I am travelling to Gaithersburg in January for a chocolate making course at Albert Uster Imports. It has been suggested that I stay at the Red Roof Inn, Rockville as it is only half a mile from the university. I've been looking at flights and it looks like I should fly into Dulles from San Francisco? From there should I rent a car? Or is it reasonable to take the Supershuttle and walk the half mile to and from class? Will it be snowing (remember I'm a California girl) and too uncomfortable to walk? I'll only be in town 3 days and don't expect to really do any sightseeing.
Also, most of the evening flights leave at 6 ish. If class ends around 4 can I get to the airport in time?
thanks for any help,
trish

Hi

If you're looking at price - check San Fran to Dulles and San Fran to BWI - it's about the same distance airport to Gaithersburg ad sometimes BWI has much better prices.

Snowing?? Won't know that until January but it could be pretty cold then. You can walk the half mile to class though. A car could help you get around from and back to the airport and a little sightseeing too.

Since you need to check in at the airport one hour before flight I don't think you'd make a 6 pm flight with Washington traffic.

Enjoy your class and Gaithersburg.

Dulles is WAY more confusing than BWI. It has many twists and turns that get anyone lost, even those who use it! So I would go BWI. Better prices too.

To get around, you will probably need a car just to get you to Gaithersburg from the airport. BWI is really easy to manuver, much more than Dulles. Also, Gaithersburg is quite big so it might help if you want to get something to eat.

It will be cold, probably really cold to your CA blood. Half a mile can be walked relatively easy in the city if it isn't snowing. If it is snowing though, a car is best.

You won't make it to the airport in time if you leave at 4. The airports around here are really strict with bag checks and security. You will need about 2 hours to check in, get your bags sent out and go through security.

Good luck and welcome to Maryland! I work close to Rockville so I wish you luck!

You might want to consider Oakland to Dulles. It's often much cheaper than SFO.

Weather in January is unpredictable, but this isn't Minneapolis, so assume no snow and you'll probably be okay. A half mile is a nice walk if there are sidewalks. Call the hotel and ask. Also, is the hotel near a Metro station? That would give you lots of options with no car to hassle with. Another question to ask the hotel.

Does it have to be SFO? If oakland is convenient, JetBlue offers non stops to Dulles.

Although it seems much faster to be processed through BWI....you may be able to save money by flying into Dulles. Dulles has it's own freeway so gtting there isn't a problem.

A California girl definitely does not want to be walking a half mile in our January weather. ( I'm sure the Beach boys must have writen about that somewhere).

Although a half mile in the city might not be bad, walking along Shady Grove Rd sucking up all of the exhaust is a bummer.

There is no way that you can make a 6 pm flight if you leave at 4.

I speak from some experience since I live and walk in the area.

Okay, so a car for the cold and to avoid breathing exhaust fumes, yuck!
I will check BWT this afternoon. There is a flight leaving Dulles at 7:25. Is that too early also? Later flights seem to be difficult to find.
thanks again,
trish

BArring snow or a beltway closing.....leaving BY 4 should be fine.

You don't want to leave later becasue the traffic crossing the American Legion Bridge ( the Bridge from Md to VA) gets backed up.

sure if you can get out of class by 4 pm then you should be able to be at the airport in time. You might want to remember this: when you leave class that day check 1500 am on the car radio and it will tell you if the beltway is backed up on that particular day and time. There is one other way you can use to get to Dulles and you would need a Maryland map to look at it.

I'll give you the specifics - there is a Rt 15 that goes from Montgomery County (where Gaithersburg is over to the area near Dulles airport. If you are aware of it and the beltway gets zapped (and it does often) you can get to the plane on time on Rt 15.

Sometimes our weather is great in Jan sometimes it's kinda nasty.

The ideas above about flying Oakland to Dulles are good ones. I loathe Dulles, but it is much more convenient than BWI. Taxis from BWI are very expensive, too. The Dulles shuttle works reasonably well.

I looked up the Red Roof Inn and the Albert Uster Imports addresses and you could probably walk between the two. But, keep in mind that it gets dark very ealry in the winter and this would not be the safest walk strictly from a pedestrian standpoint and also from a safety standpoint of a lone woman walking in the dark. Put it this way, I wouldn't want my wife or daughters to do it. Your best bet would be to try to get a rental on priceline.

There is no way you could make a 6:00 Dulles flight on a Friday afternoon in the winter if you left at 4:00. Leaving at 3:00 would be reasonable.

My husband doesn't want his wife walking in the dark somewhere strange either. A car it is. I looked at flights into BWI and found that the prices are a bit higher and I can't find one leaving late enough. So I'm back to Dulles from either Oakland or SFO. I need to look some more at flight times.
A 7:25 flight seems do-able then? There is a 9:30ish but that seems like a lot or airport time to me.
I love the radio tip, thanks.