Parking at the airport can be expensive. At most places, you’re looking at a minimum of $20 per day, if not significantly more.
Airlines are already trying to save money by cutting some lesser-used markets. That means people in less urban and even suburban areas who usually had to drive a certain distance to get to their closest airport, may have to drive to an airport further out to get to where they want to go. If the drive is far enough, they may consider staying overnight at a hotel before flying out.
Here’s where your possible savings can come in.
Some airport area hotels offer packages that combine staying at the hotel for one night and offering their shuttle from/to the hotel, while allowing you to park your car for “free” for X numbers of nights (usually 7, 10 or 14, although some places will allow up to 30 night). Plus, if you land back at home particularly late, some places will allow you to have your hotel night at the end of your stay.
Here are some companies that help you plan that:
ParkSleepFly
They’ve been around since 2002 and have an average of 4.4-star rating via over 17,000 reviews on Trustpilot.
BuyReservations.com
This group has been in business since 2003. They say they’ve gotten over 25,000 positive reviews with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5, but heads up that that’s on their own site ;-).
Stay123
Besides offering parking at airport hotels, they also give the option of cruiseport hotels. I couldn’t find many reviews online, short of one 1-star review and one 5-star one LOL!
Heads up that the 1-night rate when booking a package, is almost always more than the hotel’s lowest price for one night. But you’re getting to keep your car there for “free.” With that, you don’t have to pay for parking your car anywhere.
Real Life Example
Just for fun, I checked out sleeping near MCO on August 1, flying on August 2 and picking my car up on August 7. Using ParkFlySleep, I was given 4 choices.
I know that Econo Lodge is in a crappy area, and the Days Inn is pretty far from the airport. And that Comfort Suites? I don’t need $245 worth of “luxury” for sleeping near the airport the night before; YMMV. So let’s say I used the Sleep Inn & Suites Orlando International Airport.
(Below are for rack rates – no discounts for membership, rewards, credit cards, etc.)
ParkSleepFly’s rate for that hotel starts from $120. That’s for a a room with a king sized bed. If I wanted 2 queens, it’d be $125. But let’s go for a king. So that’s $120, plus $20.99 taxes and fees, for a total of $140.99.
If I booked a room at Sleep Inn & Suites Orlando International Airport for 1 night for a king sized bed, it’s $76. Total with taxes and fees would be $85.55.
The hotel doesn’t offer a Park & Fly option on its own, so I’d have to park somewhere.
Park, Bark & Fly offers uncovered parking from Aug. 2 to 7 for $6.99/day. With tax, it’s $42.21. Add that to the hotel’s price and the total is $127.76.
I’d definitely be better off doing it a’la carte, financially. But not by a whole lot, only about $13, and you’d have to take the extra time to get from Point A to Point B.
But let’s say I stayed out of town for longer – say, 10 days.
With tax, Park, Bark & Fly would be a total of $99.80, based on their rate of $6.99/day. Add that to the hotel’s a’la carte price and the total would be $185.35. In that case you’d be a good $45+ ahead of the game.
So, is using a parking package always a good deal? It depends on where you stay, where you chose to leave your car and how long you plan to be out of town. So you have to do your homework. But there’s definitely potential to save a few bucks if you go to with a package. Depending.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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