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Reviews and recommendations played pretty high in my choice, thankfully my insurance covers infertility up to IUI and everywhere I looked took my insurance. Location played a pretty close second, I went with close to home rather then work to make it easier to avoid traffic for those early morning appts.

I chose based on close friend recommendation and also what my insurance would cover (which was not too much, but still better than nothing). Thinking back, proximity and office hours would be great to know. You spend so much time at the RE that if the office hours were during your work hours, that would be a major inconvenience. My RE always had me in at like 630 or 7 am.

@Sams Mom: I chose ours based on a family member's recommendation, plus feedback from someone in my neighborhood moms group. I also factored in proximity and hours. Unless you have an extremely flexible schedule or stay at home, I would definitely not choose someone so far away. There are so many appointments and many of them are like 20 minutes or less for bloodwork and/ultrasound. I guess unless you have some specific more rare issue and the doctor specialized in it - then I could see traveling farther.
ETA: and in-network wars also important to me. We're lucky though in that we're in a major metropolitan area with lots of options

My doctor referred me to somebody. When that person left the practice she was at, I switched to a different doctor at that practice who had actually done my first IUI and whose bedside manner I'd liked. After my IVF failed and my doctor said she wouldn't do anything different the second time around I went looking for second opinions, and met with somebody who was more expensive but who I liked much better - he seemed to be really up to date on the latest technology and research, and seemed interested in figuring out why I wasn't getting pregnant.

I don't have to deal with a lot of the factors you mentioned, though - I'm Canadian so they were all "covered" (in that some stuff is covered, most stuff isn't) the same. All my doctors were actually in the same building, which was far from my house (sucked for weekend monitoring) but close to my work.

@Sams Mom: No, mine was about 20 minutes away, but I took a pricey toll road to get there. It was close to my work, however, so very easy to get to work after each morning appointment. I cannot imagine having to go to anything that is three hours away on a regular basis. But in order to have our babies, I would do whatever it takes. I hope you can find a great option in a convenient location. This is all hard enough without having to add such a commute.

@Sams Mom: For me, it was a bit of EVERYTHING. (You know how thorough I can be.) I will attempt to truncate the LONG process a bit:

For my current RE (my SECOND one), I -
(1) Asked my OBGYN for references and/or a referral to a RE with an impeccable rep that was within 2 hours driving distance. There were 3 in my area.

(2) Out of the 3 referenced REs, 2 were accepted by Tricare. Narrowed THAT down.

(3) Began researching the background of both REs and affiliate hospitals, as well as, success rate, and staff.

(4) List the Pros and cons for both.
The one I selected is a 40 minute drive, not a 90 minute drive. He has obtained his Board Certifications in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, AND in Clinical Genetics! (YOU know I LOVE my genetics!) My RE is the Professor & Chairman of Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Mercer University School of Medicine, as well as the Director of BOTH the Fertility Institute Navicent Health AND the Oncogenetics Navicent Health Oncology Center. On top of it, he specializes in:Reproductive Endocrinology (hormones involved in reproduction), Reproductive Genetics, Infertility, Endometriosis, Advanced Laparoscopic Laser Surgery, Leiomyomata Uteri (fibroids) with fertility preservation, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, and (the one that you KNOW scared me the most) Menopause.

(5) I had my OBGYN put in a referral, called insurance to verify, and set up an appt STAT since REs are usually booked months out.
The rest is HISTORY-- we begin injectables next month and IUI in 2 mos if BD-ing doesn't make baby.

The first one I picked based on insurance and proximity. I read a few good reviews for that RE and they had good stats for my age group. I had 3 cycles there with awful results.
After that I talked to 3 or 4 other REs and went with the one I felt would work best with me and just felt good about, who happen to have amazing reviews as well. I did still require it to be in network since my insurance covered IVF, but proximity didn't matter as much anymore. I was willing to fly for cycles. I ended up a 2.5 hour drive away to seem my RE, and then followed when he moved to a 4 hour drive away.

@Sams Mom: I know you were not asking ME () but free consults depend on the physician, as well as, if your insurance covers them. My consult was $25 and included my U/S and hormonal testing (all covered by insurance). The other RE (90 mins away) would have been $40 with everything else covered (but extra gas ...). And then the one my insurance DIDN'T cover offered free consults and initial U/S but no testing --- All other visits would have been $347 out of pocket! Also, if I HAVE to bring my children to any scans with my current RE, it is fine ... the other 2 "preferred strongly" no children in office. It is all in what is most important to you and what meets your personal needs.

@Sams Mom: Some were complementary (CCRM and MCRM were), but even if they weren't a consult should be covered by insurance?? As far as I know, specialist visit to RE for diagnostic reasons is always/usually covered, but infertility treatment is usually what is not covered. 2.5 hour drive is not bad at all. I know of women who fly all over the US to go to their preferred RE.
I picked the ones I consulted with based on recommendations and proximity. I live in MA, so there are a bunch of top notch clinics in Boston, which I avoided at first due to traffic concerns for monitoring (it'd take an entire morning out of my work days to get into the city plus parking hassles), but I consulted with them after my first clinic didn't work out. I picked CCRM since they are known to be one of the best in the country. Then also MCRM and SIRM based on recommendations from a bunch of people.

My RE had also worked with people in Boston before so he was able to recommend a really good local u/s clinic (not a fertility clinic) he had worked with, which happen to be 10 minutes from my work so I could go during lunch and no one was the wiser. And bloodwork I just did at any Quest or LabCorp. Bonus for doing it this way - since the u/s clinic and Quest/LabCorp are not fertility clinics, they don't bill insurance with any fertility codes so it was all submitted at diagnostic or regular testing and covered.

Hey, I’ll be brief...but I traveled a ways to get to mine. Just a few added logistics but it all worked out!

- No insurance. Mine did not even cover diagnostics at the time (not u/s or bloodwork) which I had at a satellite/non-RE clinic.

- We have two clinics with 2 hours. I chose the one farther away (about 2 hours) but with a satellite for u/s and bloodwork in my hometown.

- The RE in my hometown (a male) that I did not choose had a pretty widely-known reputation for having no bedside manner. The RE farther away was a woman and had a great way about her. We had a paid consult and liked the way they were organized and worked. This is what my initial decision was based on (really...not much) but as we kept going down the path with the chosen RE, it just felt like the right option.