Thanks for all the responses. I did read somewhere that a lot of airports photograph your plate as you drive in for the purposes of people who lose their ticket, though I wasn't suggesting that I would do that. AFAIK, there was a cap maybe 5 yrs ago. He said he parked at a private lot and paid $75 flat fee, then on the way in saw that the short term had a sign saying "$50 maximum".

I'll just stick with the park/sleep/fly hotel option