Parking while flying out of MSP

[bmleroy]

Hi everybody,

I'm off to my next trip to the World March 9-16, 2002 (yay!). It's spring break, my fiance and I are celebrating five years together, and we're both graduating in the spring, so we're taking our longest trip yet to celebrate those milestones.

We're making the five-hour drive to MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul airport) the morning of our trip and are looking at paying about $100 to park for the week, even in the Econolot parking area, and that's a huge expense for our budget trip.

Our flight leaves at 3 pm, connects at CVG (Cincinnati) and arrives at 9 pm. Obviously, we won't be doing too much the first day, but our flight for last year's trip left at noon and we were on the road at 5 am - not very fun.

So I'm looking for some alternatives to overpriced parking! Here's what I've come up with so far...
1) Stay at a hotel near the airport that offers free parking and an airport shuttle. So far I've found the Wyndham Minneapolis airport, lowest rate $74 a night - still a small savings plus we could head down to Minneapolis the night before and not have such a long day of travel. They have free Park 'n Fly with a one night stay. Plus, we could try to fly standby earlier in the day and maybe get in a little earlier. Does anybody know any other area hotels with similar arrangements?
2) Use one of the other paid Park n Fly lots - they're a little cheaper, say $60-70 for the week, but without the convenience of being at the airport and I'm a little scared to get my car in the dark in a scary parking lot. Any recommendations on this? A good, well-lit lot, for example?
3) Do something else that a seasoned MSP traveler can share with me.

Unfortunately, due to the length of the drive, we can't be dropped off, and we don't know anybody in Minneapolis to leave our car with! I've been thinking this out for awhile now and can't seem to come up with a really great solution. Hopefully somebody has some insight into it for me.

Thanks!
Brandy

 

[travelcoupons]

First, if you decide to stay at the Wyndham, make sure that rate is a 'park & fly' rate. They may offer free park and fly, but you have to book at the park and fly rate to get it.

Don't park in the Econo lot. It may be at the airport, but it is still a long shuttle ride away from the terminal. And the shuttle makes several stops before you get to the terminal. I remember waiting 20 minutes or more for a shuttle to take me back to my car plus the time on the shuttle, after I returned. Not worth the cost.

I always choose a park and fly hotel when flying out of MSP. I used the Marriott on my most recent trip. The cost was only $99 and I used free Marriott gift certificates totalling $100 that I got from Milesource which left me with a net cost of $12 after tax for parking a week and staying a night. You can use the gift certificates at any of the Marriott chain hotels...(Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Residence...)

Anyway, There is a map of airport area hotels at: http://www.bloomingtonmn.org/maps.html#hotels

Of these, the following offer Park & Fly (You must call the hotel direct and book at the park and fly rate.)

Amerisuites 952-854-7000
Baymont Inn 952-881-7311
Clarion 952-830-1300
Comfort Inn Airport 952-852-3400
Country Inn & Suites 952-854-5555
Courtyard by Marriott 952-876-0100
Days Inn West 952-831-9595
Days Inn Airport 952-854-8400
Doubletree 952-854-2244
Embassy Suites 952-884-4811
Exel Inn 952-954-7200
Hampton Inn 952-835-6643
Holiday Inn #2 952-831-8000
Holiday Inn Express 952-854-5558
Hospitality Inn 952-854-1687
Marriott 952-854-7441
Select Inn 952-835-7400]
Sheraton 952-854-1771
Sofitel 952-835-1900
Super 8 952-888-8800
BW Thunderbird 952-854-3411
Wyndham Garden 952-831-3131


There are also 4 hotels you can book Park & Fly online at http://www.travelcouponsonline.com/parking.html

 

[bmleroy]

Thanks for the incredibly thorough response! It looks like I'll be spending some time on the phone next week.

The $74 rate at the Wyndham was from Expedia and stated prominently "Guests may utilize Park n Fly, available at no extra charge with a minimum stay of one night. Complimentary parking is available for up to 10 days with each stay." I would be inclined to complain if I booked that rate and they said it didn't include Park n Fly.

Since I unfortunately haven't accumulated enough miles at Milesource to save any money, do you have a recommendation on which is the cheapest? For one night, I'm not too worried about quality.

Thanks again!
Brandy

 

[caverill]

When we went to Disney in 95, we drove to MSP and stayed at the Comfort Inn. They offered a "park and fly" option also. I believe the room was $39 or $49. I don't know what the rate is now, but it work great for us since we had a very early flight out and didn't want to drive down that morning from Duluth.

I believe most of the hotels will offer the "park and fly" option if you stay one night.

Just call and ask.

 

[hercamore]

Hi Brandy,

Remember Minnesota March weather can be incredibly unpredictable!! We found this out last March driving from Rochester to MSP in a snowstorm at 4 a.m.

FYI, travel coupons has a great list of hotels for you to choose from in the bloomington area. The Mall of Aamerica website gives a pretty good description of these hotels. Check it out.

If it were me, I would not drive that far in the winter the same day of my trip. I would stay in either bloomington or eagan, which is about 5 miles from the aiport, has nice hotels, and of course, park and fly and shuttle.

Once my dd and I stayed at the Holiday Express in Eagan just for the fun of it and shopped in MOA. It is a very nice hotel. The hotels around the MOA/airport area are gonna be a little higher.
\
I like the idea of going standby and getting in Orlando a little earlier.

Hercamore

 

[bmleroy]

I'm leaning towards heading down the night before and trying to fly standby, but the prices for hotels in the area are a little higher than I'd expected. I think Priceline has spoiled me.

I've made the Bemidji-to-Minneapolis trip dozens of times in all kinds of weather so I'm not too worried about it as long as we're on the road early, but all things being equal staying Friday night would be better (although I'd have to skip out on another day of work and school - oh well!)

Travelcoupons mentioned that I need to call the hotel directly and get the park and fly rate, which would lead me to guess that I'd be paying rack + parking premium. I'm not sure I'd even come out any better, except I'd have a room to stay in for my $100-ish rather than just a place to leave my car.

Most rack rates, even at the lower-end hotels, seem to be in the $70-$90 range. I know Amerisuites Mall of America comes up frequently on Priceline - anybody have any info about adding on park and fly to that rate, and/or how much it might cost? Can it even be done?

Darn Priceline and its $30 rooms - I hate to pay rack these days.

Brandy

 

[atigeg]

I found a GREAT parking rate for offsite parking O'Hare at www.airportparkinglots.com
and I know that they deal with other cities as well. It is definitely worth checking it. Getting a hotel room via Hotwire the night before and parking at Avistar with the website rate turned out to be waaaaay cheaper than doing park & fly at a hotel. We will be doing this in both Jan. and Feb.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[travelcoupons]

Some more park & fly hotels (located in Eagan, MN...just south of the airport area.)


Sleep Inn (651) 681-1770
(I stayed here with park & fly rate in 2000 for $80-85 - can't remember exact amount. Newer property built in 1998.)

Best Western Yankee Square Inn (651) 452-0100

Holiday Inn Express (651) 681-9266
Website


Microtel Inn (651) 405-0988
(They have pretty low rates here, might be worth checking for park & fly)
website


Map of Eagan with hotel locations