My family and I are going to visit my brother in Menlo Park for Thanksgiving (Wednesday through Saturday), but I haven’t had much luck in finding a ride to the airport. In particular, it seems that the tough part is Wednesday since many people are still working that day. My roommate Mike has offered that he could give me a ride back on Saturday, but that would still leave a question-mark on Wednesday (since he’s working on Wednesday).
So, I’m considering my options. Normally, I’d just drive my car there and park it, but I’m concerned that all the remote (read “cheap”) parking will be full (it is the day before Thanksgiving, after all).
So, I've been looking into off-site parking. I asked a a coworker about this on Friday and she mentioned that she used Park-n-Fly. And, just off the top of my head, I also recalled seeing those Parking Spot shuttles at the airport (the yellow buses with spots on them). Here’s how they compare:
Park ’N Fly
800 Royal Lane
Coppell, TX 75019
(972) 471-1194Rates:
- Covered: $11.75/day
- Uncovered: $9.75/day
Distance from my apartment: [21.3 Miles / 26 minutes]
Distance from the airport: [5.1 Miles / 7 minutes]
Total estimated cost: 5 * 9.75 = $39.
Parking Spot — North
4505 Plaza Drive
Irving, TX 75063
Phone: (972) 915-3672Rates:
- Covered: $9.00/day
- Uncovered: $7.00/day
Distance from my apartment: [20.7 Miles / 29 minutes]
Distance from the airport: [4.0 Miles / 9 minutes]
Total estimated cost: 7 * 4 = $28
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Parking Spot — South
1945 Valley View Lane
Irving, TX 75061
Phone: (972) 399-7768Rates:
- Covered: $9.00/day
- Uncovered: $7.00/day
Distance from my apartment: [16.5 Miles / 27 minutes]
Distance from the airport: [5.9 Miles / 13 minutes]
Total estimated cost: 7 * 4 = $28
Of the three, the Parking Spot’s South location looks the most interesting so far since it’s cheaper than Park ’N Fly and it’s also a bit closer than the Parking Spot’s North location. Well, Parking Spot ’s South location is closer to my apartment, though it is a bit farther from the airport (I’m not sure if that’s an advantage or disadvantage).
However, I’ve never used Parking Spot (nor Park ’N Fly, for that matter). Has anyone tried any of these companies? Or, is there another parking company I should consider as well?
Update 11-24: Encouraged by some positive comments from Karen, I’ve booked parking at The Parking Spot’s South location. A word of warning, though: they charge a $5 “registration fee” which means that they’re not quite as cheap as they would appear.
You know, there’s always DART. It takes a little longer and requires more planning than just driving and parking, but you’ll save a ton of money and won’t have to worry about leaving your car th the airport.
We just used the Parking Spot South location for our trip to Florida last week and I would highly recommend them. Their service is excellent.
Erica uses them frequently for her business travel and has never had a complaint.
We just do the Super Shuttle, usually:
http://supershuttle.com/htm/cities/dfw.htm
It’s like $15 each way.
I always use Parking Spot South, upon recommendation from the guy who used to cover DFW for the DMN. Free newspaper when you arrive in the morning (albeit USA Today) and free bottle of water when you leave (after a dehydrating flight). It’s the little things. Good freq parkers program too.
Also, I’m not sure about that “registration fee” — I’ve never paid such a thing (although I haven’t flown out of DFW for a few months).
The only problem I’ve had: their shuttles don’t come around as frequently as you’d like at the terminals in the evenings. You can be left waiting for a while. And once they do pick you up, they often have to swing by one or two other terminals before taking you to your car. It does add quite a bit of extra time to your trip — although the remote parking within the airport is even slower, in my experience.
The parking spot has increased their rates to $7.50 uncovered and $9.50 covered parking , as of November 2006.
Just called The Parking Spot (2-28-08) and their rates are now $8.50 uncovered and $10.95 covered.
There is another option now, Park Air Express is right next to Parking Spot North, they are $9.50 covered no uncovered but they have LOTS of discounts like AAA is $7.50 and they have a website coupon for $5.00 a day… pretty good deal considering the remote lots are $7.00 a day and you have to drag all your bags to the shuttle. Their site is http://www.4airportparking.com/dfw Good luck!
Park Air Express, DFW airport is closed as of July 31, 2009. Too bad….I used to park there all the time.