MetroRail closes at around midnight on Sunday night -- maybe 10-15 minutes earlier or 10-15 minutes later, depending on the station. On Monday, the system opens at 5:00 am, but again, the first train heading south from Crystal City might not show up until 5:10 am or so.

why not take a travel alarm with you, rent a car, put the front seat all the back and pesto. you can always pack a small pillow and blanket if you want in your carry-on. thats if someone is open at that hour

Then freshen up in the Term before the flight

Do they make you pull it off of the car lot? No room for a pillow and blanket.

The last train down on Yellow or Blue from Crystal City going South will be a bit past midnight. This is a result of the train leaving from Mt. Vernon/Largo around midnight PLUS the time it takes to make the stops in between. However, the same train going north, the last train will be there probably at or a few minutes before Midnight.

That said, the FIRST train heading South from Crystal City will be well after 5:00 a.m. This comes unfortunately from experience: I walk into Pentagon City metro for a 06h00 flight - get down to the tracks and the next train will arrive shortly before 05h30 - which would get me down to the airport in less than enough time to catch an 06h00 flight. I took a taxi (called via the Ritz concierge) a mile or whatever to the airport. So, don't rely on any trains going south from any of the stops to Reagan for an 06h00 flight. 07h00, yes. But, if you are going North from the south, feel free and take a train; they should get you up there close enough to departure time, although it will probably be very tight, to say the least.

Just from experience...

-jeremy

Another alternative: Get to the nearest 24-hour Fed-Ex Kinkos, ann catch up on all the FlyerTalk forum postings that you would never have time for otherwise. USD 12 per hour if you use their PC, USD 6 per hour if you bring your laptop and use their Ethernet connection (LapNet). Even better, if you already have an monthly T-Mobile HotSpot plan, it's no additional charge) :)

While it's a miserable airport to sleep in, there's really no point in finding a hotel. Assuming your flight gets in on time, and you get back to the airport early, you get maybe 3 or 4 hours in a bed...

Depending on your body habitus, you may be able to wrap yourself around some armrests and get some sleep on the bench chairs. My biggest problem was the cleaning guy who was waxing the floor. It was quite cold as well, so take a blanket. I never once felt unsafe. it's very well lit, there's lots of cleaning people and several security personel seemed to be around. Nobody questioned me about anything. Also, there were several nice private "family" bathrooms which allowed me to freshen up in the morning without people staring at me...

Take a small camping air mattress and you'd be styling. Never done it before, but it's an early morning brain storm I just had which may be useful in the future.