Flying out of DC

[destiny92782]

Hi all, As my trip nears I am making my plans final. We are driving up from Norfolk, VA to fly out of DC on Thur, July 19 to catch our 9:30am flight, and we would rather just drive up the night before and get a hotel and go over to the airport in the morning. So my question is, any of you guys from up in that area recommend any decent priced hotels close to IAD?

Thanks

[Jan&MikeVa]

Hi Destiny! We're practically neighbors, we live over in York County!

When we left a couple of weeks ago we flew out of Reagan/National at 8:30am so we just drove up that morning! We haven't driven up to Dulles though. BillinVa usually stays at one of the airport hotels and I think he gets a good deal through Priceline.

Sorry I'm not much help, but I wanted to say hello to a neighbor! Aren't the airfares out of Norfolk terrible?? We've driven up to D.C. for the last 2 trips to STJ, I wish the fares could come back down!

Happy Planning!

Jan (akaCharlie)

[destiny92782]

Hi Jan,

Wow, You are close.

These airfare from Norfolk are terrible. I paid $245 for are tickets out of DC back in march and if I would have bought them out of Norfolk if would have been $5 and some change. We would rather drive the 3 hours.

I wouldnt mind driving up the morning of but my husband is a big crybaby...lol. He just wants the trip to start sooner. He is from St. Thomas and wants to get there to see his dad and things like that. We are going to be there for 14 days.

[RickG]

I stay at Zum RickG in McLean, VA! I guess I'm lucky to live between three airports with service to STT.

I like Hampton Inn when faced with an expensive hotel region. The one near Dulles has a free shuttle and offers park and fly for $10 additional. There's an Extended Stay nearby that looks cheaper for the lodging.

If you're a beer fan, the Old Dominion Brewpub is nearby. The food is decent and they 20-30 beers on tap.
http://olddominion.com/

Cheers, RickG

[mark & susan]

I would just search a major chains web site under Herndon, VA (the closest town to Dulles).

The problem that you will have with price is the fact that it is a weekday, so the prices are set more for the business traveler. The other option it to drive "past" Dulles a little to Manassas, where the rates might be lower.

You could also check in Leesburg, VA. Although 10 miles west of Dulles it is on a toll road and the drive to Dulles in the AM would be easy.

Lastly if you are going to gone that long you might look for a Dulles hotel that offers a "park and fly" package where you get the room and X number of nights parking included.

Mark

[Ksea]

I agree with RickG. The Hampton Inn (sterling or dulles is probably the location name they use) is nice and very close to the airport and very affordable. There is a Marriott right at Dulles airport, but I dont know what the prices are. If you are searching...search Dulles, Sterling,or even Chantilly VA. Good luck!

[destiny92782]

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions.

Last time we came BACK from STT we had to stay in an Hampton Inn in Boston and it was really nice.

Last time were flying with buddy passes as my sister is law worked for the airlines so were supposed to fly from STT to SJU back to Norfolk, but thats not how it worked. As were getting ready to get on the plane to SJU here come this lady with like 20 extra bags, she paid for them so they let her on and bumped us saying something about weight restrictions becasue were flying buddy passes. SO they couldnt get us out on anymore SJU flight so they made us fly to New york, then to Boston where there were no more flights out so we had to stay in the hotel then finally we got back home.......long story



but again Thanks and im going to look into the hampton inn. I dont wanna cut into my island money

[F&Fmom]

Here's one more suggestion - from personal experience...the Dulles Hyatt. We stayed there the night before we flew out for our honeymoon. We could leave the car (had to sign a waiver though) and the shuttle dropped us at the airport and picked us up. It may cost more than a Hampton Inn, but it is the closest to the airport.

[RickG]

Here's one more suggestion - from personal experience...the Dulles Hyatt. We stayed there the night before we flew out for our honeymoon. We could leave the car (had to sign a waiver though) and the shuttle dropped us at the airport and picked us up. It may cost more than a Hampton Inn, but it is the closest to the airport.

The Hyatt is what I recommend for business travelers. But... it usually comes in at twice what the Hampton Inn charges and does not include breafast.

Cheers, RickG

[waterguy]

Try
parksleepfly.com

[Bill in Va]

And hello my fellow Virgina folks. I use priceline.com to bid on a hotel at the airport. I start at $50 and see what happens. Our trip in Dec has us in the Holiday Inn for $60 plus $13.72 in fees but free parking and shuttle service. We have won the Hyatt for $50 and the Embassy Suites for $70 in the past. Usually we end up with the Sheraton in Reston for the past couple of trips. When bidding stay with the 3 Star choice only....God bless...Bill

[RickG]

And hello my fellow Virgina folks. I use priceline.com to bid on a hotel at the airport. I start at $50 and see what happens. Our trip in Dec has us in the Holiday Inn for $60 plus $13.72 in fees but free parking and shuttle service. We have won the Hyatt for $50 and the Embassy Suites for $70 in the past. Usually we end up with the Sheraton in Reston for the past couple of trips. When bidding stay with the 3 Star choice only....God bless...Bill

Sounds like Bill has a good thing working here. Any hotel in the area will work traffic-wise - Dulles is against the flow of traffic and I routinely make it there in the morning from McLean in less than 30 minutes. Reston/Herndon/Sterling will be less than 15 minutes.

Cheers, RickG

[Puddlejumper]

I have made some good hotel and car rental deals on Priceline. Took a while to get rock bottom prices until I found this site.
http://p070.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding
I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn at BWI last year for less than $60.