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foosed foosed
 
M$2 December 21, 2008 05:24 AM

Whats the cheapest way to get from Gainesville, Fl to DC and back?

I need a cheap way to get 2 people to and from DC for the inauguration. I can leave any time after 5:00pm Friday, Jan. 16 and need to be back in Gainesville no later than 8:00am Thursday, Jan. 22. Orlando or Jacksonville airports are acceptable options.
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tboz tboz
 
 December 21, 2008 05:28 AM
take the train, its' a little cheaper than flying, even renting a car would be cheaper, you can also get on craigs list and post that you want to carpool with other people going to the inauguration, I have heard of people using this method for other political events such as carpooling to get to dc for a protest. you can split the gas and ride in someone elses car.
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hartwell hartwell
 
December 21, 2008 05:43 AM
The amtrak site gave me a total fare of $538

You pick up the 6292 Bus in Gainesville, FL at 8:20 pm 16-JAN-09

and take the bus to Jacksonville, FL arriving at 10:20 pm

Then take 92 Silver Star at 16-JAN-09 10:57 pm to Washington, DC
- Union Station (WAS) ariving at 3:14 pm 17-JAN-09

(Dining car, Lounge, Checked baggage 2 Reserved Coach Seats)

to return:
Washington - Union Station, DC (WAS) 91 Silver Star 3:00 pm
22-JAN-09
then the 6291 Bus from Jacksonville, FL 7:05 am arriving Gainesville, FL Bus Stop (GNF) at 9:05 am.

If you skip the bus rides and drive to jax, you'll save about $44.00
Source(s):
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage


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giglby giglby
 
December 21, 2008 05:50 AM
Try studentuniverse.com. I just ran a quick search and found a flight from Jacksonville to D.C. - $190 roundtrip. $217 with taxes. They have a number of other options with better dates as low as $274 with taxes. You'd want to book ASAP, because they have reserve a very limited number of seats. Once they're booked - you're out of luck.

You may be able to get there for less using ground transportation (carpooling, as the previous poster mentioned, is a great option), but keep in mind gas cost and down time once you get there because you'll be tired from the trip. I find that simply being in a car for that long exhausts me ...

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romuo romuo
 
December 21, 2008 05:53 AM
as was mentioned.. you can use craigslist's rideshare to split the cost of gas.. so all in all if you go with someone else.. the cost for gas will be no more then $100 - and not much worse then amtrak at all.

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keithold keithold
 
December 21, 2008 06:13 AM
G'day foosed,

Thank you for your question.

If it were me, I would look at sharing a car up given the current price of petrol.

Google Maps says that a trip should take 12 hours each way.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?rlz=1C1GGLS_enAU306AU306&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=From%20Gainesville%20Florida%20to%20Washington%20DC&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl

Having a friend in North Carolina to stay overnight with might be very handy. If you can find someone to share the trip with, that would reduce costs further.

Ask Metafilter advises that there is a train between Jacksonville and Washington. However, it will take a while to get there.

http://ask.metafilter.com/47870/Train-from-Boston-to-Gainesville-FL-crazy

Jacksonville Craigslist advises that there is a bus from Jacksonville to Washington DC. The cost is $250 not including inauguration tickets.

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/eve/942611397.html

Regards

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keldwud keldwud
 
December 21, 2008 09:14 AM - New Source
Along the lines of cutting expenses that keithold has described here, there are several options for staying in North Carolina that would not involve spending lots of money.

Besides finding a friend to crash with, if you don't have any contacts in North Carolina, you can try crashing at a Hostel. http://www.hostels.com/us.nc.html

Or you can try making contact with somebody in the couch surfing community. I can vouch for this one personally as I have used it myself and hosted quite a few guests, many of which were international.

http://www.couchsurfing.com/

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xds xds
 
December 21, 2008 06:29 AM
Cheapest way ? Why not walk ?

Total time about 11 days :P

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=Gainesville,+Fl&daddr=Washington,+DC&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=34.270836,-79.672852&sspn=17.860576,39.199219&ie=UTF8&z=5


ok In all seriousness...

I would just rent a car from zipcar or something, they pickup the gas and the insurance.


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bmlhailsto... bmlhailsto...
 
December 21, 2008 07:39 AM
On horseback at a very fast pace. Your only expenses are a sleeping bag, hay and water.

Good luck.

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eger eger
 
December 21, 2008 12:42 PM
hitchhike
Source(s):
http://www.wikihow.com/Hitchhike


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kenford kenford
 
December 21, 2008 01:43 PM
There are buses specifically for students

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