SFO Parking questions

[disneegrl4eva]

Does anybody that is familiar with SFO know of a good long term parking place that is safe where I won't have to worry about getting my car dinged from the attendants?

 

[bcla]

I haven’t heard of any places where the customer has to leave keys. Most places are self parking where the customer leaves with the keys. You’d have to worry about dings as with any other parking lot or garage.

Some of the better rates are at the nearby airport hotels.

 

[tsumgirl]

I've stayed at the Aloft SFO hotel. The parking lot seems very safe and I know they do airport parking. I'm not sure about the rates though, but the property is very quiet, so I wouldn't hesitate to park there long term if I needed it.

 

[barkley]

Some of the better rates are at the nearby airport hotels.

when we lived in the bay area and flew out of sfo we always stayed at the embassy suites near the airport-rate included free cocktails the night of check-in, free made to order breakfast the next morning, and secured/monitored lot parking (i think it was good for up to 2 weeks) with a shuttle to/from the airport.

 

[disneychrista]

We have always used SkyPark in San Bruno. But apparently they closed at the end of January. They are recommending Park 'N Fly.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Even though we fly out of SFO a lot, I haven't researched the options that closely honestly. We usually just park in the SFO long term parking lot. Since they built the new second garage, they actually decreased the price from $25 to $18 per day. According to the Park 'n Fly website, their rates "start at $17.90 per day" which doesn't seem much cheaper. There are probably other cheaper options though.

 

[sndral]

Even though we fly out of SFO a lot, I haven't researched the options that closely honestly. We usually just park in the SFO long term parking lot. Since they built the new second garage, they actually decreased the price from $25 to $18 per day. According to the Park 'n Fly website, their rates "start at $17.90 per day" which doesn't seem much cheaper. There are probably other cheaper options though.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this January that the daily long term parking rate had gone down.
I’ve tried sleep&fly @ nearby hotels and I used to use DeAnza, but I have run into a couple of issues. First, it’s hard to find a hotel that’ll let you park for more than a week - but maybe that’s because I’ve used the ones w/ ‘free’ parking included w/ your one night pre or post flight stay. Second, you have to make sure they have 24 hr. shuttle service in case your flight gets delayed & every hotel I’ve used keeps your keys. Third, the off site shuttles I’ve used always seem to take a very long time to arrive at the airport to pick you up at the terminal and once they finally show up they stop at several hotels. Whereas the long term parking buses run 24 hr.s, have frequent terminal pick ups, and don’t have too many stops.
Generally these days if I can’t find an SJC flight & have to use SFO, I just opt for SFO long term parking and park in the long term garage.

 

[superden]

I use Spot Hero to search for parking and the last time I parked at SFO I also used Aloft. It was pretty affordable. We paid $11 a day and they had a shuttle to bring you to and from the airport. I would recommend it!

 

[Pamela M]

I believe you can also look at parking at the BART stations in San Bruno or Milbrae - I believe you need to prepay before you arrive. they will assign you a parking spot for the time your away.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I believe you can also look at parking at the BART stations in San Bruno or Milbrae - I believe you need to prepay before you arrive. they will assign you a parking spot for the time your away.

For long term BART parking, yes you need to purchase in advance because it's limited space. They give you a permit which allows you to park in the permit parking section, though this is only guaranteed until 10 AM. most of the bart stations have this option, but not all.

 

[bcla]

For long term BART parking, yes you need to purchase in advance because it's limited space. They give you a permit which allows you to park in the permit parking section, though this is only guaranteed until 10 AM. most of the bart stations have this option, but not all.

I've done it before, although it's been a while. The terms for which a long-term parking permit is issued are kind of complicated. The spaces aren't specifically that limited. One of these allows parking in the latecomer lots (10 AM for general parking) but one is allowed to park in the general lots too if they're full. The general idea is that they're supposed to have available spaces for those arriving after 10 AM. One thing is that there's no fee for the initial/ending weekend/holiday days if the reservations starts/ends on a weekend/holiday, but any weekend day afterwards results in a charge. The permits have to be printed by the parker on paper. They list the first day of the permit but not any later days to not give away how long a car is going to be unattended. The terms also require that the parker use BART - I believe for a round trip, although it's going to be tough proving that.

https://www.bart.gov/guide/parking#AirportLongTerms
I've also tried doing this before when all the stations near home were unavailable.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I've done it before, although it's been a while. The terms for which a long-term parking permit is issued are kind of complicated. The spaces aren't specifically that limited. One of these allows parking in the latecomer lots (10 AM for general parking) but one is allowed to park in the general lots too if they're full. The general idea is that they're supposed to have available spaces for those arriving after 10 AM. One thing is that there's no fee for the initial/ending weekend/holiday days if the reservations starts/ends on a weekend/holiday, but any weekend day afterwards results in a charge. The permits have to be printed by the parker on paper. They list the first day of the permit but not any later days to not give away how long a car is going to be unattended. The terms also require that the parker use BART - I believe for a round trip, although it's going to be tough proving that.

https://www.bart.gov/guide/parking#AirportLongTerms
I've also tried doing this before when all the stations near home were unavailable.

So what happens are there are a certain number of permit parking spaces. Most of them are for people who buy monthly passes, but there are other people who can park there as well, such as the long term parking permits, single day permits, etc. Before 10 AM, you must have a permit in order to park in one of these spaces. Say there are 100 permit parking spots. They sell 70 as monthly permits, then hold the other 30 for other uses. Something like that. That's how they guarantee that you will have parking prior to 10 AM.

After 10 AM, any unused permit parking becomes "fee" parking, which is basically first come first serve at that point. You park there, you pay the machine, even if you don't have a permit.

If you have a long term parking permit and you show up before 10 AM, BART has (hopefully) only sold enough permits to fill the permit parking but not any more than that, so you are guaranteed a parking space. If you show up after 10 AM, then you are still allowed to park in the permit parking or the regular parking. The problem is that for popular stations, there will be literally no parking spaces during the weekdays after 10 AM. If I'm going to San Francisco on a weekday after 10 AM, I don't even bother trying to park at a BART station anymore (at least the ones where I live), I just drive there. So you will have your permit, but no parking spot. After 10 AM, there is no mechanism for BART to hold a parking spot for you. I do not recommend using one of these long-term parking permits if you plan to show up after 10 AM on a weekday, unless you know your particular station well enough that you know there will be parking after 10 AM.

Weekends are no problem finding parking generally, at least the ones that I have been to.

 

[bcla]

So what happens are there are a certain number of permit parking spaces. Most of them are for people who buy monthly passes, but there are other people who can park there as well, such as the long term parking permits, single day permits, etc. Before 10 AM, you must have a permit in order to park in one of these spaces. Say there are 100 permit parking spots. They sell 70 as monthly permits, then hold the other 30 for other uses. Something like that. That's how they guarantee that you will have parking prior to 10 AM.

After 10 AM, any unused permit parking becomes "fee" parking, which is basically first come first serve at that point. You park there, you pay the machine, even if you don't have a permit.

If you have a long term parking permit and you show up before 10 AM, BART has (hopefully) only sold enough permits to fill the permit parking but not any more than that, so you are guaranteed a parking space. If you show up after 10 AM, then you are still allowed to park in the permit parking or the regular parking. The problem is that for popular stations, there will be literally no parking spaces during the weekdays after 10 AM. If I'm going to San Francisco on a weekday after 10 AM, I don't even bother trying to park at a BART station anymore (at least the ones where I live), I just drive there. So you will have your permit, but no parking spot. After 10 AM, there is no mechanism for BART to hold a parking spot for you. I do not recommend using one of these long-term parking permits if you plan to show up after 10 AM on a weekday, unless you know your particular station well enough that you know there will be parking after 10 AM.

Weekends are no problem finding parking generally, at least the ones that I have been to.

The general idea is that if you arrive before 10 AM the total number of permits issued can't possibly be more than the available spaces. However, I realize that a lot of people just park before 10 AM anyways and hope they don't get caught. Of course they're also probably paying for the parking, so that would require paying for it well before 10 AM.

One time we did this the closest station I could request a permit was one I wasn't that familiar with. It was maybe 5:30 AM and we were in a hurry and I just parked in a general lot when I couldn't figure out how to get to the permit/10 AM parking areas. This station had a series of one way streets and bus-only streets.

 

[Asnell]

We use Anza parking.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

The general idea is that if you arrive before 10 AM the total number of permits issued can't possibly be more than the available spaces. However, I realize that a lot of people just park before 10 AM anyways and hope they don't get caught. Of course they're also probably paying for the parking, so that would require paying for it well before 10 AM.

One time we did this the closest station I could request a permit was one I wasn't that familiar with. It was maybe 5:30 AM and we were in a hurry and I just parked in a general lot when I couldn't figure out how to get to the permit/10 AM parking areas. This station had a series of one way streets and bus-only streets.

Right. You arrive before 10 AM with the long term permit or on a weekend (probably) with the permit, you are fine. You arrive after 10 AM on a weekday with a long term permit, you could be out of luck.