BWI, Dulles or Reagan National to the Baltimore Cruise Port: Rent or Ride?

On these numbers the car comes to about $68 for two people, the survey’s facility charge included, and it still has to go back somewhere, because the terminal has no desk.

For sail day alone, the rides in the right-hand column win. The car starts to win only when the day holds something else — a stop, not just the ship.

Annapolis before boarding is one such day. The day-trip page prices it.

The fares themselves, and their limits, are on the should-you-rent page: the Sunday light-rail gap, the meter-only cabs, a rideshare estimate two years old.

Every brand is at BWI’s Rental Car Facility, 7432 New Ridge Road in Hanover, reached by a free shuttle from the Arrivals level inner curb, Doors 1, 11 and 16.

Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, NextCar, SIXT and Thrifty are all there — a BWI quote is a choice of brand, not of building.

BWI warns that shuttle delays are possible at peak times because of a nationwide driver shortage — allow for it on a tight day.

Hertz calls the facility about 5 miles from the airport terminal; our routing makes the shuttle leg about 3.7 miles. Ours is a routing estimate, not a timed ride.

Avis says its counter there runs 6 AM to 11 PM and Hertz until 11:59 PM; Sixt advertises 24-hour returns. Enterprise’s page shows no hours, only a key drop box.

From the facility to the ship is about 12 road miles — 20 minutes without traffic, by our routing.

A consultant’s airport survey lists a $5.75-a-day customer facility charge at BWI, with no cap, since Feb 1, 2026; BWI’s own rental page lists no fee.

Over a week that’s $40.25 before tax, our arithmetic. Treat it as a survey figure, not a posted fee.

No brand page we read printed BWI’s concession fee; Avis says only that prices exclude taxes and fees. We don’t guess one — the calculator starts at 0% for you to fill in from your quote.

Look for both lines on the quote — if either is missing, ask before you sign.

Dulles charges less on this one line: the same survey lists $3 a day at Dulles since Feb 1, 2026, about $21 a week. The survey lists no facility charge at Reagan National.

From the south and from BWI, I-95 North to Exit 55, Key Highway, then straight about .08 mile on East McComas Street; from the west, I-70 East, the Beltway (I-695) South and I-95 North from Exit 11A, about 4.9 miles to Exit 55.

Exit 55 comes before the tunnel when you drive up from the south, so the BWI drive pays no tunnel toll, by our reading of the port’s directions. The Fort McHenry Tunnel is a north-side problem, not yours.

BWI to the terminal is about 10.5 miles — 18 minutes by our routing, without traffic.

So a rental toll plan has nothing to bill on this drive. Decline it, unless the trip goes north afterward.

Virginia taxes a rental at 10%: a 4% rental tax, a 4% local tax and a 2% rental fee; both Washington airports are in Virginia.

That’s 1.5 points under Maryland’s rate, our arithmetic — a saving, not a reason to fly there.

At Dulles every brand is on the airport: from baggage claim go down the ramp to Doors 2 and 4 for the shuttles at Curb 2C or 2D (Enterprise, National and Alamo share a bus, as do Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty).

At Reagan National the counters are on the first floor of Parking 1, by the “Rental Car/Parking” shuttle or a 10- to 15-minute walk; Avis and Budget are off the airport and run their own shuttle.

Cruise Maryland puts Dulles 60 miles from the terminal; our routing says about 66 miles and 1 hr 35 min without traffic. Cruise Maryland puts Reagan at 48 miles, and our routing at about 43 miles and 65 minutes.

At the “from” prices, a Dulles day lands near $45 with the survey’s $3, and a Reagan day near $67, our arithmetic, before any drop charge. Both are one-way rentals into Maryland. The one-way page has what each brand says about that.

We didn’t price a shared shuttle from either Washington airport — Cruise Maryland lists companies without fares.

Choose the airport by the flight, then the car by the total. Virginia’s rate is 1.5 points lower — about 81 cents a day on a $54 car, our arithmetic, less than the fuel for the extra miles.

Discover Cars’ Dulles page showed “from $29” on Sept 1 and Reagan’s “from $55” on Oct 2.