Originally Posted by candaceg
Another fan of Qwik Park. I've even been parking there for business travel lately because the McNamara deck is full so often - and it really sucks to drive down there and find that out and then have to go find other parking... and the airport shuttles from the other lots don't run very frequently and drive around to three different lots. Even if you don't have the coupons for Qwik Park, the AAA discount is good. Their shuttles run constantly - sometimes there are two or three at a time in the pick-up area.
All of the off-airport lots have gotten more expensive because of the surcharge they have to pay every time one of their vans enters the airport pickup/dropoff area.
I've been using US Park on Middlebelt for several years -- but just learned that Quik Park, Airlines Parking and US Park are all owned by the same people.
I prefer not to park on airport property because it's hard to tell where the open spaces are and once I'm parked it's a *long* walk to anywhere....
At US Park they tell you what row to go to and within about 5 minutes you'll be picked up by their van. Assuming you don't have to check luggage, I would allow 30 minutes from the gate to the parking lot to the *other* side of security. I'd add another 15 minutes if I have to check bags. You might pick up a few minutes by parking on site, but that doesn't include the time to find a parking space.
All of the off side lots let you off in the lower part of the deck and there's a trick on the way home ... turn to the right and you get a down escalator. Typically, including a rest room stop on the way home I can make it from the gate to my car within about 20-30 minutes (maybe less) of when the plane gets to the gate and they open the door. Add a bit of time if your the last one off, have checked luggage, add some more if they lose it.
On the outbound leg, if you have to check bags, turn to the left at the top of the first escalator and NW has a nice check in area.
The only thing I don't like about parking off airport is having to scrap snow off my car... but we're already doing a lot of that because it's part of living up here.
Hope this helps a bit.
Bob H