Overnight at DCA (4-5 hours)
 

In the true MR fashion I would like to not pay for a hotel room, especially since I land on a 12:30am AA flight and depart at 6am. It hardly seems usefull to go check-in somewhere. I do have some Hilton points I would be willing to sacrifice, but not at the new 30k/night rates at the DCA hotels. Anyone have any other ideas? sleepinginairports.com only says I have to leave security, there are homeless people, and the AC will be turned up to freeze people out of the hardback chairs.

I am looking for others with ideas on what to do for this 4-5 hour layover. I would much prefer to sleep 4 hours, if possible.

priceline a dca hotel. there are many in the area.

Yeah, I really would not sleep overnight at DCA. It shuts down very, very early. Its not uncommon to land at like 8:30 and see the place totally deserted. The stores and concessions shut down early and whole concourses are pretty much closed except for the occassional arrival. You would be VERY conspicuous, and security at the least would be watching you like a hawk if not openly kick you out.

There are so many hotels near DCA, the last poster is right. Somebody is going to have a room or two they throw on priceline. If worse comes to worse, there's always the Americana or someplace crappy like that.

i would add to the recommendation of not staying at the airport.

Here is a link to the metro system in DC, http://www.wmata.com/

Also its not difficult to find a reasonable hotel near DCA.
some may even provide a shuttle.

Assuming you arrive on a Friday or Saturday when Metro runs past midnight, I would suggest you hop on the Metro (yellow or blue line) to Crystal City. When you come up the first set of escalators, take a right and walk through the underground mall (follow the signs) to the Marriott. They have a big lobby with plenty of couches, chairs, etc on the first and second floors. Might be worth a shot.

I'm going to move this to the Washington DC Forum - however, before I do so, I'll recommend checking out Best Price Guarantees on Cendant hotels (particularly the Days Inn on Columbia Pike - which has, in the past, been a good hotel to beat their best price & get a free room). Priceline is always a good bet & the Americana hotel in Arlington is usually pretty cheap - http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-3702...crystal_city-i

bhatnasx
Mileage Run Moderator

If you do decide to use priceline....


on biddingfortravel.com someone just posted the following

3* Doubletree Crystal City - $55

I saw four other postings for the Doubletree with ranges from the $55 above to $65......so I would say you might want to try a 3* in Crystal City for around those ranges

Not a bad deal, and they have a shuttle service (assuming it's running at that hour).

I didn't think there were flights that arrived that late into DCA.... Where is the flight from?

I've got to agree with what everyone else said. As many hotels as there are in and around Crystal City, you should be able to get a decent rate at one of them. Be sure to ask if they have shuttle service and when they start, as MetroRail doesn't open until 7:00 am on the weekends.

If you're really hellbent on not getting a hotel, here's my suggestion
 

There's a great coffeeshop/bar/lounge called Tryst in DC that's open until 3AM on the weekends. It also has free wireless, so you can play around on your comp. After 3AM, there's a 24 hour dinner place called The Diner that's right next door where you can eat up before your flight out. You can take a taxi there and back, all for less than the price of a hotel room.

AA DFW to DCA, last flight on Sunday night/monday morning.

The only reason I say no hotel, is the timeframe. If I get get from DCA to Hotel in under 20 minutes, it might be worth it, I will check out suggested options and report back. It is already booked, so not doing it isn't an option at this point. And yes, it is this Sunday. :)

I just think my ability to oversleep might be tested, especially if I crash at 1:45am and need to be up at 4:30 am to make a 6am flight.

And no checked luggage.

Isn't Kramers (book and coffee shop) around still and open all night? If so, that's around Dupont Circle.

I'd invite you to crash at my place, but I'll be out of town, returning Monday morning. :(

Maybe I will try and crash right in front of the Pentagon. :)

How late does the train to Crystal City station run, on a Sunday night?

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.