United Airlines has a new nonstop between Washington Dulles and Los Cabos on its winter 2026-27 schedule. According to AeroRoutes’ summary of United’s network additions for Mexico and the Caribbean, published June 2, 2026, the route is listed as starting October 25, 2026. For travellers in the Washington area, and for connecting passengers who use Dulles as a United hub, it removes a connection from the trip to Baja California Sur. This article sets out what has been reported, what the sources do not say, and how to plan around it.
The reported schedule
The AeroRoutes report lists the Dulles to Los Cabos service as follows:
- Route: Washington Dulles (IAD) to Los Cabos (SJD)
- Start date: October 25, 2026
- Frequency: four flights a week on the Boeing 737 MAX 8
- Holiday schedule: one flight daily from December 19, 2026 to January 3, 2027, on a 737 MAX 8 or 737 MAX 9
- Flight numbers: UA1104 outbound from Dulles and UA1103 on the return
The same update lists two other additions: Houston to Tuxtla Gutierrez on an Embraer 175 operated by SkyWest from October 28, three times a week, and Newark to St. Croix from October 31, once a week. Our earlier coverage of United’s Cartagena and St. Croix flights covers the Caribbean pair, so this article stays with the Los Cabos route.
What the sources do not say
The report does not state which days of the week the four weekly flights operate, the departure and arrival times, or fares. It also does not mention any pending government approval, but it notes that airlines periodically change planned operations, so the schedule is a snapshot and not a guarantee. Because the report is dated June, the schedule may have been adjusted since, and the only reliable check is United’s own booking page for your dates. We have not independently confirmed the current schedule with United, and we have not quoted any fares.
Why the route matters for a resort trip
Los Cabos is a long way from most of the United States by road and rail, and the airport sits well outside the main resort areas. Cutting a connection from the trip helps most when you are travelling with children, carrying a lot of luggage or working to a tight number of days. It also matters at the other end: a daytime nonstop gives you a better chance of arriving at the resort in time for check-in and dinner, where a connection can push you into a late transfer.
The transfer is the other half of the journey. The Los Cabos resort corridor runs along the road between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, and the resorts we have documented there publish a distance of about 40 km from the airport, with roughly an hour allowed for the drive. Read our Los Cabos destination page for the detail, and see the comparison of Riu Palace Baja California and Riu Santa Fe if you are weighing an adults-only property against a family one on the same road.
If you have not yet chosen between Baja and the Caribbean coast of Mexico, our guide to Cabo versus Cancun for an all-inclusive explains how the two differ in landscape, water and transfer time.
Practical checks before you book
- Confirm the days and times of the flights on your dates. A four-days-a-week schedule can leave the days you want unserved outside the holiday window.
- Check the fare conditions, including the cancellation and change rules, before you pay. Ours is not a fare report, and prices on a new route can move.
- Allow for the transfer. Arrange a pickup before you fly, or confirm what the resort provides, and keep the roughly one-hour drive in mind when you set your arrival time.
- Look at the return as well. A late-day departure from the resort area leaves hours between check-out and the flight, which our guide to check-out times and departure day covers.
- If you are travelling in the holiday window, book early. A daily service helps, but peak dates tend to sell out before shoulder dates do.
The wider picture
New nonstops are one of the few pieces of resort travel news that change the practical cost of a trip, because time and connections have a price even when a fare does not show it. Airlines add and drop seasonal routes often, and an announced route is not a permanent one. Treat this as a reason to check the schedule, not as a reason to book on the strength of a headline.