11 Reason why you should not park at directly at the airport
Travel means taking parking decisions. There are many options
you could park at the airport lot or at car parking facilities
situated near the airport. Airport parking means searching,
often moving from one full lot to another, or commuting to the
terminal by a shuttle from the other end of the airport, and
paying a parking fee that may be more than the cost of your air
ticket. The experience could make you want to tear your hair
out.
Parking at the airport would mean:
1. Starting out early to reach the airport at least an hour
before reporting time as many a time a parking spot many not be
immediately available and you may have to drive around quite a
bit before finding a place.
2. Carrying luggage from the car to the airport itself or to the
shuttle service.
3. Budgeting for settling the short term or long term parking
costs. Airport parking can prove to be more expensive than you
thought. At many airports the rates for parking vary from day to
day and during peak season. Often you may need to pay as much as
$ 150 for parking for five days. Economy parking is hardly ever
available and you may have no choice except the more expensive
lots.
4. Finding all lots full and having to make a dash for private
parking facilities at the last moment. This could delay getting
to your gate in time.
5. During holidays, rush hours, and travel seasons there could
be a great jam or arriving and departing cars all making a bee
line for the gate house or token counter. The chaos is
compounded by long queues at every gate and at the security and
this could mean a 400 yard or more dash to the gate carrying
your mound of luggage.
6. Security measures instituted with little or no notice can
spoil even the best made plans. A rule like no parking within a
distance of 300 m could mean that you will have to park a great
distance away. And due to alerts there can be random security
checks of all entering vehicles leading to considerable delays.
The traffic will not just slow down to a crawl but many of the
closely located short-term spaces will be shut down.
7. Due to repairs and construction work often unanticipated
detours need to be made while trying to access airport lots.
8. The car park may be located at a great distance from your
terminal and if you are not in the know, you may choose to park
diagonally opposite to the terminal.
9. Valet parking is not a free service; one will have to pay to
have the car parked to save you valuable time.
10. Many trolleys only function on feeding in a coin. Even if
the coin is refunded later it just means remembering to take
along a coin of the right domination.
11. The large volume of passengers at any given time at busy
airports just means that the transfer buses are not just
overcrowded but slow and uncomfortable with people and their
luggage jostling for space.
Why board a plane angry, tired, and frustrated. As a modern
traveler there are many conveniences you can opt for. Parking at
off-airport lots, is organized and hassle free. Even if the lots
are some distance away the conveniences are such that it would
be a time and money saving decision.