evergrn

What are the chances that the general parking at SEA's garage could be full on Christmas day?

I've almost always parked at an off-site garage. But it has now reached the point where Wally garage is MORE expensive than Seatac garage, even with AAA discount. Masterpark garage is even pricier. It's cheaper to do park-n-fly at Hilton than to park at Wally garage (but Hilton's outdoor pkg).

So for the first time, I'm thinking of parking long-term at Seatac garage. But I want to make sure I won't get turned back because it's full or something.

Seattlenerd

Funny, I was just expressing my annoyance with WallyPark (I also have AAA) because, in addition to the the fees that are tacked on, they have also increased the number of WallyClub points required to redeem a free day of parking.

It's now 150 points per day, up from 105 per day earlier this year, for covered self-park at the Premier Garage. Annoying as all hell, and a nearly 50% increase.

Sea-Tac Airport garage just emailed notice of a special offer for holiday parking at $18/day or $95/week, all taxes included (minimum stay is three days). There are no other restrictions on who can take advantage of the offer (a copy of the offer is required). It's good for parking through 1/4/15.

Unfortunately, I don't have any experience in how full it gets over the holidays. But if they are sending out special offers ... my guess is not full.

evergrn

I'm aware of that holiday offer from Sea-tac and, with that discount, SEA comes out cheaper than Wally garage for my dates.

Yeah the Wally points thing is annoying. They still do have the 20% AAA discount, but I noticed their website no longer mentions it. I had to call Wally's to confirm that the discount is still there. I don't know why they no longer advertise it... maybe they don't want people to know.

Your guess is probably right. Does anyone else have firsthand experience?

Jimgotkp

Not during Christmas Week but I took advantage of the $99 deal last week. Didn't have an issue finding a parking spot..

evergrn

Thanks. Well, I'm gonna take a chance. I'll go early. If the garage is full, I'll switch over to one of the off-site outdoor lots.

I wish Seatac would post real-time parking availability online. PHX does it.

evergrn

Southern ~half of the 7th floor of the garage (second from the top, I think) was almost completely empty the Christmas Day morning. All that worrying for nothing, lol.

BearX220

It's grown so expensive I think many now avoid it. I can't even bill Sea-Tac parking back to clients with a straight face anymore.

Jimgotkp

Parking at any airport's parking garage is expensive nowadays. If it wasn't for the $99 deal they had a few weeks ago, I would've went elsewhere. Seems like WallyPark is pretty expensive, specifically at their parking garage location.

BearX220

Ah... let's see about that. These are all airport commission-operated garages and lots:

Dulles Airport economy lot: $10 per day. Close-in garages: $17 per day.
BWI economy lot: $6 per day. Daily parking garage: $12 per day.
O'Hare economy lots: $9 to $17 per day depending on proximity to terminal.
LAX economy lot: $12 per day. Close-in central garage: $30 per day.
DFW remote / economy parking: $9 per day. Close-in garages: $22 per day.
ATL economy lots: $9 to $12 per day. Close-in garages, walk to terminal:$16 per day.
SEA: no economy rate. Close-in garage: $28 per day, $35 for "terminal direct" level.

I only resort to Sea-Tac on-site parking when I'm late for a flight. I keep a sheaf of ShuttlePark2 discount coupons (current deal: $9.50 per day, but it varies) in my glove box.

cblaisd

Need to park for the first time (around 7 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, returning on Saturday evening) at SEA and still find myself confused driving around the airport area.

Can anyone suggest parking that is both reasonable and very easy to find/get to coming from the south on I-5?

tatterdema

My personal favorite. http://ajaxparkingrus.com/coupon5.html

Keeps you out of the highway 99 mess. Cheap. Friendly, reliable service. I wouldn't count on it in the winter if there is any ice or snow though, as it is a very steep hill.

cblaisd

Thanks. But I have to say I'm a little frustrated. The "online reservation" is actually an email link; when you use it to email them with requested dates/times, you immediately get back an autoresponder that says "this is not a confirmation" and tells to call them.

Uh, no. I do stuff online precisely so I don't have to use the phone.

samplat

Check out Thriftyparking.com as a potential option. It's operated by Thrifty car rental. I have parked there for several years and never had any issues. Their regular rate is around 13.95/day and prepay rate is around 9.99/day which is a decent rate. Shuttle service is quite reliable and frequent. Sometimes the website also has coupons you can use to get a discount.

Also, I don't know if this is still being offered but the local Costco was selling Wally Park gift cards regularly at one point. Something like $100 in gift cards for $50.

evergrn

Am I correct that only Seatac, Wally and Masterpark offer covered garage parking? Every time Seatac comes out with a parking coupon, they turn out to be the cheaper option than either Wally or Masterpark... I presume that means on-site garage is the cheapest covered parking option at Seatac.

I don't even bother looking up Masterpark because I just assume their garage is even pricier than Wally Premier Garage. I just had a 2-day trip and the Seatac pkg came in at $38 with coupon, Wally garage $36 after the AAA discount. But you tip a couple bucks to the driver each way, so it comes out to $40 total at Wally. I just wish Wally and Masterpark would price themselves more competitively.

Also took a 2-wk trip over New Year's. For such a long trip, I was even open to outdoor parking. I looked at Doug Fox, Thrifty, Ajax, etc. Interestingly, the cheapest options by far were the stay, park and fly packages at a couple of the hotels. I did the 2-wk package at Doubletree and saved ~$50 over the cheapest off-site lot (price of hotel room included!). Comparing Seatac's coupon price vs Wally garage's AAA price over a 2-wk period, Seatac was still cheaper.

Seattlenerd

Around the first of the year, WallyPark Premiere Garage raised its daily parking rate for covered self-parking. It went up from $14.95/day to $15.95/day (less a 20% AAA discount if you qualify).

Plus all the usual fees and surcharges that are either taxes or WallyPark-specific.