Although some have questioned the timing of National Equality March due to our current recession, we could be waiting a long time before things improve. If you are planning your travel arrangements to D.C. be sure and book well in advance to take advantage of low travel packages. The average cost is slightly over $300 based on the major gay populated U.S. cities. If you start saving in mid August, that is around $5.00 a day to save for this historic event. A search on www.hotwire.com of the top 10 major cities show the following air/hotel discount travel package rates per person:
1. New York City $297
2. Los Angeles $406
3. Chicago $302
4. Houston $346
5. Philadelphia $317
6. Phoenix $299
7. San Diego $567
8. Dallas $367
9. San Antonio $453
10. Detroit $283
Other major cities include: Seattle $600, San Francisco $399, Oakland $450, Salt Lake City $459, Portland $570, Minneapolis $417, Miami $297, Boston $394 , Atlanta $247
These rates includes all taxes and fees and assumes two are traveling with a departure of October 9 and returning October 12.
Check out www.Ridebuzz.org for a free online rideshare website that’s easy to use, and will help you connect with community members looking to share rides for one time trips, road trips, shopping and commutes.
A rideshare group has been created for the National Quality March. Click to visit the site and post a ride or catch one.
Besides saving cash or assisting others, Rideshare is also a green way to get to D.C.
Click to download a flyer for this great program.
Southwest Florida gay activist group S.W.F.L. have created a round trip bus package for $210 and includes hotel accommodations.
Click to sign up . We applaud this effort and would encourage other groups to create similar creative ways to get to Washington on a budget.
Have you created a similar package? Email us with the information so we can post it on our site.
From Wilkipedia, following are statistics of where our top ten villages reside.
| Rank | Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area | GLB | GLB% population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City – Northern New Jersey – Long Island, New York | 568,903 | 2.6% |
| 2 | Los Angeles – Long Beach, California – Santa Ana, California | 442,211 | 2.7% |
| 3 | Chicago–Naperville–Joliet, Illinois | 288,478 | 3.1% |
| 4 | San Francisco – Oakland – Fremont, California | 256,313 | 3.6% |
| 5 | Boston – Cambridge, Massachusetts – Quincy, Massachusetts | 201,344 | 3.4% |
| 6 | Washington Metropolitan Area | 191,959 | 2.5% |
| 7 | Dallas – Fort Worth – Arlington, Texas | 183,718 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Miami – Miami Beach – Fort Lauderdale | 183,346 | 4.7% |
| 9 | Atlanta – Marietta, Georgia – Sandy Springs, Georgia | 180,168 | 4.3% |
| 10 | Philadelphia – Camden, New Jersey – Wilmington, Delaware | 179,459 | 2.8% |
Help bring real change to Washington and book your trip now trip while discount rates are still available. Please comment if you have other creative ways to get to Washington D.C. on a budget. You can also send out a tweet if you have other ideas to help people get to Washington D.C. Want to start a car pool in your area? Tweet about it. Or become a fan on Facebook and comment about it.
I booked my room at The Liasion, Capital Hill from Friday through Monday and only paid $400.00 for the entire stay and that was with tax and all. I was expecting it to be much, much more and for the hotel that we got and the price, you couldn’t beat it. I certainly would recommend this hotel for anyone that is looking to stay for the weekend and attend the march.
John
We have a package deal from 210.00 dollars.Leaving from Naples on the west coast and Miami on the east coast and pensacola from the panhandle of Florida and making stops throughout the state.We we have also a 4 star hotel stay at the Washington Plaza.All this plus food and drinks on the buses.
Some may want to check out Jet Blue…if they fly out of your city they are usually a very cheap way to fly. Hope this helps some.
Check out Virgin Air out of LA. Tickets to DC for under $300.
We did an expedia thing…..3 nights at the doubletree in dupont cir and round trip from ft. lauderdale to baltimore and back for 650 …for BOTH OF US…..do it guys…see you there!!!!
For any New Yorkers, the Megabus is the cheapest way you can possibly go. If you book now it’s $8 a ticket. Unfortunately, New York is the only city that Megabus caters to for going to Washington DC. Just go to Megabus.com to book and get the details. Hope this helps somebody!
Just booked on Jet Blue (thanks for the tip Shain) leaving from Long Beach $280 roundtrip… Capitol Skyline Hotel has rates for about $110 per night http://www.capitolskyline.com
08-13-09 Just booked room w/Capitol Skyline by PHONE & found out that w/ AAA discount the rooms are $89-$98 on that weekend. BIG TIP: (Very nice lady that helped me!) She said the prices are supposed to be more in October so book fast if you can because the rates will go up. The price online is $104. http://www.capitolskyline.com -
I booked my plane ticket From FT. Myers FL to D.C. for $129.00 round trip, and am staying in Dupont Circle for 105.00 a night
.. I cant wait and I am VERY excited.
Round trip from Salt Lake City is $230.00! It is unbeatable!
We have $94/night room rates at the Holiday Inn in Greenbelt, MD good for October 9th, 10th &/or 11th. This rate is good on any room and there is no extra person charge. The hotel is approximately 15 miles from the National Mall and has a shuttle to the nearby Metro station. You can reserve your room using this special link http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/cwshome/DPRD-7TA5K8/WASGB or call the hotel directly at 301-982-7000 and tell them you want the “Call to Washington” group rate.
We are making this a vacation, so we are staying Oct. 8-14. Booked our room at motel 6 Georgia ave. I know it’s a bit far, but I don’t think you can beat the price. If we were staying only 2-3 days I would have paid more and stayed closer to the action. Check out Virgin American. Non stop LAX to DC for $238 round trip.
There are still rooms at the Washington Plaza Hotel…..great area of town and in the middle of everything.
From Houston we got tickets on Southwest for only $250 roundtrip to BWI…..
If you’re genuinely poor and can’t shell out hundreds of dollars on a room and airfare and whatnot, and if you live within a few hours of D.C., a day trip to the march is a much smarter idea. Usually only costs me about $15 TOTAL. If you’re splitting gas there three ways, you might have to put in about $8 max. (Your milage may vary…) Add to that the $5 metro fare to ride in to the mall, and you still have two bucks left for crappy convenience store grub on the way home.
Please Join Us
October 11, 2009
National Equality March
Our bus will be leaving from
Lutherville, Baltimore & Columbia
Please contact us by email to buy Bus tickets
Equality Across America – Baltimore
EAAbaltimore@gmail.com
please put “Bus Tickets” in the “subject” space
This bus is sponsored by
PFLAG Baltimore County
Bus tickets per person
$20 (now)
$25 after Sept 10th
Children under 12 $10
to buy bus tickets email
EAAbaltimore@gmail.com
Bus Schedule :
8:30 am, bus Leaves Towson Unitarian Universalist Church
1710 Dulaney Valley Road, Lutherville, Maryland
9:15 am, bus Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore
241 West Chase Street, Baltimore, Maryland
10:00 am bus leaves Park & Ride
at Brokenland Pkwy & rte 32, Columbia Maryland
March begins at Noon
Rally begins at 2pm
Bus leaves Washington DC for return trip at
5:00pm
Just booked a room at Connecticut Avenue Days in for 149 a night with 2 double beds. Reviews on tripadvisor.com say the hotel is good and a good location – right by the metro station.
Connecticut Avenue Days Inn
4400 Connecticut Ave Nw
Washington, DC 20008
202 244 5600
MORE DISCOUNT HOTELS CAN BE FOUND AT
http://equalityacrossamerica.org/blog/?page_id=57
PS Capitol Skyline jacked their prices up to $169 plus for our marchers. They committed to the $109 rate and then took it back when they knew they could get more from our marchers. I recommend the other lower priced hotels, due to this change. The website will have some more lower priced hotels up soon. Check back by Thursday Sept 10th
Does anyone know of buses leaving the Hudson Valley, N.Y. area? We need a bus equipped for handicapped accessability. We are the Orange, Sullivan, Dutchess and Rockland counties. Thank you!
We booked our flight directly through Southwest for only $266.20 per person from Denver and our hotel & car through Travelocity. For cheaper flights, I would recommed flying into another city around DC like Baltimore. These other cities are usually cheaper for fares, cars, and hotels and are only a short drive into DC.
I booked the 4 star Renassaince M street near Dupont using Priceline and got a room for $80/nite + tax around $280 total. My RT flight from st. louis to DCA using the AA discount code was only $199
Megabus from NYC – $16 r/t
and I got Comfort Inn, near Dupont for $99 a nite !
WE’RE COMING FROM SAN FRANCISCO AND DONT HAVE PLANE OR LODGING YET; ANY SUGGESTIONS? THANKS FOR THE LEADS AND SEE YOU THERE! THREE CHEERS FOR QUEERS! MO
I have a room DC for Saturday to Sunday for the rally – It is a very nice hotel with two queen beds if anyone wants to share with a little old Manhattan lady attending the march in support of her favorite nephew!
It would be $100 per person, but a really nice hotel.
Joan
Are you going to the National Equality March in Washington, DC and still in need of hotel rooms? We have several rooms left in our group contract with the Marriott Convention Center, 900 F St. NW
For rooms:
Contact Nigist Abate
Sales Manager
Courtyard by Marriott Convention Center
202-638-4600 x 7206Fax: 202.638.6887
Mention you are with GLIDE Memorial Church going to the Equality March
Great location and good rates!
Check out Priceline.com. We just got a great room at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Road Northwest (normally priced at $159.00/night) for a mere $65.00/night. This is for a room with your choice of 1 king or 2 double beds. It is adjacent to the Woodley Park/National Zoo Metro stop on the Red Line, making it accessible to everything. If driving, park at the outlying most Metro station and use the Metro to get in, avoiding parking fees & traffic. And Metro parking is paid at the gate as you exit and only if exiting after 10:30 a.m. and only charged for 1 day at most. (A real deal.) This can only be gotten at taht rate by using the bidding system on Priceline.com and choosing the area that the hotel is in. This is listed at 3 1/2 stars and is invariably the one that you will get for that area.