No Room at the Lot and Late at the Gate

[Carchar]

With more travelers taking to the skies, it’s becoming harder to find a parking spot at the airport.

Long-term parking at San Francisco International Airport filled up 70 days last year. Parking lots at Kennedy Airport in New York overflowed on Christmas Day. And because of the limited number of long-term spaces at La Guardia Airport (just 918), spots are practically gone every day by 9 a.m.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/tr...er&oref=slogin

[bodega]

I know that at SFO, this is not correct. More passengers are taking other means of transportation to the airport, so parking has not been a problem as it use to be. I also know of at least one long term parking company that we provide coupons for, that guarantees a parking spot. I have been at the airport over the Thanksgiving holiday when the local SF news stations are reporting live from the airport, telling everyone how bad traffic and parking is, to find no problem getting into the airport and also lots of open parking spaces. We also have special rates for park and flys at several SFO hotels, which are extremely popular for travelers from our area for those early morning departures. Traffic is the #1 reason in our area for missed flights.

[stephen_s]

I'm really glad LAX provides the Fly-Away shuttle service. It allows me to park at Union Station or Van Nuys then catch the bus to LAX.

[John225]

I never park in the airport lot, but use Park-N-Fly (www.pnf.com) here in New Orleans. Not only are their rates less expensive, but you actually have a reservation for a spot. On the days that I have flown that have been extremely busy, if you didn't have a reservation, you didn't get into the lot.

[AaronK]

When I fly out of Providence, I usually park at Preflight Parking (they have locations at a handful of airports). I'm a member of their frequent parking program (most of my travel is business, why shouldn't I collect points?) which entitles me to a space by presentation of a card. I also make a reservation. Fortunately, I haven't needed to present anything yet as the lot has not been that full (reservations are only necessary when they put the "Full" sign out).

[Ned]

We're lucky. We never drive to the airport (PHL). The long term lots at PHL usually have room, but it's normally a pain in the neck to find a space. You have to expect to spend about 40 minutes, or more to find an empty spot, park, and get from the lots to your terminal on the free shuttle. I don't know about you, but my time at the airport is plenty long enough already. I don't need to add another 40 minutes or more to that time.

Often our neighbor takes us to the airport, and/or picks us up there, if he's available. If not, we take a cab. We have a flat rate for cabs between Center City and PHL of $27.50 per trip in Philadelphia.

If we're flying out of EWR or BWI we take a train straight to the airport, if it's the two of us, or hire a limo if we're going with another couple. When there are four people in the limo, the cost per person drops to about $60 or so per person, each way. Taking a "shuttle" costs almost as much, and this is far more convenient, and takes much less time. (People tell me that I should fly out of EWR or BWI all the time, instead of PHL, because the flights are cheaper, but when I add in the cost of transportation, aggravation, and time wasted, I find it's rarely worth it. I use those airports when a direct, non-stop flight out of PHL is not available, but is available from EWR or BWI)

[Loonbeam]

I follow pretty much the same routine as Ned for leisure travel, we have a local limo company with very reliable sedan service at a reasonable rate. Nice drivers too. I tip them well, they take care of us. Cabs are not an option on the Jersey side, economically.

For business travel, where I am not allowed to expense the sedan (darn it), I park at Pre-flight with a pre-reserved space (been using them for years, since they were Aampco). Their rates are very reasonable for indoor parking, and I think the longest I ever took to find a spot, get a shuttle and get to the check-in was 30 mins total... Shuttle picks me up at car, and goes right to the bag check, even get help with luggage...

[Carchar]

For $55 round trip, I take the Airbrook shuttle van from Monvale, NJ to EWR. They make one other stop in Ridgewood and get me to my terminal in an hour fifteen. The only drawback is when my return flight is delayed and I get back after midnight. Then I have to wait a few hours to catch the first van back in the morning. Has only happened once so far.

[rampo]

I'm very fortunate in that I'm only about a 10-minute cab ride from Washington National Airport. When possible I take bus and Metro, but I often have 6am flights which means I have to be at the airport before Metro opens. On the rare occasions I use Dulles I take the Metro to either the L'Enfant Plaza or Rossyln Metro Stations where I pick up the 5A Metrobus to IAD (still a bargain at $3.10).

[tdew]

Originally Posted by Carchar

For $55 round trip, I take the Airbrook shuttle van from Monvale, NJ to EWR. They make one other stop in Ridgewood and get me to my terminal in an hour fifteen. The only drawback is when my return flight is delayed and I get back after midnight. Then I have to wait a few hours to catch the first van back in the morning. Has only happened once so far.

I just tried out this service for the first time a couple of weeks ago.
A family member dropped me off at the Ridgewood location, so my car would be available even though I was gone. If you park it at the lot though, it's just $1 per day.
The service to the airport was wonderful.
The return was a different story. The dispatcher was new to the job and I was new to the service, so getting to the pick up location was a mess.
He was reading from a card and telling me to go to station 5. There were no numbers at Terminal B, I guess because of the construction. I couldn't get an answer on whether I should walk with the traffic or against it. He said, OK I'll tell him to pick you up under the British Airways sign - but he didn't!
After waiting for the better part of an hour in the first place, I wasn't thrilled to have to spend another 10 minutes on the phone trying to get together - nor did I like the feeling that I'd held up the other people already on the van from other terminals.
I would take it TO the airport again - it's a good deal if just one person is traveling, but would have someone pick me up at the airport if the time works out.

I did stop in the office when I got back and told the dispatcher that he'd better take the trip down and SEE what he's telling people to do.