a large presence. DCA has four separate security checkpoints allowing quick access to gates large windows for great plane-viewing and a general feeling of modernity and ease.

National airport offers travelers a great deal of convenience especially with a Metro stop connected to terminals B and C. A point of interest is the older terminal A serving NW TZ YX and FL. Reminiscent of the fifties and sixties the architecture of the building resembles the old TWA terminal at JFK. The circular gate area is wonderful with elegantly high ceilings.

Washington Reagan National Airport is my favorite US Airport by far. The airport offers architectural beauty functionality orderly flow fantastic sights and superb access to public transportation and the DC area. Compared to Dulles or BWI I would easily pay a premium to fly National when available. On top of everything else the employees of the airport and the airlines seem to thrive off the sunlight artwork and atmosphere to provide some of the best air-related service I have ever seen.

National is a beautiful airport with a great area for departures on the top level with views out towards Washington. You go down one level to the terminals but there are also a number of great stores before you go through security including things like Brooks Brothers. In each of the terminals there are some decent food options though pricey. However the airport is very clean and kept in good shape which is unusual and appreciated. Complaints: First to go between the different terminals requires going in and out of security a pain if you have a tight connection. Second National is very pricey for certain flights considering it's a little domestic airport. The airport has a heavy US Airways presence but because it brings in a lot of business and political traffic that can evidently afford it both US and other airlines jack up prices on non- competitive routes - the ones I've dealt with included DCA-BNA (Nashville) and DCA-SDF (Louisville). And it's not like the shuttles to Boston and NYC are dirt cheap either. Comparing costs between DCA and BWI says it all often 350$ out of National when only 190-225$ out of BWI (but you have to deal with going out of BWI). But it is incredibly convenient right on the Metro (one of the best subway systems in the country) and an easy cab ride to downtown and easy to get to from all of the Virginia and many Maryland suburbs. DCA is a smaller airport that happens to be the airport in a major city. It's very good except expensive.