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Old May 3, 2013, 1:32 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: RichardInSF
Short term parking:
ParkSFO
Pros:
  • Generally highest rated by FTers
  • Fast and regular shuttles
  • Quick & easy access from 101 freeway
  • Register for emails to receive monthly coupons
  • Coupons for 1 free with 3+ days, 2 free with 5+ days, 3 free with 7+ days, and 4 free with 9+ days parked in a single stay.
  • Coupons are blacked out during Thanksgiving, Xmas, and other peak periods
  • www.parksfo.com/coupons/
  • June 2013 Coupon
Cons:
  • Often full or forced to valet at higher rate
  • More expensive than other off-airport options, especially if no coupon
  • Reservations required or risk likely being turned away at entry
  • Price listed online does not include tax and fees (which is around 16%)



QuikPark
Pros:
  • Online reservations
  • Relatively cheap
Cons:
  • must prebook online for best rate and bring printout to give to attendant
  • Slow shuttles
  • Even with a reservation, sometimes fill up and hard to find a spot
    (note: if you book on-line and the lot is full, they will find you a space-you will be stopped at the gate but all you have to do is show them your pre-paid receipt)

Burlingame Airport Parking (ParkBAP)
Pros:
  • Consistently one of the cheapest, especially for weekly rates.
  • Generally do not have to prebook to get the best rate.
Cons:
  • 3 shuttles an hour only, and a bit slower than average due to distance. Try to arrive at or before :00, :20, or :40 to allow a few minutes wait.
  • September 2013: For pickups late, I feel the turnaround times are more consistent with 2x per hour for the shuttle. No posted change, however.
  • Poor ratings (see yelp)


Anza
Pros:
  • With Burlingame Airport Parking, the only parking South of airport (Other than BART)
  • Easy access dropoff, not so easy to get back on freeway (S-101)
  • Valet is free (no extra charge) when they are near capacity
  • Frequent parker program: Each 30 paid days yields a 5-consecutive-day park for free. Check in on facebook and receive credit for 1/2 paid day as well. (Note: This program has changed. It is now tied into the Fivestars card rather than a paper punch card.)
Cons:
  • When partially full, they require you use their free valet service, and this requirement varies from hour to hour. Be sure to have nothing valuable in your car!
  • Poor shuttle service for SFO arrivals at busy weekend/holidays (30-45min wait)
  • Need a printed coupon from their website to get the best rate

BART
Pros:
  • Free over the weekend (except the cost of using BART to the airport) and holidays, even as part of a longer stay
  • Online reservations for weekday parking
  • BART schedule is known well in advance
  • Pretty much guaranteed a parking spot
Cons:
  • Hard to use if you're trying to park or pick up when BART is closed for the night
  • Possibility of getting a ticket if you overstay your reservation
  • Can wait up to 20 minutes for BART in off-peak hours, or have to go to San Bruno and back to Millbrae during peak hours (or take a taxi for about $12)

SFO Long Term Parking and Lot D
** The shuttle buses look exactly the same! One says 'Lot D', the other says 'Long Term Parking' (likely no longer a concern? see below re: AirTrain)

SFO Long Term Parking
Pros:
  • Regular shuttles (not the fastest, not the slowest)
  • AirTrain blue line now goes to Long Term Parking (no more bus shuttles) but makes quite a number of stops before reaching the domestic terminals
  • Sometimes if the normal area and Lot D fill up, you'll get a voucher to use the short-term parking at long-term rates
  • Covered Parking in the garage - it gets full at peak times

Cons:
  • Expensive
  • However, current promo is $12/day for 3 days prepaid online (and the rate decreases for additional days)

SFO Long Term Parking Lot D
Pros:
  • Sometimes if the Long Term Parking area and Lot D fill up, you'll get a voucher to use the short-term parking at long-term rates
Cons:
  • Expensive

    Tips for Long Term Parking and Lot D
    • Park near Stop 5 in Long Term Parking and you are the first off the bus and out of the parking lot!
    • Although the signs will indicate that a floor is full, I am often able to find a spot on these floors.
    • Airtrain station is on level 5 of the garage

    Month or longer parking:
    Someone who's done this please add experiences - I (rob_flies_ua) would just pay for a shuttle or car service at this point. unavaca recommends taking Uber in this case.

    AirportParkingReservations.com coupon:
    $5 off: FBFRIENDS415
    EXPIRES 12/31/16 @ 11:59 PM PST Coupon Valid Online Only
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Old Dec 23, 2023 | 11:22 am
  #466  
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From the SFO website :

Book your SFO parking online to take advantage of this special offer, available for garage entries between December 14 and January 2:*

Long-Term Parking: Stay 10+ days at $20/day

* This special rate is only available through our online booking system for garage entries between December 14, 2023 and January 2, 2024.
I just booked 9 days at BART for $24 (plus $10 return for the train), so they still aren't exactly competitive...
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Old Dec 23, 2023 | 11:32 am
  #467  
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Originally Posted by docbert

I just booked 9 days at BART for $24 (plus $10 return for the train), so they still aren't exactly competitive...
I would be reluctant to leave my car at BART for 9 days, even with this cheaper price. But that's me.

Cheers.
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Last edited by brp; Dec 23, 2023 at 6:00 pm
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Old Dec 23, 2023 | 1:21 pm
  #468  
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Originally Posted by docbert
From the SFO website :



I just booked 9 days at BART for $24 (plus $10 return for the train), so they still aren't exactly competitive...
no, they arent and one is much safer
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Old Dec 23, 2023 | 5:45 pm
  #469  
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Originally Posted by Boraxo
no, they arent and one is much safer
I'll bite. Which is safer?

Yes, BART parking isn't perfect, but the stations on the peninsular are significantly better than others in the system. SFO airport parking also isn't without it's issue - there's been numerous reports of vehicles being stolen, broken into, wheels stolen, caught on fire, etc.

My car has spent collectively months of nights at Millbrae/San Bruno BART stations as airport parking, and I've never had any problems. Of course that's just one datapoint so hardly meaningful - but at a saving of >80% that's a fairly significant amount of money saved!
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Old Jan 25, 2024 | 8:20 pm
  #470  
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FYi. I had booked a pre-paid Long Term Parking at the airport, and because *reasons* we ended up taking BART instead. I emailed customer service and they refunded my parking with no issues. So thats nice.
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Old Jan 26, 2024 | 8:41 am
  #471  
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Originally Posted by returnoftheyeti
FYi. I had booked a pre-paid Long Term Parking at the airport, and because *reasons* we ended up taking BART instead. I emailed customer service and they refunded my parking with no issues. So thats nice.
Great to hear! Rare that companies are willing to do this anymore. Looking at you PGE that wants to charge me estimated rates for power that are 10x what normal usage is because their meter stopped connecting to their network and they won't come out and manually read it.
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Old Jan 27, 2024 | 8:36 am
  #472  
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Originally Posted by returnoftheyeti
FYi. I had booked a pre-paid Long Term Parking at the airport, and because *reasons* we ended up taking BART instead. I emailed customer service and they refunded my parking with no issues. So thats nice.
Originally Posted by SamirD
Great to hear! Rare that companies are willing to do this anymore.
Note that you can cancel until two hours before arrival, and with four hour grace period on entry (and setting arrival time accordingly), theres usually plenty of time to cancel unless one forgets about it entirely.
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Old Jan 27, 2024 | 9:05 am
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Originally Posted by econ
Note that you can cancel until two hours before arrival, and with four hour grace period on entry (and setting arrival time accordingly), theres usually plenty of time to cancel unless one forgets about it entirely.
Great terms!
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Old Feb 29, 2024 | 3:28 pm
  #474  
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SFO Long-Term Parking

There are two parking structures at SFO long-term parking; one is connected to AirTrain while the other is closer to the main entrance.

Questions:
1) The last handful of visits during the past 2-years I noticed the parking structure with the AirTrain has orange cones to block off ingress into lot. However, there are cars parked in there and I have noticed, while walking by it, there were parking spaces available. How does one get access to this parking structure?

2) The parking structure, near the entrance, doesn't allow access to parking level 5. It is coned off while traveling up the circular ramp. I see cars park there and there are at least 90% of slot free (at least from the handful of times I been there). How does one get into level 5?

3) Parking structure near entrance: the circular exit ramp blocks off access to all levels; one has to exit the building and circle back into the parking building. Are there other ramps that can go between floors?
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Old Feb 29, 2024 | 3:58 pm
  #475  
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Just ran the numbers again, ParkSFO was cheapest for a 5-day trip and Anza was better for a 8-day trip. BAP (Burlingame) has many horrific reviews on Yelp so I can't see why anyone would park there unless they are retired with hours to kill. Westin/Aloft are decent though I am not sure if the shuttle service has improved.

I checked the SFO international lots but the price ($25/day) was absurd (even with discount) and the long term lot was also more expensive at $15/day. Does not seem worth it.
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Old Mar 1, 2024 | 5:22 am
  #476  
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Originally Posted by Boraxo
Westin/Aloft are decent though I am not sure if the shuttle service has improved.
Does Westin/Aloft offer parking without having an associated hotel stay? I have noticed in past few months that the Westin has been offering some pretty attractive rates (relatively small upcharge from standard rate) that include parking for a week or two.

Originally Posted by Boraxo
I checked the SFO international lots but the price ($25/day) was absurd (even with discount) and the long term lot was also more expensive at $15/day. Does not seem worth it.
LTP at $15/day is below average in last year or so.
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Old Mar 1, 2024 | 6:08 am
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Originally Posted by robchow
There are two parking structures at SFO long-term parking; one is connected to AirTrain while the other is closer to the main entrance.

Questions:
1) The last handful of visits during the past 2-years I noticed the parking structure with the AirTrain has orange cones to block off ingress into lot. However, there are cars parked in there and I have noticed, while walking by it, there were parking spaces available. How does one get access to this parking structure?

2) The parking structure, near the entrance, doesn't allow access to parking level 5. It is coned off while traveling up the circular ramp. I see cars park there and there are at least 90% of slot free (at least from the handful of times I been there). How does one get into level 5?

3) Parking structure near entrance: the circular exit ramp blocks off access to all levels; one has to exit the building and circle back into the parking building. Are there other ramps that can go between floors?
1) Complete luck of the draw. At some point in last 1-2 years they seemed to start to cone off certain garages and in some cases some entire levels in order to direct vehicles to specific levels where there was ample parking. Good news was that I didnt have to spend time circling the garage looking for a space. Bad news was that it could end up being a random floor in the old garage.

The few times Ive been there this year, the new garage (the one with the AirTrain station) and all levels were accessible. Seems occupancy is below average this time of year, probably not surprisingly.

2) Ive noticed the same ever since the old garage reopened. Thats a desirable level since theres no elevator ride or stairs needed to cross over to the new garage.

3) I actually havent noticed this. In fact, I thought Ive used it to exit to one of the lower levels without having to go all the way down to ground level, but not 100% sure. Im thinking of the ramp on the NE corner of the garage.
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Old Mar 1, 2024 | 7:18 am
  #478  
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$25 a day for the A or G garage is a fantastic deal, since you're on airport. Those garages are typically $36/day.

I like the theory of direct air train to LTP, but the reality is it's both more expensive and less convenient than ParkSFO. It's typically a pain to find an open spot, the spots are tiny (door ding city), there's often a long walk to the elevator and then air train station, and the ride itself is too long. ParkSFO is now super easy with pay-by-app.
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Old Mar 6, 2024 | 11:03 pm
  #479  
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What is the amount or percentage of fee does ParkSFO add to the listed price?
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Old Mar 6, 2024 | 11:18 pm
  #480  
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Originally Posted by Daytona
What is the amount or percentage of fee does ParkSFO add to the listed price?
I just booked a reservation today for 9 days. Total base rate is $170.55 (prior to discount) or $18.95/day. Not sure if the fees are all percentage or by day or flat in some instances. Fees listed are $13.64 for city parking tax (equals 8% of base rate), airport access fee (8.53, or 5%) and 3.41 fuel surcharge, which I assume is for shuttle (seems to equal 2%, but if this is to cover fuel for bus to/from airport, seems it would make sense if it was flat rate, but who knows?). I suspect the airport access fee is same everywhere and taxes are probably different somewhat based on location of the lot (Burlingame vs. Milbrae vs. San Bruno).
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