Airport Guides
DCA, IAD or BWI? The D.C. Decision
Washington gives you three airports in three directions, and choosing wrong costs you an hour. Here's the capital calculus.
The three options
- DCA (National) — 15–25 minutes to downtown, practically in the city. If a DCA flight exists at a sane price, take it. Period.
- IAD (Dulles) — the international workhorse, 40–60 minutes out in Virginia. Beautiful terminal, long ride; this is where pre-booked cars earn their keep.
- BWI (Baltimore) — often the cheapest fares, 50–70 minutes from the District. The fare savings evaporate if you don't plan the ground leg.
Capital specifics
Government and contractor travel runs on punctuality and discretion — name signs spelled right, drivers who know which building entrance, invoices that survive an audit. Security perimeters and motorcades reroute traffic without notice; drivers who work D.C. daily route around them by habit.
The Tysons factor: if your meetings are in Tysons or Reston, Dulles is actually the convenient airport — 25 minutes against National's 40 in traffic.
All three airports, flat-rate, at koastride.com.