Flying out of Seattle's SEATAC airport

[c&m]

We're thinking of driving south from Canada and taking a flight from Seattle (so much cheaper!!!). Has anyone had experience with the park 'n fly lots at SEATAC? Which ones are better than the others? Any break-ins?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kingsdaughter]

We have used Master Park a few times (AAA discount) we've never had any problems.They have I believe 3 different lot.We have parked at two of them.I love using them because when you come back to pick up your car they have it pulled up to the front warming up & trunk open & ready to load up.I love it.

Have a safe drive =)

 

[Bubby4Clay]

We've never used a park n fly lot. But, we usually stay the night before at the Best Western Airport Executel in Seattle. They have a park n fly rate. You will need to call directly to the hotel, to get the park n fly rate, I believe.

If you stay either the night before you leave, or the night you arrive back into Seattle....then they will keep your car for you for 7 nights free of charge.

We have never had a single bad experience when we have done this.

HTH

 

[PrincessSitka]

The disney plane flies from Seattle to sna. We flew back from sna to seattle on it (Mickey). They have a tink also I hope you get one. It is an Alaska Airline plane.

 

[LOVEDISNEYLAND]

We're thinking of driving south from Canada and taking a flight from Seattle (so much cheaper!!!). Has anyone had experience with the park 'n fly lots at SEATAC? Which ones are better than the others? Any break-ins?

Thanks in advance!

We always go with master park. They have A,B and C lots. It's 24 hour security. The staff there, walk around the parking lot just to make sure things are okay through out the night. They also have cameras in all of there parking lots. I was listening to the news last week and they had a list of places where lots of break in occur and cars get stolen and those were the parking lots that did not cameras or attedants in the parking lots. I would go with master park. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[victorandbellasmom]

There was an investigative report on our local news regarding parking at seatac airport. I believe lots like masterpark are the safest. Here's a link to the news segment. http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?s=y&vidId=139099&catId=81 Definietly avoid the hotels where you spend the night & park for free.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

please delete double post

 

[bumbershoot]

2 other ideas for ya.

If you wanted to go in the day before, you could see if the Seatac Super8 still has their offer that allows you to park something like a week (in a gated lot) with only one night's stay.

If you were right in Vancouver I'd practically TELL you to do this, but since you're not according to your location info, I'll just *suggest* the idea of getting into Vancouver and taking Amtrak down to the Seattle area. But then, b/c that train leaves in the late afternoon, it's always late getting in, so that's a LATE time to be getting yourself to a hotel just to get up next day for your flight.

But if you did want to check out the area for a day or so, Amtrak is a nice little ride with pretty scenery, and you don't have to deal with the insane traffic north of Seattle.


As for your actual question, I'd just go with the one with the best price (that's what we did the one time we used an off-airport lot).

 

[victorandbellasmom]

From the link I posted above, you want to avoid the hotels that let you park on their lot. According to their stats, the 26 hotels around the airport had 439 car theft/prowls while seatac garage had 163 and the park and fly lots had 19 last year. I hate parking at the airport and only do it if we're going to be gone less than 3 days. Any trip more than 4 days, we rent a car the day before we leave in our city with drop off at at the airport for the following day. On our return flight home, we rent a car at the airport and return it the following day. Our last trip was 8 days long and we spent $55 on 2 1-day rentals and gas.

 

[hlbtimes2]

We usually use Master Park. We have not had any problems there. Their lots are fenced. You can get a discount coupon on their website.

 

[cedarparkgirl]

Another vote for Master Park.

 

[bumbershoot]

OMG can I mention how much I despise the local news around here? I never watch video, and I never watch the news, b/c I can't stand it.

They popped up almost 10 hotel corporate logos. No Super8 among them. They were walking around the RAMADA parking lot, open, no fencing, no light. Walking around the SAME surroundings, no comment that they had changed locations, they *mention* Super8.

I'll admit, something might have changed, but the times I've used Super8's lot, it was fully and totally fenced. And locked after a certain time at night. And is gravel. Which is not where they were walking.

But it might have changed.

But just the fact that they were showing video of the Ramada lot, shows me that *something* is wrong with that report, just like all of Seattle's news reports, gack.



All that said, car theft isn't something that freaks me out too much and it doesn't worry me. Just doesn't bug me. But I don't have an ownership thing, either; I'd never shoot anyone just for entering my (rented) home, and I don't freak about someone simply stealing my (leased) car.


So others who do have *ownership* feelings might not want to take my opinions to heart, or at least not act on my tips.

But, assuming Super8 is still the way it was when I parked there (and it might not be), I wouldn't hesitate to park there again.


And on the other hand, that rental car idea, while at first it just BUGGED me (rent a car to drive from Tacoma to Seatac? ACK!), I later (2 seconds later) realized would likely be a whole lot cheaper than any of the other ideas. So thank you for the idea, even if you were the one that made me watch the frustrating Seattle news.

 

[ZeusNike]

We have used Masterpark too and been very pleased by the service...I would recommend it!

We have tried some of the park and fly hotels and been pleased with some and not with others. The reason we have switched to driving down and staying in one of the Masterpark lots rather than using a hotel park and fly is that my husband hates driving through Seattle when it is busy (gets enough traffic commuting here at home!) and hates waiting in the border line. We left very early in the AM and drove through the border (the only car) and straight down the I-5 with almost no cars in sight. DH and I slept before we left and then again on the plane...it was really slick compared to times we have driven down after work on Friday, fought the traffic, slept a few hours in a less than comfortable bed to get up and get the shuttle early the next AM. We will definitely do it this way again next trip. Might not work for everyone but it sure worked for us!

 

[annieb727]

From the link I posted above, you want to avoid the hotels that let you park on their lot. According to their stats, the 26 hotels around the airport had 439 car theft/prowls while seatac garage had 163 and the park and fly lots had 19 last year. I hate parking at the airport and only do it if we're going to be gone less than 3 days. Any trip more than 4 days, we rent a car the day before we leave in our city with drop off at at the airport for the following day. On our return flight home, we rent a car at the airport and return it the following day. Our last trip was 8 days long and we spent $55 on 2 1-day rentals and gas.

That's a really great idea! I am going to look into this! We're going to WDW for 16 nights...parking will cost quite a bit, I am betting this will save us a bit of $$! THANK YOU

 

[Bubby4Clay]

There was an investigative report on our local news regarding parking at seatac airport. I believe lots like masterpark are the safest. Here's a link to the news segment. http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?s=y&vidId=139099&catId=81 Definietly avoid the hotels where you spend the night & park for free.

Wow! That was an eye-opener. Thanks!!!
I've changed my hotel plans, and have booked my ressies for MasterPark.

 

[c&m]

Thank you so much for all your replies! We'll go with Master Park.

victor&bellasmom: Thanks for sending along the video clip! That's quite the eye opener! I had been trying to get my DH to agree to doing the car rental thing this time -- just for peace of mind during our 8-day vacation. We had done the car rental thing before and it seemed to work out well.

However, the last time we did the rental car thing, we ran into problems trying to rent a car that can cross the border to Canada from the U.S. side. When we were at the Budget desk at Seatac airport, they basically told us that they had no car for us to cross the border in, DESPITE the fact we had a confirmed reservation. They didn't offer us any alternative, just dismissed us and said tough luck. Well, luckily for us, we went to the Hertz counter and they pulled through for us. But that was enough to change my DH's mind about the car rental idea in that there is a risk that a car may not be available when you want it. This is just a heads-up for Canadians who may want to do the car rental thing to get home to Canada from Seatac.

 

[bouncy54]

The disney plane flies from Seattle to sna. We flew back from sna to seattle on it (Mickey). They have a tink also I hope you get one. It is an Alaska Airline plane.

We're flying Alaska into SNA in November. I'm hoping to get one of the Disneyland planes....they didn't have them in 2000 when we flew last time. I can't wait to see our 5yo grandson's face if we get to fly on one of them.

 

[Welivefordisney]

We flew out of SeaTac last October and decided to drive to a hotel the night before and let them drive us to the airport. We stayed at the Red Lion and had absolutely no problems. The drive time was about 2 minutes and on the return we simply called and their van was there in less than 5 minutes. The room rate was very reasonable, but we called direct and talked to the manager. It is worth doing if you get a good rate and can park your vehicle for a week! Have fun!!

 

[bclydia]

Hi there!! We live in N. Van (were in Richmond until last year) and I just wanted to suggest that the flying out of SeaTac thing doesn't always apply.
It is not always cheaper. We went down to Disneyland in April and stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We flew with Alaska and I priced out all my options carefully to start. I booked through the Alaska Air website in the end and I got air for the four of us and four nights at the BWPPI for $1400 US. When I priced the exact same flights through the website without the hotel, the cost was going to be $1800 US. Kinda crazy but that's the way it worked out. These were for the identical flights too! If you are set on flying into SNA, then you need to fly out of Seattle because YVR flights all stop at LAX anyway and by the time you do the lay-over there, you could already be in Disneyland. We generally fly into LAX and get a car, but the shuttle is great too. I just wanted to suggest that you should price all your options out very carefully and see just how much you would really save.

 

[Bubby4Clay]

So has anybody ever used the MasterPark Garage?
If so, what was your opinion? Did you prefer the lots to the garage?
TIA!