Flight out of DCA at 6:30 am

Submitted by Ethan02135 t3_10vplzv in washingtondc

Hey y’all, so I’ve flown out of DCA a few times but always later in the day. In the past, I’ve been 1-1.5 hours early for my flight and spent a lot of time waiting at the gate due to very short security lines (I don’t have precheck). I have a flight this Friday at 6:30 am (not checking bags) and I’d like to take metro, but the earliest blue line to arrive at DCA arrives at 5:44am. Do you think it’s worth risking it/will I make it (not sure how long security is around that time on Friday mornings), or should I just bite the bullet and pay for an Uber? Thank you!!

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vinster271 t1_j7ist1v wrote

Does the flight depart at 630 or begin boarding at 630? If its the later metro is probably ok, but if your boarding starts at 6:00 then probably need to take an Uber.

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Ethan02135 OP t1_j7iwiiu wrote

Yeah unfortunately it departs at 6:30, so you’re right I should probably just take the uber

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vinster271 t1_j7ixqi2 wrote

Yeah 16 minutes from Metro arrival to boarding is maybe a bit too close. You're relying on Metro to be very on time at that point. But it'd be interesting to see how long it actually takes you. My experience with the early TSA line at DCA is smooth even in the non-precheck line, and none of the gates are a long walk.

Edit: and especially since your plane isn't coming from somewhere else, there's no turnaround time for the plane to be cleaned and refueled. It's a high likelihood of leaving on time or even earlier.

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dproma t1_j7jaqwq wrote

I had a flight last Friday @ 7:30am. It was pretty crowded - long lines everywhere. I left early and took an Uber but there was an accident so it took 50 min to get there instead of 15. The line at curbside was long and slow - by the time it was my turn, they said I was 3 min past cutoff and wasn’t allowed to check in my luggage.

Take Uber. But check for traffic beforehand to avoid this mishap I experienced.

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msmith1994 t1_j7ph5n2 wrote

Do you live near any bus routes? It might take a little longer but generally the buses start earlier. My husband and I took the bus to Union Station for an early Amtrak once.

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alizadk t1_j7iylm4 wrote

Not on a Thurs or Fri morning. That's prime families flying to Orlando time. (Learned that the hard way at BWI once.)

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SSSS_car_go t1_j7ivxdu wrote

The Curb app calls a cab, similar to Uber but in my experience a lot less expensive.

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Novel_Worldliness t1_j7iw3f7 wrote

If you have TSA pre-check and Clear you should be fine. I fly out of DCA frequently and can get from curb to gate in 30 minutes on most mornings.

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Ethan02135 OP t1_j7iwmgi wrote

Yeah I don’t have either so I’ll probably just have to get a car to the airport. Thank you

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walkandtalkk t1_j7j8nxd wrote

I have PreCheck and Clear. As such, I've regularly gotten to DCA 30 minutes before departure and been fine.

Last week, I had a 4 PM departure. I thought this would be a bit before the rush. Nope. PreCheck was winding around the rope line because DCA TSA is badly understaffed. (I don't know if TSA is trying to make a point to Congress, but I'd have thought they'd want their DCA operation to impress lawmakers.)

Anyway, TSA took 15 minutes, at which point I got to the gate with eleven minutes before departure—four minutes after the door closed. I begged and they let me on, only for the captain to complain to the gate agent for reopening the aircraft door to let me on (I was surprised too).

Now, I'm getting to DCA 50-60 minutes early like a normal human. At least until TSA staffs up.

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agreeingthelongway t1_j7j73i0 wrote

Schedule a cab through DC Yellow Cab. DC yellow cab has picked me up at 5 AM before and probably will be cheaper than Uber. Uber will rake you because you’re going to the airport.

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classicalL t1_j7j20cw wrote

You can take a bus there. Buses run before the trains to National. I took one from Bethesda to National once. I think at about 5 AM. It does take quite a bit longer than the train as I recall.

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sprint113 t1_j7l3ulg wrote

I think they discontinued the early AM buses (10N) to DCA. I think they stopped during the pandemic and then just never resumed it before eliminating it.

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AmbitiousPeanut t1_j7kppm2 wrote

I've had such bad luck getting to DCA from DC on several occasions in the early morning, like 4:30 or 5am.

A couple of times there were no Ubers or Lyfts available at all.

Then the one one time I tried Curb, it failed me miserably. They contacted me just before the scheduled pick-up to say they couldn't find an available cab to send. I got the impression talking to the Curb dispatcher that they're NYC based and call down to DC to get you a cab. Given that experience I decided not to use them again and schedule directly with a DC cab company.

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moimardi t1_j7kp40h wrote

What terminal? Terminal A is crazy at that hour - need at least 30 mins to get through security line

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Ethan02135 OP t1_j7l0x7a wrote

I’m going out of terminal 2 concourse c, but I think I’m just gonna go with a cab/Uber considering all the stores on here

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colorofmydreams t1_j7mfkqa wrote

If you have TSA Precheck you should be okay. If not, I wouldn't chance it. The security lines are shorter since the remodel but if you end up in line for more than about 10 min you'll be cutting it really close.

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[deleted] t1_j7o9a49 wrote

That’s tight even with PreCheck.

Empower is another app alternative, cheaper than Lyft/Uber and drivers get 100% of the fare.

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erichinnw t1_j7o0lpi wrote

I travel pretty frequently for work and it seems like it's always an early flight. My advice, sked a cab! They're cheaper, they don't cancel at the last minute, and you can use an app to track them, pay in advance, etc... I've used yellow cab - no complaints.

My last 6AM flight, I sked an Uber the night before, and at 5:15AM, Uber had an issue and it was a fucking mess to get to DCA on time.

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hms_poopsock t1_j7ixucq wrote

Depending on how far you have to go you and if you are traveling light you can take a capital bikeshare bike there... even early morning. its an amazing ride pre-dawn.

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AmbitiousPeanut t1_j7kodjj wrote

Not understanding why this was downvoted. There's a Capital Bikeshare dock right at DCA. If OP lives within a reasonable distance -- and better yet snags one of the e-assist bikes -- this is a good option.

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hms_poopsock t1_j7l2ybp wrote

Yup, I ride in from downtown pre-dawn... way more fun than the metro, $2.50 vs a $25 dollar uber.

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TheSquireOfShaw t1_j7mh0gm wrote

Could you imagine if you got there and there were no spaces for bikes available? That’s one of the biggest reasons I don’t like using capital bike share.

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AmbitiousPeanut t1_j7mhsuq wrote

Ha, right, that’d be a disaster.

I use it a lot and yeah that can happen, but you can mitigate the risk by checking for empty docks at your destination before you set out.

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TheSquireOfShaw t1_j7msm3b wrote

True. I’m guessing not a lot of other people are going to be dropping bikes that early at dca. The downtown ones, mid afternoon though, I’ve had so many times where there were plenty of spots open that were full by the time I got there.

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