Bonus holiday mini episode!! We managed to track down the one and only Dennis Hazell, DCA Airport Customer Service Manager, for a quick chat on ways to make your holiday travel just a bit easier!
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Staff:
Tanisha Lewis, VP of DISI
Jaimini Erskine, VP of Marketing & Concessions
Charles Wilson, Co-host/Co-producer
Amanda Ohbayashi, Co-host/Co-producer/Social media producer
Ryan Burdick, Editor/Co-producer
Bong Lee, Graphics
Brian McCoy, Digital Strategy/Co-producer
Sagia Depty, Marketing Lead/Co-producer
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[00:00:09] Amanda: Hello, and welcome back to the Capital Runway podcast. We have a very special episode for you today. We are live at DCA this morning and we are talking to the one, the only, Mr. Dennis Hazel.
[00:00:25] Dennis Hazel: Hey. Thank you.
[00:00:25] Amanda: Hi, Dennis.
[00:00:26] Dennis: Hi, Amanda.
[00:00:27] Amanda: Welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:28] Dennis: It's a pleasure to be on. Thank you.
[00:00:30] Amanda: Let's talk about holiday travel tips.
[00:00:35] Dennis: Yes. What would you like to know? The holidays are here.
[00:00:38] Amanda: Yes. We had a very busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, so what would be your top travel tips for anybody who's traveling this holiday season?
[00:00:50] Dennis: That's it. That's a great question. We're always asked that question too. Besides the top one, which is really get to the airport early, there's lots of things to do here in an airport. If you're traveling by yourself, there's places where you can go. We have lots of lounges here on the airport. If you're traveling with your family, we have a children's play area. There's a place for the kids to relax and burn off some of that energy. If you're traveling with a pet, we have places where your pet can go hang out here too. We encourage customers to get to the airport as early as possible. Spend some time here on the airport. Shop in our many shops. That's the number one tip.
I think just getting here early really just gives that sense of relief. It de-stresses the customer, de-stresses everyone, for that matter. For number two, I would say the best thing to do is if you're coming to the airport and you're driving, take advantage of our reserve parking. Your spot is guaranteed. It's always available. Even if the garages filled up, your spot is always going to be there.
I think one of my most favorite travel tips, and this is something that I've seen over the years, I've used it for the last, I don't know, gosh, 30 or 40 years now, but during this time of year, we see a different type of traveling. We see lots of families coming through the airport. One thing I would recommend for those families, especially those parents traveling with small children, is to create a fun experience for them. Go to your local dollar stores or to some place and get little small gifts for children that they could open up along their journey through the airport, including once they get on the airplane. Say every hour you give them a little small gift, it's anticipation, it's a fun thing, it keeps them occupied, and it helps your other fellow travelers as well.
[00:02:55] Amanda: Yes, that's great. What about Metro, should people be taking Metro to the airport?
[00:03:02] Dennis: Metro is a great option. As a Metro customer myself, I would highly recommend it. Now, if you're one of those customers who has an early morning departure saying you need to get here to the airport before Metro begins operating, that's a perfect opportunity for you to take advantage of our reserve parking option. If you have to drive your car, you can park it. If you have the ability, we strongly recommend that Metro is a great option for Reagan National. It's very convenient. It gives you a seamless option to get right off the train, down the escalators, and right into the airport. It's all covered too.
[00:03:40] Amanda: Yes. One tip I've seen from people is you are getting a ride or being dropped off, to be dropped off actually at maybe a Metro station or two away, and then you only have to ride Metro one or two stops. I think that's a real great travel hack.
[00:03:56] Dennis: Yes, absolutely. I would absolutely, strongly recommend that if you are thinking that, "Oh, I'm on my way to the airport," and you're stuck in traffic or you got behind an accidental one of the area roadways and you're running late and you think, "Oh my gosh, this is not going to work for me," consider dropping off at like Pentagon City or at Potomac Yard. It really does make a difference when it comes to getting to the airport. It's a very, very quick stop. Potomac Yard is just one stop away. In fact, I tried it this morning myself and it works flawlessly.
[00:04:28] Amanda: Awesome. What about once people are in the airport, what can they do? We tell them to get here early and they're here. What are some great things that they can do to wait for their flight?
[00:04:38] Dennis: We are fast and furious at opening up new stores here in the airport. In fact, we have this campaign going on now called DCA Reimagined, where we're asking our customers to just reimagine the customer experience, what it looks like here. We're adding on new concessions. We have great new stores, great new restaurants, some new lounges that we've opened up, and some additional amenities such as restrooms, new and improved, we're adding in-seat chargers in our hold rooms, brand new carpeting, just lots of things for the customers to do. Of course, you've got to take advantage of our free Wi-Fi too.
[00:05:21] Amanda: Of course.
[00:05:22] Dennis: Absolutely.
[00:05:24] Amanda: Do you have any other travel tips maybe for someone who's not a frequent flyer and really only comes to the airport once or twice a year?
[00:05:31] Dennis: Yes, well, for those people that aren't frequent flyers, then once you experience the ambiance of DCA, you will become a frequent flyer. We want you to fly. We would love for you to come back to our airport as often as possible. Really, the best thing for all travelers, because you never know until you get there, so the best advice is expect the unexpected, and the best way to do that is to plan ahead. Get yourself to the airport early. There's plenty of things for you to do here. One of the best things to do is, the Vista. The view out the east wall here of the National Hall, it's just gorgeous. You can see all the airplanes, lots of action on the ramp, and you get a view of the Capitol as well.
[00:06:19] Amanda: Yes. One question we like to ask all of our guests is, where are you flying to next?
[00:06:26] Dennis: Wow, where am I flying to? Let's see. My dream trip, and I'm hoping to get there in the next month and a half or so, is Iceland. It'd be a little difficult to get there out of this airport, so I think I'll go over to our sister airport, Washington Dulles, and fly Iceland air nonstop to Reykjavik. That's my place to go.
[00:06:50] Amanda: Iceland is beautiful. Highly recommend.
[00:06:52] Dennis: Yes. Now, do you have a favorite place where you like to go?
[00:06:55] Amanda: I would really like to head back over to Europe maybe sometime next year. I'm also flying out to Ontario, California this week for a conference, and I am flying from DCA.
[00:07:10] Dennis: Yay. Now, what's your number one travel tip to what? Get here-
[00:07:12] Amanda: Get here early.
[00:07:13] Dennis: [chuckles] Absolutely.
[00:07:14] Amanda: Early, early, early.
[00:07:15] Dennis: Yes. We'll be happy to greet you. We've got a great group of employees here that are always welcoming. We have changed the checkpoint experience here and really made it less stressful for our customers to get through. We're also putting in some new technology there for our frequent flyers so they can get through even faster. It's really a great experience here, and I look forward to welcoming you.
[00:07:36] Amanda: Awesome. Thanks so much for joining us, Dennis.
[00:07:39] Dennis: It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me on.
[00:07:47] [END OF AUDIO]