US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - BWI Parking to catch US flight

I am probably not supposed ask about this here but US Air is what motivates me to trek all the way over to BWI. The parking there irritates me. $30/day or really $60 for a day and a few hours in the main garage unless, "Aw shucks, I lost my ticket."

I just noticed this:
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Daily Lot B

BWI's new convenient parking lot! Located at Elm Rd. and Aviation Blvd., this new parking lot opened on 11/05/01. The new Daily Lot B has 1,400 spaces and is served by closely scheduled shuttle buses from covered bus shelters. Rates are $2 per hour up to the daily maximum of $11 per day.
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It looks like it is closer than the ESP lot -- tried it once and found it chaotic and stressful. Anyone tried "daily lot B"? (Where's lot A? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) I am catching a 15:00 flight -- maybe it's full by then anyway.

>It looks like it is closer than the ESP >lot -- tried it once and found it chaotic >and stressful. Anyone tried "daily lot B"? >(Where's lot A? ) I am catching a 15:00 >flight -- maybe it's full by then anyway.

I have been using this lot since it opened. It is right behind the Sheraton and is very close to the terminals. The only problem is that since it is a new lot and there are not many cars there (its much smaller than Green and Blue), they have very few buses running this route and you need to make sure you catch one quickly to get to the terminal or you might wait for a while. Oftentimes the buses will wait in the parking area for people to drive in and then drive over to where they are (or you can walk over to the bus and wake up the driver as I have had to do at 5am in the past).
You can also expect to potentially (all of this in the timing) wait longer going back to the lot as well on the return trip.

Hi gnaget,

I haven't tried the onsite longterm lots; many of us use the offsite facilities due to their Frequent Parker programs (Preflight, Airport FastPark). They charge $9-$12 per day, and usually have online coupons available. Others (like markbach,) prefer the BWI Amtrak lot because it's even cheaper ($7? per day). All these have regular shuttle service to the terminal. There's no reason why you should have to pay $20-30 per day...

Try a search on the US Airways board using BWI and Parking, and a good half dozen threads will turn up. Good luck.

I recommend Pre-Flight.
$9 per day. Typically they have a bus waiting at my car right after I park. Door to door service. It is not that far from the terminal and the drivers are helpful.

If the same firm that runs the buses to the satellite lots at BWI is running the buses to the new lot, I'll pass. BWI parking has to be one of the worst managed airport lots ever. Wait times of 45 minutes to get a bus from the terminal are not uncommon and in my experience, before switching to Pre-flight, a typical wait was 20 minutes. With Pre-flight I pay $9/day and have never had to wait more than 10 minutes, usually less than 5 minutes. No way I'll the BWI crowd $11/day!

Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out Preflight et al. for my next personal trip.

Yes, the Satellite lots are horrendous. I parked there once 2 years ago. A lynch mob atmosphere developed among people who were waiting, and I was minutes from missing the flight.

$30 is a ripoff (or $60 for 30 hours!) but for on this business trip I am saving my client $450 by flying out of BWI.

Why can't they charge $20, which is still high but not extortion. There are 4700 spots in the garage. I don't think leisure travelers will fill the garage at $20 per day. Surely there is never more than ~500 people parking there & picking up passengers at any time

This must be the only airport that does not have a non-shuttle parking option. Ok, they do, but they are obviously trying to strongly discourage people from using it.