Washington Orlando
Three airports serve Washington, and each one draws a different airline mix to Orlando. Reagan National has American, Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest. Dulles has United. Baltimore-Washington has Southwest plus Frontier, Spirit, and Breeze Airways. The budget carriers only fly from Baltimore, so where you drive to determines your fare more than which airline you pick.
If you live in DC or Arlington, fly Reagan National to Orlando International. Four carriers fly all day, so finding a seat is never the problem. American and Delta do most of the flying. JetBlue often undercuts them on the same route, and Southwest has no change fees.
If you are in Maryland or chasing the lowest fare, drive to Baltimore-Washington. That is where Frontier, Spirit, and Breeze compete with Southwest, and fares drop. Breeze flies an Airbus A220, a newer, quieter plane than the 737s and A320s everywhere else on this route.
If you are in northern Virginia, Dulles works. United is the only carrier, so there is no fare competition, but schedules run all day and the flight is the same 2.5 hours.
On the Orlando end, fly into Orlando International. It is 20 minutes from Disney and 30 from Universal. Sanford barely has service from DC and would add over an hour of driving to the parks.
Brightline runs a high-speed train between Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. If your trip covers both Orlando and the coast, you can fly into one and train to the other without renting a car or booking a second flight.
Search each DC airport separately. Most booking tools pick one airport when you type "Washington," and someone searching from Reagan National will never see the Frontier or Spirit fares out of Baltimore.
Have a specific need? Use the decision guide below to filter by your airline, where you live, lounges, or where you're staying in Orlando.
Pick What Matters to You
Best pair by where you're coming from
Best pair by where you're staying in Orlando
Which pair your airline flies nonstop
| Airline | IAD–MCO | BWI–MCO | DCA–MCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Delta Air Lines | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| United Airlines | ✓ | — | — |
| Mexicana | — | ✓ | — |
| JetBlue | — | — | ✓ |
| American Airlines | — | — | ✓ |
| Southwest Airlines | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spirit Airlines | — | ✓ | — |
| Allegiant Air | — | — | — |
| Sun Country Airlines | ✓ | — | — |
Ranked by on-time performance
Lounge access by airport and terminal
Ranked by flights per week
Getting to the airport
Red-eye vs daytime departures
Premium cabin options
Connecting through Washington from a domestic flight
Nonstop flights leave throughout the day from all three DC-area airports. Connecting through Charlotte, Atlanta, or any other hub adds hours to a two-and-a-half-hour flight and almost never saves money on a route this competitive.
The only scenario where a connection shows up usefully is if you are flying from a smaller city that routes through Washington anyway. Even then, check whether your origin has its own nonstop to Orlando before accepting the layover.
Washington & Orlando Airport Profiles
Each airport has a personality. Terminal quality, transit access, lounge scene, and crowd levels vary dramatically — sometimes more than the flight itself.
Washington Metro
Dulles sits 27 miles west of downtown Washington in the Virginia suburbs, connected to the city by the Silver Line Metro. The Saarinen-designed main terminal is the building on every postcard, but most gates are in the midfield concourses reached by the AeroTrain people mover.
Walking distances between concourses can be long. If you have a tight connection, check which concourse your gate is in before landing. Security lines can build during the late afternoon departure rush, but TSA PreCheck and Clear lanes move faster.
BWI sits between Baltimore and Washington, 32 miles from downtown DC and about 10 miles from downtown Baltimore. The airport has a single terminal building divided into concourses A through E, with a straightforward layout that keeps walking distances short.
The terminal is functional rather than flashy. Security checkpoints tend to move faster than at the larger DC-area airports, and the concourses rarely feel overcrowded. A free shuttle bus connects the terminal to the BWI rail station for MARC and Amtrak service.
Reagan National sits on the Potomac River, five miles from the National Mall, with monument views on approach. The airport is compact. Terminals B and C handle most traffic, and the walk from security to any gate rarely takes more than ten minutes.
A Metro station connects directly to the terminals on the Blue and Yellow lines. The feel is of a well-run regional airport: shorter concourses, quicker security, and less distance to cover than the area's larger airports. Terminal C has been modernized with better food and more natural light.
Orlando Metro
Orlando International has four airside terminals connected to a main hall by an automated train system. You clear security in the main building, ride the train to your airside, and walk to your gate. The total trip from security to the farthest gate runs about 15 minutes.
The south terminal complex is the newest section of the airport. It has higher ceilings, better natural light, and a modern food hall. The original north-side terminals handle most domestic flights and were refreshed in recent years.
Bag claim is on the ground level of the main hall. The rental car center connects by a dedicated tram. If you are being picked up, the cell phone lot is free and clearly signed from the terminal exit road.
Orlando Sanford is a small, single-terminal airport about 30 miles northeast of downtown Orlando. The building is compact enough to walk from check-in to any gate in a few minutes. There are no trains between terminals and no long walks.
The airport handles a fraction of the traffic that Orlando International sees. Security lines are short, check-in is fast, and the terminal is rarely crowded. Past security, food and shopping options are limited to a handful of shops and a small number of restaurants.
No high-frequency connections found. Check SFB routes for all options.
Which Airlines Fly Which Pairs
Frontier serve both IAD and BWI to MCO — airport flexibility on the Washington side.
Not all planes are the same size. The aircraft type below each checkmark tells you whether you are getting a widebody (777, 787, A350) with wider seats and a quieter ride, or a narrowbody (737, A321) with a single aisle. On flights over five hours, the difference is significant.
A319, A320
A319
A321neo
A321, A321neo
737-800, 737-900
A220-300, A320
A220-300
A320, A320neo
737-800
737, 737-800
737, 737 MAX 8