Taking off Travel blog

Yesterday I mentioned the Embassy Suites survey of business travelers. One of the other interesting things in that survey was the information on business travelers’ favorite airports and cities for their business trips.

The best cities, according to survey respondents, are:

1. New York (voted by a resounding 20 per cent of respondents)

2. Chicago (12 per cent)

3. Los Angeles (10 per cent)

The best airports are:

1. John F Kennedy (JFK) and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airports (each got 10 per cent of the vote)

2. Los Angeles International (LAX) and O’Hare International (ORD) (with 8 per cent of the vote each).

Just so you know, you can make airport parking reservations for all of those airports both online and through Facebook and our mobile site.

What are your picks for the best airports and cities for business travel in the US? What about the world’s best airports? Feel free to share in the comments.

We don’t want to say we told you so, but … we told you so! UK travel comparison site Travel Supermarket has published research showing that Easter holiday makers can save up to 572% off the cost of airport parking by using an off airport parking lot for an eight day stay. The average saving that could be made across the 23 airports researched equaled $177, with greater savings to be made at Heathrow, the UK’s most expensive airport for airport parking. Hmm, wonder what the savings would be on US airport parking?

Read the full story here – and don’t forget to check out our off airport parking coupons and deals.

I was looking around Amazon one day, when just for kicks I thought I’d check and see if there were any books on parking. After all, we are Park Ride Fly USA, so it would be interesting to know. Instead of the big, fat zero hits I expected on my search, there were dozens. Here are the ones that looked most  interesting.

Parking Mad:

Amazon’s description:  “A funny, fascinating voyage of discovery into the car parks of Great Britain. Sixty car parks in Britain have been inspected, as far north as John o’Groats to the Land’s End car park in Cornwall. Many varied car parks are included from the dark and dangerous to multi-storeys of breathtaking beauty and sophistication, the best view and the most friendly attendants. ”

Then there’s Finding the Sweet Spot: Read more »

Thinking about booking off airport parking with Park Ride Fly USA? Rest assured, our valet parking (where available) is far better than the skills shown in these funny parking videos:

First up, someone who went a bit too far to get into a space:

Next, the snow has caused problems for some drivers:
Read more »

I’ve discovered something. It’s not so simple to identify cheap airport parking locations across the US. Sure, it’s easy if you want to find the cheapest airport parking provider at a particular airport. However, it would take a long time to sort through all the airports to find the most affordable off airport parking nationwide. (If I’m wrong, do let me know, because I’ve been looking for ages.)

Assessing the Cost of Airport Parking

But sometimes I wonder whether it would be sensible to have a national comparison engine for offsite airport parking. After all, in the same way that you look for cheap flights and then make a decision on where to go, the cost of your parking has a major impact on the overall cost of your trip. Luckily, there are lots of ways that you can save money on this part of your holiday.

Book Online

One top tip is to book your parking online. Choose a provider with a good website who will make it easy for you to make reservations, apply discounts and secure additional services from one handy place. Of course, don’t forget to look for local deals which may be available through your newspaper or favorite news site. Off airport parking providers often make deals available through different media outlets.

Discounts and Coupons

It is also worth looking for seasonal discounts, such as our holiday discount parking coupon. These can give you a significant saving on the usual price of parking, making your off airport parking cheap. To add to this, you may also be able to get discounts on car hire, hotels and other travel services through your parking provider’s partnerships. And of course your airport parking facility may offer reward and point schemes which you can apply to your future off airport parking requirements.

Other Benefits

As well as saving money on parking, there may be additional benefits to using an off airport parking provider. For example, your provider may offer a valet service, or may warm or cool the car for you before pickup depending on the season. They may be small things, but they can give a boost to the overall travel experience. So the next time you’re ready to book cheap airport parking consider the tips I’ve given above — and you could save a mint!