Trip Motivation
In March 2023, we flew to DC for a week of museums, US history, cherry blossoms and so much walking. The kids were 5 and 8 and this was a perfect age to see all the amazing sights. This post has details on our logistics and recommendations for hotels. For more on our itinerary and recommendations for museums, see this post here.
Flying: BNA to DCA (1.5 hours)
We love flying Southwest. You can earn Southwest points from Southwest Credit Cards or by transferring Chase points using the Chase portal. See more tips on using points and miles here. We had a pair of companion passes for this trip. Companion passes are a perk of getting a ton of Southwest miles in a year. Because of our companion passes, we just had to pay taxes of $11.20 for each kid. This is an amazing perk and we definitely took advantage of the kids flying for free when we had the pass previously and will continue to do so again in the next few years. Be sure to read if you’re interested in learning more.
Baby Carrier
Car Seat Travel Bag
Sleep Toy (with sound)
When traveling with layovers or to new cities, we always check the local airport website and the Priority Pass Lounge website prior to the trip. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card (in addition to others) comes with Priority Pass access. This card gets you access to various airport lounges. It is much more common internationally. In Nashville, there is a Minute Suites lounge in terminal D and 400 Degrees Chicken. In DC, we were able to eat lunch for free at a sports pub called Bracketology. Love having the priority pass to save $70!
Another perk you can get from several credit cards we have used is Global Entry/Pre-Check. This is always helpful for avoiding long lines and spending as little time as possible with others. After you activate your credit card, you’ll use it to pay for the Global Entry fee and get reimbursed immediately. If you want more on this particular benefit and how to use a credit card to receive it for free, check out our tips here.
Grand Hyatt Washington DC
We spent 3 nights at the Grand Hyatt Washington. The hotel is conveniently located a short walk from many popular attractions, including the White House, Museum of History, and Washington Monument. The hotel is also connected to the Metro Center station.
We paid for this hotel using free night awards we earned from having a credit card with Hyatt. We have globalist status from our many stays last year. Because of this, we received access to the club lounge, which came with breakfast, hor dourves, and evening desserts! Super fun! We weren’t able to get an upgrade for this stay. When sleeping with kids, extra space to spread is always a great perk. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card and Chase points, which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about points here.
Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill
Final Thoughts
DC is in easy flight and good deals occur often. This is also right on the edge of a long road trip distance that wouldn’t be awful. 10 hours from Nashville. For our next stay, I would look carefully at what activities we want to do and maybe split the stay again at the Hyatts. Or stay at another brand? Ha!
