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: 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. Carrying luggage from the car to the airport itself or to the shuttle service. 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. 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. 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. 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. Due to repairs and construction work often unanticipated detours need to be made while trying to access airport lots. 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. Valet parking is not a free service; one will have to pay to have the car parked to save you valuable time. 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. 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. |
