Wed, 04/18/2007 - 11:22am

Cockpit view of a landing at Reagan National Airport
First off traveling these days has to be the worst part of anybody’s life. In society today we have these people that call themselves “world travelers”, to be honest I really don’t get the point. You always have a lot of fears of planes: they can crash, possible terrorist attacks, and the main killer-delays. But the main intention of this article is to give a summary of Washington D.C. airports and flying.

Reagan National Airport named after Santa Fe Trail star Ronald himself is the closet to the D.C. area. While the proximity is seductive to some, unless you are flying Delta or U.S. Airways I wouldn’t advise flying here. The respective airlines latter and former are hubs of Reagan. So in other words: you will be flying around for hours or even days before you reach the “fastest way to D.C.”

Dulles International Airport is the second closest to the D.C. area. This airport only hosts one hub and that is United Airlines. This is a popular airline but you only have one selection. A totally different look at this hub situation that I am bringing up as a constant argument is other airlines fly in to both airports and I’m sure they get people where they want to go as posted. However, if I were to be flying to Dulles, I would choose United because they seem to have the most planes and flights going in and out.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport is comes in last. It is the furthest away from the D.C. area. It is a relatively big airport, so it does house a lot of different airlines. The main airline at BWI however, is Southwest Airlines.

I would have to say that there are certain myths and facts about flying. This day with the security checks and all arriving at the airport two hours ahead of time is outrageous. I would have to say a good arrival time at the airport, is a good hour, do not cut it short with thirty minutes or else you shall be met with great vengeance and furious anger. Once inside the airport, food and drink is going to be a serious expense. Food and drink will be very costly because in a cooperation between Homeland Security and Airport Foods Incorporated have joined together to ban all food and liquid. Don’t’ worry the security guards love to confiscate these items and make a toast in your honor since they do not have to spend three dollars for a bottle of water. A cheap way would be to bring a canteen or water bottle to the filler station a.k.a water fountain. A normal way to get over this problem is go buy one of those values meals at McDonald’s and get asked the million dollar question, “ Would you like to Super Size that meal”…oops.

I would have to say that all three seats in an airplane are born to be hated. Leading off you can sit in the cart smacker, the aisle seat and wait for your elbows and other limbs to be taken off by Candy the Stewardess with “thank you god” complimentary beverage services. Next in line is the elbow jabber, the middle seat. Basically in the middle seat you will never have an armrest because the two people on either side of you have already gotten there before you and have taken the armrests. Unfortunately you will either have elbows in your ribs or two heads on your shoulders. In case of the latter situation, Listerine Pocket Packs will come in handy. Finally, the sightseer, Oh my god I’m never going to make my connecting because I’m stuck behind two people and the rest of the airplane. The Grand window seat is by far the best for the foreign tourist who takes way too many pictures but you will honestly never leave the plane in light speed.

Finally, have a good trip even if your final destination is not Washington D.C. Otherwise, “you have now boarded the world”.

About the author
Jason Fukushima is a freelance writer who specializes in sports. Aside from writing, Jason watches sports daily. He can be reached at scronjsn11@yahoo.com.

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• Travel