If you’re going on an extended trip, it’s often easiest to leave your vehicle at the airport while you’re gone. However, doing so can get very expensive, and if you’re on a vacation, it can eat away at the money you’d rather spend on having a good time. The good news is that there are many ways to substantially decrease the cost of leaving your car at the airport if you know how to find cheap airport parking.
When you know how to find deals on parking at the airport, you can easily save $20 or more per day compared to the regular cost of parking. Some of the best ways to find cheap parking include using an offsite parking service, looking for deals and booking in advance.
Consider Offsite Parking
Many airports, especially larger ones, have several parking lots both on and off site. Offsite parking usually involves taking a bus or shuttle from the parking lot to the airport, but most of these buses run every 20 minutes or so. They normally run 24/7, so even if you arrive back home in the middle of the night, you’ll still have a way to get to your car.
Most offsite parking lots offer dramatically reduced rates, but they are normally geared toward individuals who are leaving a vehicle for a few days instead of a few hours. However, the discount can quickly add up when you’re saving $20 or $30 a day compared to parking in a lot on airport grounds.
Look for Discounts
Whether you’re going with onsite or offsite parking before your flight, you should be on the lookout for discounts for long-term parking. There are several ways that you can keep an eye out for reducing pricing on airport parking. They include checking coupon sites, signing up for mailing lists and checking the website of parking services.
Coupon sites, like Groupon, frequently offer discounts for airport parking from a variety of parking services. Additionally, many travel sites have links to or tell you about available deals for long-term parking discounts. If you know that you’re going to be traveling soon, sign up for the mailing lists of parking services. They will often email out discounts that they may not post to their website.
Compare Prices
There are sometimes different prices available depending on what particular lot you select if you park your vehicle at an onsite lot. For instance, at some larger airports, you may be charged more if you end up parking in a lot that has closer access to terminals.
There are frequently a number of different offsite parking lots, and you shouldn’t assume that their prices are all the same. Not all airport parking services are listed on comparison sites, so you may want to do a Google search and find out which lots are located around the airport you’ll be leaving from. From there, you can check the prices on each lot’s website. This may take a few minutes of research, but it can save you a lot of money during your trip.
Make Arrangements in Advance
Even making arrangements before you arrive at an airport can save you money. The prices for parking at an airport are frequently much higher if you arrive without having booked a slot in advance. This is likely because once you’re at the airport and need to park, you’re forced to pay whatever the rates are.
If you book in advance, you can sometimes cut your costs for parking by as much as 50 percent, even if you’re using an onsite parking lot. Many parking services will provide prices for booking that are much lower than the ones that you’ll see posted when you arrive.
