Flight options from Baltimore-Washington area

Depends on what the total cost of each option is (include drive time, parking costs, total flight time, total flight costs with everything included, etc.). I literally do a little spreadsheet of pros and cons for problems like these. When I actually add up all the costs, sometimes I get an answer I didn't expect.

A non-connecting flight, especially on the way over, wins for me. Fewer opportunities for things to go wrong.

I would factor in day of week and flight time in your decision. I live very close to Dulles, but once made the mistake of flying back to BWI on a Friday afternoon. It took me 2.5 hours to get home due to the traffic.

I’d factor everything (price, convenience, traffic, flight time) in making your decision.

When connecting, I prefer to connect in Europe. If you miss your connection on this side of the Atlantic it often means the next flight out is the next day.

Planning to fly out on a Sunday and return on a Tuesday (we were going to return on a Sunday as well until it dawned on me that it was the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend). I usually go nonstop from Dulles, but often by the time it takes me to get back to Baltimore, I could have flown back to Europe!

Personally, I'll always drive another hour to save hours in airports and planes.

If you choose Dulles, the hotels in the Dulles area charge you less for parking and shuttle you to and from the airport. National is better for me but my girlfriend is a short uber ride to Dulles, so I normally choose one of the two. I was flying out of BWI for awhile to take advantage of great fares on Wow and IcelandAir. Wow has gone out of business and I'm not sure if IcelandAir is still offering similar fares?

I prefer non-stop flights for international trips and typically drive 4 hours to Newark rather than take a commuter flight to Dulles, Detroit, Chicago, or Philadelphia, which are my 4 choices. Since the European flights depart in the evening, despite the long drive, it is not a problem to get to the airport 3 hours prior to departure. Over the years, I have experienced cancellations with the commuter flights (both coming and going), so I would rather just have one flight. Price-wise, leaving from Newark is typically cheaper, but then parking is more expensive. Nevertheless, the direct flight tips the balance for me.

The first thing I would do is look at airfare.

If airfare is not an issue, the idea of driving from Dulles to the BWI area where you live sounds awful unless your flight arrives at Dulles before 10 AM. The traffic otherwise could be a nightmare. Do you want to drive in that after a trans Atlantic flight?

I would consider going through Canada with carry-ons and then fly home to the airport close to you.

Our problem exactly... we consider the fare, but we always choose the direct flight. We have never lost a checked bag on any direct flight.... which simplifies worrying. Coming home, we are tired, and would pay the $100 cab ride to get off the plane near home.

I also factor in the taxi fare home versus the parking for a week or so at Dulles and weight the answers based on the likely time exiting the airport. So a 40 mile taxi ride at 5pm will be be less annoying than driving yourself but will cost more because of sitting in traffic with the meter running. I don't mind returning home via Canada but doing that on my way to Europe would be stressful. However I would do it to save significant amounts of money. Have you considered British Airways? They have a non-stop from BWI to London which at least gets you across the pond on your first leg but you could book them through to wherever. Alas they have annoying seat selection fees.

I agree that you have to consider ALL the factors.

Specifically, when looking at price, look at the TOTAL cost, including gas and parking, pre- or post-trip airport hotel (if needed), seat selection, etc.

When looking at hassle, again, consider everything - such as hassle of changing planes vs. hassle of dealing with traffic to the airport. Of course, changing planes is not equal in each airport - you have to look at specifics.

From BWI, Marty beat me to it. In addition to connections through Canada, you can connect through London on British Airways, or can connect through Boston (which has a surprising number and variety of international flights).

There used to be, and I assume still are, hotels out near Dulles that allow you to leave your car parked in their lot during a trip after you stay there one night. Perhaps it would also be possible to do that before staying there one night?

I’m still comparing all the various factors! I’m a little leery of British Airways at the moment because they’ve been having a lot of (or threatening a lot of) work actions...someone I know was just stranded in London (not a bad place to be stranded but still...) because all BA flights were cancelled and it took them a few days to find her another flight. Apart from that, I don’t particularly like transferring through Heathrow, and I’m not crazy about the fact that you can’t even see a seating chart before you’ve plunked down your money. (That being said, I’ve done BA before and wouldn’t rule them out in general.) I think I may forego Dulles on this trip mainly because the flight doesn’t land till 3 and by the time we do security (my friend doesn’t have GE, tho I hear Mobile Passport is returning in a few days) and get our luggage,, we’re looking at at least a 2-hour ride or drive home (in May it took me close to 4 hours to get back to Baltimore). I like the fact that the flights I was looking at on Air Canada have a 2-3-2 configuration, so at least I don’t have to be in a middle (my friend is probably going to fight me for the aisle!). But the Air Canada flight from Geneva to BWi says it’s only one stop in Toronto but has a note saying people have to get off first in Montreal to go through immigration...so why aren’t they counting that as a stop? And the flight that goes from GVA to BWI through Montréal isn’t listed when I do a multi-city search...is there some way I can find that flight? And (one last question, for now)...is there any reason it would make sense to use Delta, which has a good fare on a r/t to Amsterdam, but it goes through Detroit. Thanks for all your insights...very helpful!

I just looked at skyscanner and it shows every flight on Air Canada leaving GVA arriving at BWI stops twice on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The stops vary depending upon the time of day and also the flights involve code shares.

I fly Delta overseas and have done so via Detroit. Detroit is not a bad connection in Autumn. But.....if your destination is Geneva, you'll still have to change planes twice (Detroit, Amsterdam). So I wouldn't do that either.

So for only one layover departing from BWI, it's British Airways. I have changed planes at Heathrow and it's not as bad you might think as you will NOT be going through passport control. There is a Flight Connections link on the Heathrow website in which you can plug in your flights and get detailed info about how to catch your 2nd flight to Geneva.

The latest strike for September 27 was called off just today. Maybe there is progress?

Longtime Detroit area resident here.....Detroit to Amsterdam uses the new flagship A350! It's a very pleasant experience and fastest flight we've ever had.

You should be able to get an Air Canada flight that goes from BWI to YUL (Montreal) to GVA, without going through YYZ (Toronto) at all. You may have to play with the booking website to do that (I'm not familiar with Air Canada's website, so I don't know all their tricks).