I've heard that a few years ago, you could park at Chicago Midway for $50 in short term, and $75 economy lot, regardless of how long you park. You could leave it for weeks and your fee is capped at $50. (I think that price was mostly intended for people who lost their parking ticket, but long term parkers could also pay that rate) Are there any similar deals now?

I know the website says $50/day for the short term lot, but does that mean if I park there, I'll get hit with a $700 bill?? That seems a little crazy... they MUST have some sort of cap, no?

I plan to park for 2 weeks, and looked into the park/sleep/fly hotel option, but if I can get cheaper parking at the airport I would rather do that.

welcome to Flyertalk, qrx220
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I am moving this over to our helpful FT Chicago Forum. Please follow there.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Sorry, new to the site, didn't know I posted in the wrong forum. Thanks for moving it!

So anyone know about parking rates at Midway? Much appreciated...

I do not believe there is a cap any more, if there every was one in the first place. If you claim to lose your ticket, they'll want to see your flight confirmations for both outbound and inbound, and they'll charge you a one day penalty on top of it.

Park Shuttle and Fly over on 47th is only $8.75 per day for outdoor parking if you book on their web site and prepay.

i sure wouldn't try it!

google "airport discount parking" and see what the best rate is for off lot.

also try the hotel chains for park and stay. had to book one for my folks at SFO and could only find pricey ones on line. call hilton gave them the information and asked for the cheapest park and stay rate, they came in cheaper than anything i could find on line.

A cap on the cost to park somewhere in Chicago???? You're kidding, right?

The only cap is this: After a certain amount of time (at least a month), your car will be considered abandoned and then towed. Then, you will pay a towing fee and daily charges at the impound lot. Then, after some more time passes, your car will be sold to a junk yard for scrap. At that point, the parking charges will cease. That's your cap.*

I realize this is not applicable in your case, since you're only staying 2 weeks. But consider that if it says $50 a day, expect to pay $50 a day. The high cost is intended to deter people like you (long-termers), so as to allow ample space for short-term people (picking up or dropping off pax).

* Except that you will probably be charged interest on all of the charges you have accrued to that point, so on second thought I guess there really isn't a cap after all!

Note that they do drive around with vans and take pictures of all the license plates in the place a few times a day, then OCR the tape. I know they use it for booting, not sure, but would make sense that they'd use it to check the duration of your stay.

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