Dulles airport: long term parking vs Uber/taxi?

[Anonymous]

You don't need that much luggage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are traveling to Asia in August for 3 weeks or 22 days. We are traveling from Germantown; 2 adults, 2 small kids. Parking at Dulles would cost $220 and we are wondering if there is a cheaper option. We have a lot of luggage as well. Thanks in advance.

Halve the luggage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheaper option is to ask a friend or family members to do drop-off or pick-up. Pay them back with a nice dinner.

Please don’t do this. If you have enough money to fly your family to Asia for 22 days then you have enough money to pay for an Uber each way. Asking a friend or family member to drive to your house then drive from Germantown to Dulles and then back home...ostensibly twice? That’s a lot of traffic and time out of their lives.

I would Uber.

Glad I am not friends with you! My friends and family are fine helping each other out when they can. Next time they will ask you for a similar favor. Bring them a small gift back. Slip them a gas card if money is a issue. If you flight happens to be delayed and get back at 2am..switch to a cab or lift.

Germantown to Dulles on a good day is minimum one hour, can be up to two hours in really bad traffic. I’m sorry, but most of my friends have so much going on these days that asking for 2-4 hours out of their day is an imposition and I would only ask if I were very desperate. If people are traveling for work then they likely get reimbursed for cabs, and if they’re traveling for fun, then they could budget in a cab fare. Like the OP, not all trips are easy on the pocketbook, trust me I know as I am poor compared to most DCUMers, but if we can take a trip but can’t afford a cab to the airport, we are probably going to go somewhere cheaper or not fly at all. If someone is flying to another country to visit their family then I see that’s different. All I’m saying is that I would have a hard time asking someone to take that much time out of their already busy days with work and sports practices and games and all that stuff. Glad you and your friends are able to help out.

Yeah it s a chunk of time..but people make time for many things they want to do. My guess is your friends would come over for a few hours for a barbecue or meet for some golf...

I guess my point is that I would much rather invite someone over for a bbq for 4 hours than to ask them to sit in traffic for me for 4 hours. If someone really needed my help then I wouldn’t hesitate, but I don’t think it should be the first option.

[Anonymous]

Lots of the airport hotels have cheap long-term parking. They will transport you to the airport in their shuttle. We did this recently for a week at $5 per day. I can't remember if we used Hilton or holiday inn, or the crown plaza, but these were all an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of the airport hotels have cheap long-term parking. They will transport you to the airport in their shuttle. We did this recently for a week at $5 per day. I can't remember if we used Hilton or holiday inn, or the crown plaza, but these were all an option.

most have less than a three week max.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheaper option is to ask a friend or family members to do drop-off or pick-up. Pay them back with a nice dinner.

Please don’t do this. If you have enough money to fly your family to Asia for 22 days then you have enough money to pay for an Uber each way. Asking a friend or family member to drive to your house then drive from Germantown to Dulles and then back home...ostensibly twice? That’s a lot of traffic and time out of their lives.

I would Uber.

Glad I am not friends with you! My friends and family are fine helping each other out when they can. Next time they will ask you for a similar favor. Bring them a small gift back. Slip them a gas card if money is a issue. If you flight happens to be delayed and get back at 2am..switch to a cab or lift.

Germantown to Dulles on a good day is minimum one hour, can be up to two hours in really bad traffic. I’m sorry, but most of my friends have so much going on these days that asking for 2-4 hours out of their day is an imposition and I would only ask if I were very desperate. If people are traveling for work then they likely get reimbursed for cabs, and if they’re traveling for fun, then they could budget in a cab fare. Like the OP, not all trips are easy on the pocketbook, trust me I know as I am poor compared to most DCUMers, but if we can take a trip but can’t afford a cab to the airport, we are probably going to go somewhere cheaper or not fly at all. If someone is flying to another country to visit their family then I see that’s different. All I’m saying is that I would have a hard time asking someone to take that much time out of their already busy days with work and sports practices and games and all that stuff. Glad you and your friends are able to help out.

+1
Don’t bother friends especially during rush hours
We had a 3pm international arrival, felt bad even to have my husband pick us up, should have called Uber.
Very time consuming and not fun to get stuck in traffic both ways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
+1
Don’t bother friends especially during rush hours
We had a 3pm international arrival, felt bad even to have my husband pick us up, should have called Uber.
Very time consuming and not fun to get stuck in traffic both ways

Agreed- all comes down to when it is- I would be happy to help out a friend if the pickup was at 9 PM or at 10 AM on a weekend. But anytime between 7 AM - 8 PM weekdays would be out, and I would never ever expect a friend to help out during those times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheaper option is to ask a friend or family members to do drop-off or pick-up. Pay them back with a nice dinner.

Please don’t do this. If you have enough money to fly your family to Asia for 22 days then you have enough money to pay for an Uber each way. Asking a friend or family member to drive to your house then drive from Germantown to Dulles and then back home...ostensibly twice? That’s a lot of traffic and time out of their lives.

I would Uber.

OP here. First of all, you don’t know my situation. You don’t know that I used all the points I have ever accumulated to get an award travel ticket and that I choose to sit my child who would be almost 1.5 years old then on my lap for over 24 hours flights to Asia to save money. It’s an epic trip for us and i can assure you I’m not swimming in cash.

I also never in my post mention anything about asking friends to drive us to Dulles.

Thanks to posters who mentioned that I would need Uber XL which is pricier. I’m surprised no one mentioned anything about Supershuttle! I’m going to do a search on local hotels to see how much they charge though it would be a pain to schlep the kids, luggage, car seats through the shuttle. Ugh talking it out makes this option highly unattractive.

Super shuttle is only when you have one person. They charge per person so for 4 people it would be pricey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Super shuttle is only when you have one person. They charge per person so for 4 people it would be pricey

Even for one person Super Shuttle is a bad idea. Priced pretty similarly to UberPool, and so much slower. I really have no idea how they have stayed in business all these years. Only ever heard bad stories from people who have used them, even before Uber/Lyft.

[Anonymous]

use something like spot hero you cna get spots for $6-7 so you save some money over long term parking at the airport.

just have the driver drop off the other parent and 2 kids with the luggage so you don't have to lug it all on the shuttle.

[Anonymous]

"Thanks to posters who mentioned that I would need Uber XL which is pricier. I’m surprised no one mentioned anything about Supershuttle! I’m going to do a search on local hotels to see how much they charge though it would be a pain to schlep the kids, luggage, car seats through the shuttle. Ugh talking it out makes this option highly unattractive. "


You haven't traveled for years OP if you think Super Shuttle is an option. It is not a deal for that many people and it is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

I always include transport costs to/from the airport in my budget. $50 each way using the taxi. That's one less thing to stress over.

[Anonymous]

Park at the Park-X at the Wiehle metro station and take Uber from there. ParkX is about $5/day and it's about 10-15 miles from Dulles, so Uber or a taxi wouldn't be too pricey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Park at the Park-X at the Wiehle metro station and take Uber from there. ParkX is about $5/day and it's about 10-15 miles from Dulles, so Uber or a taxi wouldn't be too pricey.

Though now that I'm thinking about it, by the time that you add in the Uber, you probably aren't saving all that much money over just parking in the long-term parking at Dulles. But maybe you could save a little bit.

[Anonymous]

Just park at Dulles. Because of rush pricing. One trip from BWI to my house was $120. For one person. Makes more sense to drive unless you are moving.