Avoiding the Airport-Parking Gouge

A nationally recognized reporter, writer, and consumer advocate, Ed Perkins focuses on how travelers can find the best deals and avoid scams.

He is the author of "Online Travel" (2000) and "Business Travel: When It's Your Money" (2004), the first step-by-step guide specifically written for small business and self-employed professional travelers. He was also the co-author of the annual "Best Travel Deals" series from Consumers Union.

Perkins' advice for business travelers is featured on MyBusinessTravel.com, a website devoted to helping small business and self-employed professional travelers find the best value for their travel dollars.

Perkins was founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, one of the country's most influential travel publications, from which he retired in 1998. He has also written for Business Traveller magazine (London).

Perkins' travel expertise has led to frequent television appearances, including ABC's "Good Morning America" and "This Week with David Brinkley," "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," CNN, and numerous local TV and radio stations.

Before editing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Perkins spent 25 years in travel research and consulting with assignments ranging from national tourism development strategies to the design of computer-based tourism models.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Perkins lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife.

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In my earlier story on travel rip-offs, I asked readers for their nominations for worst travel gouges and some responded with “airport parking.” Airport parking can certainly be a gouge; at some big hubs, even “economy long-term rates” can go as high as $30 a day. And even independent off-airport lots typically charge just enough less than the airport to generate business. Unless you can leave your car at home and get a taxi, shuttle, or lift from your home, you could face a stiff parking bill when you return to your home airport. And if you fly to/from an airport that isn’t close, you may not have a convenient alternative to driving and parking.

One way to avoid gouge rates is to book a hotel-plus-parking package near your departure airport the night before you leave. As an added benefit, a pre-departure night near your airport can help guarantee that you won’t miss your flight because of weather or traffic. Hundreds of airport-area hotels offer packages that combine one night’s accommodation with up to 30 days of “free” parking, although most stop at seven, 10, or 14 days—in the hotel’s parking area, with shuttle service to/from the airport. Most hotels also let you take the overnight at the end of your trip if you plan to arrive on a very late flight. Most also provide for parking beyond the nominal limit for an extra daily charge.

I know of four online agencies that specialize in parking packages at airport hotels:

ParkSleepFly, the pioneer in the field, currently lists participating hotels near 109 large- and medium-sized airports in the U.S. and six in Canada.

Stay123 lists participating hotels near 115 U.S. airports and 17 in Canada.

BuyReservations.com posts accommodations/parking packages near 60 U.S. airports plus Montreal.

Airport Hotels Free Parking lists packages at 17 mostly large U.S. airports.

For the most part, ParkSleepFly and Stay123 list the same hotels, but not always. You might as well check all four agencies just in case any one agency doesn’t cover all of your options.

Also, many airport-area hotels and motels independently offer similar packages, but they’re hard to find if they don’t list on one of the nationwide sites. On my last trip, for example, I arranged a package that wasn’t listed on any of the online sites through my local AAA travel agency: a 14-day sleep-park package at Portland airport. And you can Google “hotel parking packages at [wherever]” to find some independents.

Although the online blurbs often boast “free” parking, the one-night package room rate is almost always higher than the hotel’s lowest available rate. But the difference in rates is much less than the cost of parking for a week in an airport-area parking lot: I’ve usually found the premium for a week or more of parking works out to only a few dollars a day and much less than you’d pay at most big airports for just the parking.

At some airports, a parking package is a no-brainer. If you have to leave your car for a week at Seattle-Tacoma, for example, a $79.99 room at Econo Lodge, with seven days parking, is a better deal than the lowest weekly parking rate of $130 per week. On the other hand, long-term parking at Charlotte is just $5 a day, so the parking packages and independent lots can’t provide much of an advantage. As in so many travel situations, you have to check all the options carefully before you buy.

The four online airport-parking specialist agencies I list also say they offer similar deals at major cruise ports. But when you take a closer look, you find that most of the “cruise port” listings are actually for airport-area hotels with shuttles to/from the actual port area. And, in many cases, the “free” shuttle is one-way only: You pay for the return trip. Only a few hotels are actually near the port.

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