Originally Posted by happymommy

I also live about that far from DCA, and had an early (IIRC it was 6:30am) flight with my 2 kids to HNL (husband was already there). I was worried, since at 4am there could be traffic on the beltway - you just never know! I was lucky that I had my dear sister in law drive us down the evening before, and we stayed at the Ritz Pentagon City (used Amex points with pay with points, but honestly it isn't that much, especially on a Friday night when the place clears out). We were also on AA.

It was so much better to stay close to the airport! We had the bellmen get a cab to come at 5:00, and were there in less than ten minutes. I didn't want to risk running into traffic (and we weren't going to drive, rather use a shuttle, since we were going to be gone for over two weeks).

I'm sure you can check priceline even for a hotel, or see what's available. Friday night should be much more reasonable in the area, and there is a good variety of hotels around. If you can have someone drop you off or see if they have a package that includes parking for a while (many airport hotels have those) it would be worth it - you'll still pay at the airport anyway to park.

We were also connecting through ORD.

With your distance, I'd still check on a hotel. It may be worth it!