Shuttle provides hourly flights from 6am and 9pm between each of these city pairs. This might seem like a lot of flying, but to give you some idea, even the 9pm flight from DCA-BOS on Tuesday night, one of the slowest days for travel, was mostly full.
Shuttle is designed for business travelers, but it is for this reason that the Shuttle is actually great for leisure flyers. In Boston, Shuttle has its own gates that always have really short security lines. Same with Reagan. The last time I flew the Shuttle from LGA was 7 years ago, so I don't remember if they have their own gates there, but I would assume so. Each airport also has its own Shuttle check-in desks.
Another nice thing about Shuttle is how efficient it is. Gate agents are relentless about getting people onto the plane, and flight attendants are in the aisles making sure people get their bags overhead quickly and don't block other passengers. It is actually pretty impressive how quick this plane boards, even when full. I wish all flights operated like this.
Until recently, Shuttle boarded back to front, which was efficient, but I think the airline realized that this was detrimental to their elite flyers who picked seats at the front but couldn't fit their bag overhead by the time they got on board. Recently they changed back to zone boarding like a regular flight, which might take a minute or two longer but is more pleasing to the travelers who butter US Air's bread.
US Airways
Booking
Website Speed: B+
Website Useability: B
US Air's site is reasonably fast and is also reasonable from a user perspective. I don't really ever search on the site itself because whenever I'm looking for flights I go on Kayak first. It's really hard to make changes to tickets on their site, but for just choosing seats and changing your frequent flyer number the site does its job.
One thing to note is that Shuttle flights don't allow you to choose your seats until 24 hours in advance, so make sure you check in right at the 24 hour mark to have the best shot at good seats. It's a free-for-all.
Pre-Flight
Gate Agent Friendliness: A
Gate Agent Announcements: A
Boarding Process: A
The gate agent thanked me by name when I boarded, and even though the incoming flight was a bit delayed they got the boarding started quickly and made multiple announcements about when it would begin. As a Star Alliance Gold I appreciate the new zone boarding instead of the row-by-row boarding.
Flight
Pilot Friendliness: A
Pilot Announcements: A
Flight Attendant Friendliness: A
Coach Legroom: B
Coach Seat: B
Coach Food: N/A
In-Flight Entertainment: N/A
In-Flight Wifi: Did not use
The flight attendants got passengers' bags up in a hurry and we were on our way in under 25 minutes from when the plane got to the gate. The pilots came on a few times and told us about what to expect for the flight. They continued to provide updates in the air.
The seats on the A319s are a little cramped, but who cares for an hour flight? Comfort-wise it was average.
Flight attendants managed to do a full-plane beverage service in-flight despite the short duration. I was impressed.
There was wifi onboard but I had no need for it.
Wenneker Stamps of Approval? Yes
I'm a huge fan of the Shuttle service. I can leave my house in DC at 745 and be at my house in Boston by 1045. And with the wide range of the schedule, I'm able to leave after work and also arrive back in time for work in the morning. No complaints here.
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