We are going on a 17-day vacation end of June, and we have to park our car at IAD the whole time. What's the cheapest and best way to do this?

I did some research and here's what I have found out so far. Parking at the economy lot at the airport is $9/day, and total will come to $153. A park and fly deal at a nearby hotel is $109 for 14 days, and for 17 days it will be $124, plus taxes will be about $137. Still pretty steep. Is this the best that we can do?

Hi Amyx,

Have you thought about taking the SuperShuttle instead of your car?

From Downtown DC, it costs $22 for the first person and $10 each after that. If you have 4 people, round trip that would $104. They'll pick you up at your house.

Just a thought.

Karen

Unfortunately we will be coming from Richmond, VA. So I guess Supershuttle will be out of the question?

Did you look into renting a car in Richmond (either at the airport or a suburban location) and returning it to IAD? Seems you would only need two days rental (one RIC-IAD and the other IAD-RIC). That has to be less than $135.

amyx, I am sympathetic to your situation. We often fly out of Dulles(from Williamsburg) to get cheaper fares but I roll the long term parking fees into the total cost of the ticket.

Do you know anyone in the DC area who wouldn't mind an extra car in their driveway for a couple of weeks? That's our lowest cost option.

Another time we paid a friend's college age son $75 to take us there and pick us up. It was summer and he had friends in DC so it was a win/win situation.

If you can get a deal on one way auto rentals then hiring a car is worth it. Typically tho it'll run you $60-$70 each way so that's no cost savings.

I'm not sure how the Super Shuttle would be worth your time and/or $ unless you were planning on spending the night in the DC area before and after your trip.

Good luck.

Mileking, you are a genius! I just checked one rental company (Dollar) and for both rentals it comes to under $50. With taxes and fees it should still be under $70. Thanks for the tip!

obxgirl, you were right in the one-way rental...it does cost about $60 each way after you figure in the drop-off fee. (I was too excited to read the fine print.)

Last time when we flew out of DC, we paid a relative $100 to drop us off and pick us up. It worked great. We can't find anybody this time around though.

Thanks for laying out all the options for me. It looks like you are well experienced in this area. Isn't it sad that it's still cheaper to fly out of DC even with all the parking cost!?!

Yep, the cost differential still makes it worth the trip to DC. Depending on destination, we've also flown out of Raleigh. It's about same distance as BWI is from Wmbg (3.5 hrs) and the worst thing you can say about the drive is it's boring (and not a potential traffic nightmare).

Does anybody know of an off site parking lot near Dulles? I know alot of airports have these lots where they will drop you at the airport and also pick you up all the while parking your car for less than airport parking. I just don't know of one near Dulles. Maybe somewhere in Herndon or Chantilly would be a good bet.

I would sure like to know as I use Dulles all the time and park in the long term parking if for a week or less, otherwise it is a $40 cab ride one way.

Which hotel did you check with? Marriott is near the terminal, but there is a nearby Holiday Inn on rte 28 and other hotels in Chantilly in the rte 28/50 corridor which may be less expensive.