DC People I need getting to airport advice

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:40 pm

Last time there were only 3 of us, so booking a sedan to the airport was a nobrainer. This time we have 3 adults, a 5 year old & the baby. I don't want to take the carseat. We are planning on renting one from Christy's on St. John.

I think we are going to have to go and park at the airport. Our flight is at 6:10 am out of Dulles. About 25 miles or so from our house.

Options:

Valet park - $183 - easy but not cheap

Deck park - $150 - long walk, could have Dad drop us and the bags & meet us inside

Econopark - $90 - requires shuttle & how often will they come at 4:30 in the morning!

Sedan Service - $150 ($75 each way) and what about the car seat

Taxi - $120 ($60 each way) and what about the car seat

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:47 pm

Ouch, 0610 with kids? The last time I did this with a car seat kid we took option "Deck Park." Not for any rational reason, but for crazy ex-wife reasons. I vote for the the taxi. Fairfax Yellow Cab will take a request for a mini van for pickup. This is what I did when I took the out-laws with us to Europe. The November trip to STJ we had 8 departing from my house in two taxis and that worked fine. On the way home, the dispatchers will size the vehicle appropriately.

Good luck!

Cheers, RickG

cocosmom · Post by **cocosmom** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:44 am

Flip Flop,

Since your lowest option is $90, isn't there a college kid or senior high school kid who you know to drive ya all back and forth for $90. I know my kids would have jumped at the chance of earning a quick $100, even if it meant getting up at 4:00 AM. TThat would get you door to door with carseat! Otherwise Econopark with drop of of kids at the airport first.

Don't want to jump your thread, but we have a DC airport issue.
Day before Thanksgiving (worst day for travel) National airport, they do not have enough parking! Does anyone know of a safe place to leave a car for a week by/in a metro station? The metro goes staight into the airport..but will we have a car when we return?

Thanks flip flop for letting me butt in. Thought people who knew Dulles would know this answer too.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:35 am

cocosmom wrote:Don't want to jump your thread, but we have a DC airport issue.
Day before Thanksgiving (worst day for travel) National airport, they do not have enough parking! Does anyone know of a safe place to leave a car for a week by/in a metro station? The metro goes staight into the airport..but will we have a car when we return?

No overnight parking at Metro! The storage at the impoundment lot would not be cheap!

National Airport has a cool parking status web page, with number of spaces available: http://www.mwaa.com/reagan/parking_tran ... /parking_2

You can reserve valet parking in advance at (703) 417-1234. Pricey - $40 first day, $30/day after that.

The Crystal City Marriot has parking for $16 per day and a shuttle. You may want to call ahead to make certain that you can park there without staying there.

Good luck.

Cheers, RickG

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:15 am

I work about a mile from the braddock rd metro (I think it is 1 stop to National). There is free unmetered, unrestricted, untimed street parking around my office but it would require a bit of a hike. Perhaps the driver could ditch everyone at the station & then park and hike it back.

The areas with free parking are in the Washington St/Madison St area. The Station is at Braddock & Madison.

People from my office make the walk to the metro everyday so its not awful.

I would not recommend this if you are leaving at night as whoever is parking would walk through public housing. I am not trying to start a debate, I feel 100% safe in this area during the day, but late at night I would not. For those who don't know Old Town Alexandria, there can be a million $ rowhouse on the corner opposite of public housing.

aroobagirl · Post by **aroobagirl** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:15 am

Here is our solution - we stay at the Dulles Airport Marriott the night before. Rate of $124 and you leave your car in their lot for up to two or three weeks (built into the rate). The shuttle will bring you to and from the airport. Let's you "sleep in" since all you need to do is roll out of bed and catch the shuttle. You also feel like you are starting your vacation a little earlier!

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:18 am

I tried all the hotel stay & park options and the cheapest I came up with was $324. I think it is because our trip overlaps Thanksgiving.

Also, several of them have shuttles that don't run until after our flight has left which would still necessitate a short cab ride, defeating the whole purpose.

The getting a kid to drive us is a legitimate idea. I hadn't thought of enlisting the nephews or niece.

Thanks!

Ksea · Post by **Ksea** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:47 am

FF = We park in the economy lot which was a max of $9 per day last time I was there in September. The shuttle bus runs 24 hours. Try to park near the shuttle stop (the clear covered bus stop looking things). The only hassle is loading and unloading luggage, but if you have a man, no problemo! Also remember to write down your parking lot color and number and stop # and hang on to it! You will need that when you go to retrieve your car. I kept mine in the zipper section of my purse. Also hang on to the parking ticket so you can pay inside the airport on the return. The machine takes cash or credit. Just my 2 cents!

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:58 pm

Better yet use the camera on your phone to take a digital pic of the parking row sign and space -- you are less likely to lose your phone than a piece of paper.

cocosmom · Post by **cocosmom** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:21 pm

Thanks, Rick but the problem is what to do if it says the lot is full?? Since it the day before Turkry day there is a good chance of that.
FF - I will run your idea by hubby. I was actually looking for an answer like yours but hoping for something closer to MD where we are. Last Dec the airlines called us at 9 PM the night before to change our flight & I talked them into BWI which is 15 minutes away . Lucked out got the BWI without spending the extra $250. Don't think that will happen twice.
I also looked into hotels & they were crazy prices like tou said FF.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:32 pm

I called the parking folks at National Airpot at 703-417-7275. They said they WILL be full over Thanksgiving and they do not have any other parking areas they recommend.

You may want to consider Super Shuttle 1-800-BLUEVAN, 1-800-258-3826.

Cheers, RickG

cocosmom · Post by **cocosmom** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:43 pm

Rick,
Very sweet of you!!! That was my fear. Not the dreaded blue van. Payed $150 one way for that van from Dulles once & it brought 3 other folks home all over the place. Not going to do that again.

Have to think about this for a bit...

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:45 pm

Gromit wrote:Better yet use the camera on your phone to take a digital pic of the parking row sign and space -- you are less likely to lose your phone than a piece of paper.

That's a great plan unless your dollars are not the only thing that get soggy on Jost. I was up such a creek when my phone had its ocean time. I never realized how much info I keep on there.

Nancy · Post by **Nancy** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:05 pm

We used the Super Shuttle from Burke and it was $150 dollars round trip for six of us. Since you will be travelling with all those people you are pretty much assured on having the van to yourself. The whole checking in process goes alot faster when you dont have to park way out there and take the shuttle in with all the suitcases etc. Have a great trip!

Maree · Post by **Maree** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:05 pm

Flip Flop: Try going through AAA to get a park, sleep, fly motel near Dulles. They got us a room last spring at the Hampton Inn Sterling, 4544 Holiday Dr., Dulles - even though my online booking attempts indicated no vacancy. This motel was nice and we used a very early AM shuttle. The motel will also provide a voucher for taxi if shuttle is not available.

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