How to Save Money on Airport Parking in NYC

When it comes to airport parking in New York City, it will drain down your wallet faster than you can imagine. 
JFK airport charges around $39 for a day. LaGuardia airport? Expect anywhere near $35. The same thing is for Newark Airport. You park your car for a week, and you’re looking at nearly $300 of just parking. All this just to leave your car at a spot while you’re away. 
 

That’s crazy. 
But there is something that most of us are not aware of, and that’s that there are smart ways to park. When most of us pull up at the airport, we simply follow the signs to the terminal parking and accept whatever comes at us.  It’s like a fixed cost for parking, which is wrong. 
 

The Real Cost of Airport Parking and Why It Matters
 

For a typical family who’s looking for parking for seven days, they will be paying around $270 at JFK. That's the money the family can spend on the vacation and the enjoyment they’ve signed up for. This could be dinners, multiple excursions, and different experiences. And instead, this all goes down to parking. 
 

Now multiply that by how many trips are taken in a year.  
Double that amount if the family is in for a vacation two times a year. Or in the case of three trips, triple the amount. That’s more than $800. And all the family is doing is parking for a week.
 

Even in the case of business travelers, they park for shorter days and still pay the same per-day rate. There are no offers or special discounts. 
Do you know the real question? It’s not whether airport parking is costly; it’s whether you and I are going to keep paying high rates, even when cheaper alternatives are available. 
 

Offsite Parking: Save up to 60% 
 

The first move is opting for off-site parking lots.
These are privately owned parking facilities (like The Parking Station) and are situated near the airport. The charges these parking facilities have are significantly less than the ones offered by official airport parking. That’s not all; these offsite parking facilities also offer free shuttle service from parking lots to the airport terminal. Most of these facilities have the shuttles running every 10 to 15 minutes. 
 

Let me tell you how it works. You drive to the offsite parking facilities, you enter the lot, and you park your car. Then you go to the shuttle point and wait for the shuttle. The shuttle arrives and you hop on it. In just 10 minutes you’re at your terminal. When you come back from your trip, you simply call the facility, and they send the shuttle on your way to bring you back to the parking lot. 
 

The whole experience is pretty much the same as compared to the airport. 
When it comes to pricing, it’s less than $25 a day. For a vacation that’s around 7 days, the offsite parking can cost half of what the airport would cost. The effort is zero, and you’ve saved a ton of your money. 
 

You Can Pre-book Your Parking and Save Even More 
 

It’s crazy to see so many people still not pre-booking their parking. 
They definitely should.
 

There are multiple booking platforms like The Parking Station itself that offer parking lot bookings at reasonable rates. When you pre-book in advance, you save an additional 20% cash. The platforms offer competitive rates based on the lots and the timing. 
 

I personally have booked lots for as low as $10 a day at these off-site parking facilities. When you compare that to the rates of official airport parking, you’ll realize how much of a big difference is involved. The most amazing part is that the service and the whole experience you get to have at offsite parking lots are almost the same or sometimes even greater than the official airport rates. 
 

And all you have to do is book online in advance. Remember that when you book at the last minute, you will not get these rates. 
I suggest travelers set a reminder for themselves for booking parking at the right time for saving money. 
 

More Strategies for Maximum Savings
 

Here are some more options to go for to save even more. 
 

• Public transportation is another economical method to save money. However, it is on the condition that you’re comfortable navigating with your luggage. 
• Rideshares to the airport are an option that helps in saving a great deal of money, especially for shorter trips.
• Travelers can park their vehicle at a subway station, which offers even lower rates. 
• There are multiple hotels available that offer packages for travelers looking to park their car. You pay for one night’s stay, and your car stays at the hotel parking for a limited number of days.
   

Airport parking doesn’t have to be expensive. It is important to know that you have other options available that can cut your cost up to 60%. People who save money on parking are not lucky but informed. They know the alternatives; they know the rates. And they book in advance. 

Now you can too.