Washington D.C. Travel Forum

What is the best way to reach IAD from Hotel Harrington by 6:00AM? We have a 7:00AM flight to San Francisco.

We have checked www.wmata.com and the earliest we can arrive at IAD is 6:22AM on Bus 5A, leaving L'Enfant Plaza at 5:30AM.

I realise that there is an earlier schedule, leaving at 4:50AM but can we get a taxi ride from Hotel to L'Enfant Plaza at such hours?

Can anyone confirm the earlier schedule at 4:30AM?

Thank you for any suggestions too.

Taxis are available all night in DC. I suggest you check with the Bell Captain before you go to bed. He'll be able to give you the best advice as to when to leave. He'll probably have you call the front desk from your room when you get up and ask them to have a cab ready by 5AM or so. I don't know about Dulles these days, but 1 hour is cutting it a bit tight at most airports. You may want to get there a bit earlier.

You didn't say which day, but there is a 4:50am 5A bus Monday-Fri and the earliest on the weekend is 5:30 from your location. As the other poster has said, you will be cutting it really close using the the 5:30 bus. I live by Dulles and go out there regularly. You have to also figure in checking in your bags and getting to your gate in your timing and if there are a lot of people at your airline counter. Depending on airline gate location, you may be running through the terminal. Alternative is to take a taxi or arrange a limo service from your hotel. With the distance being traveled, both are going to cost about the same.

Check out the Washington Flyer for more options too. http://www.washfly.com/

OK, we'll take in the advise.
It's a week day. Looks like we'll have to either:

a) Take a short taxi ride from hotel to L'Enfant Plaza, for the 5A bus leaving 4:30AM for IAD.
b) Take a taxi from hotel to IAD directly.

1. Is option A do-able? Will the taxi driver know the pickup point of 5A bus?
2. How much does option B cost?

I don't think you'll have a hard time getting a taxi to take you to L'Enfant. Have the doorman call one for you. The driver should know where the buses are at L'Enfant. There are other buses that go there too. There is a small bus sign too that you can look for. And there aren't too many places around L'Enfant to drop you off at. On the map it looks like its on D St between 6th and 7th in SW DC. I went to Google maps and looked at the "Satellite" view and you can see the buses sitting there.
As far as taking a taxi to Dulles I'm not sure how much it is, but it should be a standard fare (ie the doorman would know or you could call a DC taxi company and they can tell you).