Reagan National Airport (DCA)

This week for the first time I had the pleasure of flying out of Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport (DCA). To my surprise I found out that you could reach the airport by Metro. Ok so some of you reading this will tell me that you can reach other US airports via public transportation, but to me this trip was the most convenient. In NYC you can take a bus to LaGuardia from 125th street, but what if you are in lower Manhattan or Brooklyn!? You can take the subway to JFK, which I have done one time and will never do again because it takes such a long time. I was in Brooklyn and it still took ages, not to mention you then need to connect to another train that actually takes you to the airport. International airports such as London’s Heathrow or Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport are connected to public transportation, but they are so far outside of the city that while it is cheaper than a cab, it still adds a substantial amount of time to your travel.

If you are in DC proper, you should be able to get to DCA in 30 minutes or less. For us, we got on at Chinatown and rode a mere 15 minutes to get off right at the airport. No change of trains just walking into the terminal. The DC area has three airports, DCA, BWI, and IAD, I would argue that DCA is the best option because you don’t have to worry about having someone pick you up! The only drawback is that flights to DCA tend to be the most expensive of the three airports. Convenience has a cost!