Creative Way to Eliminate Expensive Airport Parking Fees?

[willoughbyclan]

We are going on the DCL panama canal cruise in May. There are (7) of us in our party. We travel 1 1/2 hours to our airport with a hard case luggage rack on top of my minivan. Do any of you have a creative idea for us to eliminate or reduce our enormous park fees for 16 days? Even if the fee is $8.00/day we will still have to pay around $128.00

I have thought of these ideas:

Stay, park and fly hotel: We would require (2) rooms at a min of $50/night which would be $100, thus only saving us approx $28.00. We had planned on flying down the night before our cruise departs so I really don't need a hotel. We are driving to the airport mid afternoon. I wasn't sure if park and fly hotels had a max number of day allowed. May or may not take this option.

Rental car: not an option because of luggage rack. Do any rental companies offer minivans w/luggage racks? If we rented a larger passenger van (12 person), we might be able to swing it but it would also be more expensive.

Having a friend (that lives near the airport) pick up our van at the airport the day we depart and then leaving the van at the airport for us the day we plan to be back, thus only having to pay for (2) days of parking. (only problem with this idea is that the only person I know that lives near the airport (SDF) is not someone I see often, I'm not sure I would be comfortable asking this favor of them)

So, there you have it. I have to be missing something....... I can't imagine having to pay approx $128 for parking but I may just have to.

Any help?

 

[bavaria]

I think that you have answered your question already.

Frankly, I have come to realize over the years that there is VALUE to consider, not just COST.

The COST is $128; the VALUE is avoiding all the hassles you listed.

If it were me, I would just pay the parking.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Is there an independent lot nearby? The Buffalo airport has an independent parking facility across the street from the airport. If you go to their website, they frequently have coupons and discounted offers.

I'm with the previous poster who said that the value far outweighs the cost. I'm all about avoiding the hassle even if it costs me a little bit more.

 

[pamjb]

You can check airportparkingreservations.com for offsite parking. I have used a lot that I found thru that website at Philadelphia airport (Winner Airport Parking. The cost is much less than using the airport economy lot. And it is a lot less hassle then waiting for the shuttle at the PHL airport and schlepping my luggage to the terminal.

If you use code 1152481 in the "customer reward number" field, it will save the service fee when booking on the website.

 

[AllyBri]

Wow $8. a day seems so in expensive. Be happy you don't have to pay between $17. and $21. a day.
Think of all the money you're spending, the parking won't seem that bad.
Have a great trip.

 

[safetymom]

I agree with the others. The time spent in renting a car, booking a hotel room counts for something too.

This is like the Visa commercial. It is priceless when you can jump into your car when you return instead of worrying about delays, where is the car, etc.

 

[dudspizza]

I pay $10/day and am happy doing so. It is such a pain to find someone to deal with your car. My FIL will do it, but he has to drive down and be followed by someone else to drop the car.... inconvenient to say the least.

You list $50/room for a park and fly room... I think your cost will be closer to $100 per room. I have paid $85 plus tax for park and fly, but they also limit the number of days you can park.

The other option is to look at a shuttle service to/from the airport. Something like Super Shuttle or another in your area. Go to www.supershuttle.com to see if they can help...... though you are 1.5 hours from the airport, probably too far.

Best of luck.... I use Park N Fly near MSP and love them....

Duds

 

[kaytieeldr]

I agree with the "priceless" point of view; on the other hand, I drive to the bus that takes me to the airport and park in the short-term lot, then my sister picks up my car. I take the bus back, and then a taxi to her house to get my car. Savings? About $80 ($11 per day to park, times eight days because they calculate on 24 hour periods, minus cab fare).

So, here's another option for you - if the airport friend lives close enough, the driver can drop everyone off at the airport then drive to the friend's house and leave the van, taking a cab back to the airport. On the return, the driver takes a cab back to the friend's house while everybody else waits for the luggage, then you pick them up at arrivals.

 

[willoughbyclan]

I agree with the "priceless" point of view; on the other hand, I drive to the bus that takes me to the airport and park in the short-term lot, then my sister picks up my car. I take the bus back, and then a taxi to her house to get my car. Savings? About $80 ($11 per day to park, times eight days because they calculate on 24 hour periods, minus cab fare).

So, here's another option for you - if the airport friend lives close enough, the driver can drop everyone off at the airport then drive to the friend's house and leave the van, taking a cab back to the airport. On the return, the driver takes a cab back to the friend's house while everybody else waits for the luggage, then you pick them up at arrivals.

This might be an option I had not thought of. I'll have to see what the cost of the taxi would be and how much time it would take roundtrip to her house from the airport. This really wouldn't be much different than what we have done in the past prior to our Disney Cruises. Either me or my husband return the rental car and then take the rental car shuttle back to the port.

I knew there would be folks with creative ideas on this board.

Thanks and keep 'em coming.

 

[willoughbyclan]

kaytieeldr

Would you care if I PM'd you with a question regarding your suggestion?

Thanks so much.

 

[mjh8955]

We flew out of St. Louis on a mission trip to Costa Rica. The group spent the night before our very early flight at a nearby budget hotel and they were more than happy to allow us to leave all our vehicles there for a small fee. Some of the smaller budget hotels like having extra cars in their parking lot because people won't stop if their lot is empty. Just a suggestion.

 

[deedeetoo]

$8/day is expensive?

Come to Boston. It costs $24/day to park at Logan.

The offsite Preflight parking is $17/day or $94/wk (though you can get a 25% off coupon).

Your parking sound pretty cheap to me. I wouldn't inconvenience myself to save money off that.

 

[js]

We are going on the DCL panama canal cruise in May. There are (7) of us in our party. We travel 1 1/2 hours to our airport with a hard case luggage rack on top of my minivan. Do any of you have a creative idea for us to eliminate or reduce our enormous park fees for 16 days? Even if the fee is $8.00/day we will still have to pay around $128.00

I have thought of these ideas:

Stay, park and fly hotel: We would require (2) rooms at a min of $50/night which would be $100, thus only saving us approx $28.00. We had planned on flying down the night before our cruise departs so I really don't need a hotel. We are driving to the airport mid afternoon. I wasn't sure if park and fly hotels had a max number of day allowed. May or may not take this option.

Rental car: not an option because of luggage rack. Do any rental companies offer minivans w/luggage racks? If we rented a larger passenger van (12 person), we might be able to swing it but it would also be more expensive.

Having a friend (that lives near the airport) pick up our van at the airport the day we depart and then leaving the van at the airport for us the day we plan to be back, thus only having to pay for (2) days of parking. (only problem with this idea is that the only person I know that lives near the airport (SDF) is not someone I see often, I'm not sure I would be comfortable asking this favor of them)

So, there you have it. I have to be missing something....... I can't imagine having to pay approx $128 for parking but I may just have to.

Any help?

Like someone has already said, it is not just about cost to me but also value.
With 4 kids do any of the above ideas really sound appealing. I would rather pay the $130 for the convenience of driving to the ship and having my car there when I get off. JMO though.
Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kaytieeldr]

kaytieeldr

Would you care if I PM'd you with a question regarding your suggestion?

Thanks so much.

Yeah, go ahead. I won't be able to answer you until tonight or tomorrow, but what the heck

 

[WillCAD]

Being a cheapskate and usually dirt-poor (thanks to saving my pennies all year to afford a WDW trip), I have gone through this same dilemma myself a few times over the years.

I am fortunate that my parents live near enough to the airport that I usually leave my truck at their house and my Dad gives me a lift to the airport for my departure. On my return, either Dad or one of my friends in the area pick me up and take me to my parents' house to get my truck.

When my schedule makes it impossible for Dad or my friends to drop me off or pick me up, I have to figure out an alternate plan.

Alt 1: Park in one of the satellite lots at the airport. Long-term daily parking at BWI is only $8 a day (plus MD 5% sales tax), so for my next trip, which will be 10 days, this alt would cost me a total of $84. This is the easiest and most convenient alt, but also the most expensive.

Alt 2: Leave truck at home and take a cab or airport super-shuttle. Round-trip super-shuttle would be $66; cab fare would be about the same.

Alt 3: Park at a nearby park and ride, then take the Light Rail to the airport. This is cheap - parking is free and LR is about $3 - but the LR takes about 90 minutes to get from my stop to the airport. Not only that, but dragging my suitcase and carry-on along on the train is inconvenient and somewhat risky when travelling with a laptop and expensive camera gear.

Alt 4: Park at my parents' house and take a cab or super-shuttle to the airport. Super-shuttle rates are about $58 r/t from my parents' house, but my parents live only about 15 miles from the airport, so taxi fare would be much less, making this an inexpensive option for me.

Beyond these, I can't think of any really creative ways to avoid those fees.

 

[poptoone]

I guess I'm getting a deal at Charlotte Douglas. Satellite lots are a mere $3.00 per 24 hours. So only $21.00 for my 7 day disney vacation.

 

[tor]

$8/day is expensive?

Come to Boston. It costs $24/day to park at Logan.

The offsite Preflight parking is $17/day or $94/wk (though you can get a 25% off coupon).

Your parking sound pretty cheap to me. I wouldn't inconvenience myself to save money off that.

Im with you LGA is 30/day

 

[ilovetinkmom]

We're leaving out of Philly & I just assumed we'd use their long term parking-I'm going to check out the site that pamjb posted-hopefully we can save a few $$$ too!

 

[pamjb]

We're leaving out of Philly & I just assumed we'd use their long term parking-I'm going to check out the site that pamjb posted-hopefully we can save a few $$$ too!

Don't forget to use the customer reward number of 1152481. It will save you the $5 service fee when booking thru airportparkingreservations.com
That site can be used for many different airports, not just PHL.
I use Winner airport parking. They take you to the airport in your vehicle, which they photograph before you leave the lot. You call them when after you have collected all of your luggage. The dirver and my van were there within 10 minutes of my call. For an extra $10, you can leave right from the airport. We worth it, to me anyway.

 

[ilovetinkmom]

I thought that svc sounded good too,but I am a little leery of letting them drive my van-have you had any probs with that?