New England - Boston Logan airport parking question

Hi - I wasn't sure where to put this question, so if I need to move it let me know. We are flying on United for a 12 day trip in September and need to park our car. Do any of you Boston travelers have opinions on the most cost effective yet safe way to handle the parking?
Thanks,
Sue

I depends on where you're coming in from, but for anything over 6 days, I personally just use a car service. At 26$ per day, central parking is expensive. You can go the economy lots, and afaik some Medford/Revere hotels still offer free parking if you stay with them when you leave and return.

When I lived in the area, I always parked at Alewife and took the T. (Except for those glory days in the late 80s/early 90s when they had cheap helicopter service from Boxboro.)

There are several off site lots that are in the 85 to 100 dollar range per week. There are also some park, sleep and fly deals (www.parksleepfly.com) where you can get a hotel night and two weeks of parking for $169

When I lived in the area, I always parked at Alewife and took the T. You'd tell the OP to leave his car in the Alewife parking structure for 12 days?!? In that spooky, dark, underpatrolled tomb? Not me. I'd hit one of the Park-and-Fly lots on 1A just north of the airport.

I usually use PreFlight Parking. The base rate is $108/week. You can get a 20% discount with coupon on their Web site (www.preflightparking.com) or 25% with an advance reservation.

On longer trips, I've parked at the Braintree T lot for $8 a day. Red Line to South Station, Silver Line to the airport. Nothing ever happened to my (fairly attractive) car there.

Memorial Drive in Cambridge is free since it is a state route, not city owned, ie no parking meters. Spots are on the outbound side starting in the 100 memorial drive range and running past MIT to about where Mass Av is, though some blocks have parking after that. I would not hesitate to leave my car there for a week. Also, it is a few minutes walk to the Kendall station on the T so you can hop on there. Just watch out for the monthly street cleaning date which could for an example be the 3rd Thursday, etc...

Memorial Drive in Cambridge is free since it is a state route, not city owned, ie no parking meters. Spots are on the outbound side starting in the 100 memorial drive range and running past MIT to about where Mass Av is, though some blocks have parking after that. I would not hesitate to leave my car there for a week. Also, it is a few minutes walk to the Kendall station on the T so you can hop on there. Just watch out for the monthly street cleaning date which could for an example be the 3rd Thursday, etc...

And also have to watch out for the festivals, road races, etc that occur. Usually they shut down Mem Drive further west (down towards Harvard), but I've occasionally seen them shut down the 100-600 Memorial stretch also.

But I agree that it's not a bad option.

When I lived in the area, I always parked at Alewife and took the T. (Except for those glory days in the late 80s/early 90s when they had cheap helicopter service from Boxboro.)

Wow. I've lived here since 2000 and worked in Boxboro for a good amount of that time, and I've never heard of this. Where did they set the helicopters down? In the Holiday Inn parking lot??

My advice would be to fly from PVD instead of BOS. Long term parking at PVD is $55 a week while BOS is $108.

How far do you live from the airport? As another poster said for a two week trip, a private car service might be less expensive than parking anywhere.

Plus there's nothing like coming off a long flight, tired and ready to be home and having a well dress person meet you, help with your bags and do the driving. :cool:

On the MBTA Silver Line 1 (SL1) between BOS and South Station, there is a part where the bus changes from being gas powered to electric powered. I have seen many passengers disembark to get their cars.

Anyone know if there is a long-term parking option there, and if so, what it's called and how much?

Thank you.

On the MBTA Silver Line 1 (SL1) between BOS and South Station, there is a part where the bus changes from being gas powered to electric powered. I have seen many passengers disembark to get their cars.

Anyone know if there is a long-term parking option there, and if so, what it's called and how much?

Thank you.

Parking in Downtown Boston is nasty expensive. Might save a few bucks by parking in a crummy, poorly secured open air lot, but for 12 days we're still hitting the car service/cab to the T/park and fly zone.

If you really want a fiesta you could park at RTE 128 train station, I think its still $10 a night. Commuter rail (or Amtrak) to South station, then silver line to the airport. I've left my car at Alewife for 4-5 days without worry, and its worked out fine. I guess you could argue after 5 days, whats another week.... 8 bucks a day I think.

Not many T/commuter rail stations allow overnight parking -- the MBTA website lists them in alphabetical order (not by which line its on, or even if its T or rail). Waban or Woodland, near the end of the green D line, has a garage that I'm going to try next time, just for the experience. Riverside (the end of the D line) has an open air lot that allows overnights, but I think its the same charge as the garage. Both have easy access to route 95 (I just cant call it 128) just south of the pike.

...Not many T/commuter rail stations allow overnight parking...I've left a car at the Braintree Red Line station, right off Route 3 just south of the split. The rate goes up from $7 for the first day to $8 for every day after that, or at least that's what they were last fall. No changes to South Station, then Silver Line from there to the airport.

It really depends on where you're coming from.