chrisl137

There are at least three different parking FAQs/Ts&Cs, and they all have different information, which doesn't make it easy for you. A bunch of us waded through them when the reservation system started and it was more a matter of knowing it's there but hidden, and how LAWA has gone about hiding it. And some things, like the late arrivals TWA884 plans for aren't documented and were new to me (and were probably discovered by experiment).

TWA884

Please allow me to clarify. At the most, I showed up only about a couple hours after my reservation time. Once, when I showed up ~15 minutes early, I had to scan the QR code in the email confirmation, as the gate did not open when I approached it.

For what it is worth, the cameras are aimed to read the rear license plate, so it may take a few seconds for the gate to open after you approach it. That is true for both entering and exiting.

chrisl137

I normally make my reservations so that I'll be arriving early and take advantage of the two hour window in front. It usually opens for me automatically, so it was probably dumb luck that you had to scan in when you arrived early. The garages in the CTA are (or at least were) also different than the Economy Lot - I think at least at P3 and P4 you have to scan in and it sometimes reads your plate to let you out. I don't use them enough to be sure what's by design vs. what's just not working, but at least at first they had different instructions than the Economy lot.

Craig6z

SS255

I usually park at the Parking Spot, but their prices have gotten too high to justify for a weeklong trip (11/22-11/29, requiring 8 days of parking). So, I’m planning to pre-book the economy lot for the first time. I have a 5:30am flight on 11/22. Having never parked there before and being unfamiliar with the process and layout, I was hoping to get some helpful tips for the experts on this thread. I’m most concerned with experiencing “issues” that would potentially cause me to miss my flight. Is it easy to figure out where to park, and where to catch the shuttle to LAX? I plan to arrive no later than 4AM with the goal of arriving at LAX a little before 4:40, but could arrive earlier if it’s recommended.

Need

Parked for a week. It was great overall except there was no EV spot available at all at the Economy Parking structure. And I already loaded $10 into the PowerFlex app. When I pulled in, the entrance was coned off but a lady was standing there. I told her I had reservation and she opened up the cone to let me thru. She said the lot is completely full and I will probably have to park on the ramps. I circled around the EV parking spaces and all the spaces were taken and 30% of them were not even EVs. I finally find a parking spot on level 3. It is a good thing that I don't really need the charge to get home, but if you are driving something with lower range and anticipated/need to charge at the parking, it may not work out for you.

TWA884

I used to park at the Parking Spot and QuikPark, depending on which was cheaper, however I switched to the LAX Economy Parking for my last few trips. It's cheaper, it's considerably larger, the spots are wider and getting to and from the airport is much faster.

The Economy Parking buses wait for you at the southeast corner of the first floor, close to the elevators. The buses depart every few minutes. They get to 96th St. through the city bus center just east of the Vicksburg Ave. bridge. At the airport they use the lanes closest to the terminals, which are reserved for airport operated buses, so they don't get stuck in traffic. It took under 10 minutes to get to T4 (if I recall correctly from what your brother told my wife - they met through 23andMe - you're a United flier, so add two or three minutes to get to T7). On my way back, the bus had always been there within a couple of minutes; I've never had to call to be picked up like I had to with the Parking Spot. Because the buses take Westchester Parkway on the way back, the ride back takes approximately 5 minutes longer than the ride to the airport.

I must say that I've found the structure fuller every time that I used it, however, I've always found a parking space without having to drive around too much. Unfortunately, many of the EV chargers are not yet in service and there are non-EVs parked in spaces that do have operating chargers. So, if you need to plug your car to a charger, that may present a problem.

Currently, I don't ever see myself ever going back to the Parking Spot or QuikPark.

SS255

Thank you, TWA884. This is exactly the kind of information I was seeking. (And, I will be flying UA.). How fortuitous that I found myself needing to post in this thread so soon after my brother met your wife! Hopefully I’ll have the chance to meet you both in person.

I just booked using the SPOOKY10 promo code, for a total of $89. I don’t drive an EV, and will be mindful not to hog an EV spot unless no regular spots are available. It sounds like my future trips to the Parking Spot will be to burn my remaining points.

josephstern

I have been wondering if the private lots will end up reducing their prices now that they have decent airport-owned competition. And once the tram starts running, there will be an even larger advantage with the new economy lot.

Really interesting point there about the shuttle using that inside lane - I hadn't considered that. I'll be using the new lot in about a week and a half. Very interested to check it out.

SS255

I received a survey from The Parking Spot after my last stay. I complained about how much they’ve jacked up their rates in the past few months, to the point where I can no longer justify parking there for stays longer than 3 days. They gave me the typical corporatespeak about supply and demand (masquerading as corporate greed). That was before I caught up on this thread, and decided that I will probably give up on them altogether. Unfortunately, as more people (like me ) discover the Economy lot, the more “demand” to push up those rates…and the fewer open EV spaces for…EV’s!

chrisl137

My experience with the Economy Lot is similar to TWA884 's. I find it faster to get out of the airport and be on the way home than parking in the CTA lots because the bus gets to use the "express" lane. Once the people mover opens it will be even better.

A few things to add to TWA884's comments:
- Pay attention to the "available spaces" number on the sign as you enter but consider them approximate. The first floor has the most special spaces (EV, group) and it's not clear how they show up on the board, so if the number on the first floor is small, consider it full.
- If you're in a hurry it will probably be faster to go to a higher floor that's got a lot of empty spaces and park over the pickup area.
- Treat the available space indicators at the row ends and over the spaces as also approximate. Red probably is full, but sometimes they stay green even when all the spaces they cover are full. (All that said, I did score a 1st floor near the pickup spot on thursday when I followed a green overhead light)
- If there are no buses waiting, check the street on the other side of the walkway from the pickup area. It's rarer now, but construction has occasionally led them to use the outer curb for pickups and they don't always mark it properly.
- There's a video screen that shows the locations of the buses in realtime, and you can check it on your phone with this link (also in the Wiki).
- The pricing for prebooking is very dynamic and doesn't always make sense yet. If you're booking close in for a short trip, the non-LAWA lots become more competitive (I've had Sunrise be substantially less than Economy Lot when booking ~2 days out).
- I like to keep a printed copy of my QR code because it's quicker than finding the one on my phone if the license plate reader doesn't read my plate on the way out. Usually it does and I'll zip out past a line of people who are messing with the entry card and credit cards.

If you check over on the LAX Construction and Landside Access Modernization Program thread, the plan seems to be that once the people mover opens, all the off-airport lots will pick-up/drop-off at the Economy Lot (aka ITF West). The off-airport lots will probably have to do some combination of dynamic pricing and value-added services (e.g. car wash, valet that picks you up at the people mover so you don't have to take a shuttle, other creative things) to stay competitive. Around holidays the LAWA lots still don't have enough capacity and can fill up. The dynamic pricing of the Economy Lot also makes the off-airport lots more competitive sometimes already.

SS255

Thank you, chrisl137. I've already printed my confirmation with the QR code -- and I'll be printing out these posts, too. I'm hoping that an entry before 4AM will yield open spots from the night before -- even on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.

Need

For my visit, both in and out the license plate scanner did not work. I just scan the QR code on my phone. When I went in on Sat 10/22, all the spots were full even the roof. I circled thru all the floors from ground up until I found an empty one on the 3rd floor. The light seems to work pretty well. If you spot a green light, just make a bee line toward that.. because everyone else would LOL. I was too slow on the 2nd floor and car came in behind me got it. When I returned on 10/29, the first 3 floors were mostly full, but there were 75 spots open on the roof. I still see lots of cars parked on the ramp though. The ramps are super wide. You just park at the crossed out no parking section in an angle. IMO, it is actually not a bad place to park except the ground is not flat.

Those pink shuttles are awesome. There were a most 1 or 2 people at each terminal waiting for it. I looked at the LAXIT green column, it was packed full of people waiting.

happyevil

Darn I was too late on SPOOKY10 coupon code. Anyone know of a new coupon code by chance? Or is there some email subscription I can sign up for to receive these?

TWA884

There should be a pop-up box on the homepage of the LAX Official Airport Parking page for signing up to receive parking updates and offers.

A few of us regularly post the promotions when we receive them.