Holidays are expensive. Especially when you travel with your family, there are many people whose expenses will be paid from the same funds. This makes it essential to find and compare the best services with the lowest prices. The money we pay on a holiday doesn’t start with the flights or hotel costs, but begins with things like the transportation to the airport and airport parking. If you want to conveniently travel with your own car, you will need to park it at the airport. Here’s how to save costs on airport parking.
Airport Parking Options
Taking your car to the airport gives you a comfortable and flexible means of transportation to your destination. However, while you are away, your car needs to be parked in a secure location. This excludes just leaving it in a regular parking spot or at the side of the road, where it is unsupervised and can easily be stolen or towed off, to save the costs of parking at the airport.
Official airport parking might cost a lot of money, but it will leave your car in the trustworthy hands of the airport provider. Their parking lots are typically supervised by police patrols and/or security cameras. The staff will make sure any car is unharmed and remains in a good condition. Some parking options even include services like car detailing, for an additional fee.
There is one option that is somewhere between parking for free and paying the high costs of official airport parking. Non-official parking providers are typically available somewhere in the airport vicinity. To compete with the convenient airport parking, they often offer better prices and service.
Reducing Parking Costs
These strategies will help you find the best prices and services when parking at the airport:
- Compare Parking Services & Providers
A website like Parkos Airport Parking allows you to enter the destination airport and find any available parking services and their providers. This includes official airport parking and the independent car-lot owners in the vicinity. You enter the dates during which you want to park your car, and the website will show you the best prices.
This also includes the different parking services that are available, like Valet or Shuttle Parking. This way, you can figure out which option is both the cheapest and the most convenient. Additionally, websites like these often allow you to book the parking spot right there, which might allow for better prices because of commissions or other partnerships between Parkos and the parking lot providers.
- Pick a Service
Typically, the less convenient an option is, the less it will cost. If you park at the airport terminal and just need to walk a couple of steps to the check-in, you will pay the highest price. After that, a valet service that takes control of your car and parks it for you, will cost you the most. Shuttle services are the most affordable. Try to figure out how much an extra bit of convenience is worth in your eyes.
- Book Online
Booking online, for both the official and unofficial parking options, will give you better prices than booking the parking spot upon your arrival.
- Book in Advance
Similarly, if you book further in advance, you will get better prices than booking a spot for the next day. This is also a great method for a stress-free travel preparation. Once you have booked any necessary services, you can relax.
- Pick Dates Carefully
There are some dates and times when parking is frequented more often, and therefore the parking lots can ask for higher prices. This applies to the dates around popular holidays, like Christmas. Type some different dates into a service like Parkos and compare the prices for the same durations but on different days. If you’re not bound by any specific dates, this can help you find a favorable timespan for your next holiday.
- Park Longer
This might not save you money, but it will help you get more for your money’s worth. Typically, if you book for a longer time span, you will pay less per day. Try out some different durations on Parkos and find out if and for how much prices get reduced the longer you park.
Conclusion
If you park at the airport, you have several options. Secure variants are the official airport parking lots and parking lots from competitors in the close vicinity. Comparison websites, like Parkos, help you find and compare the prices and service level of any parking options at a specific airport. You can also use the internet to book in advance and get the best prices.
Overall, it pays to plan in advance. If you arrive at the airport in hopes of finding a convenient parking space with no preparation, you might have to pay the highest prices or get delayed while searching for a free spot.