Rinky-Dink Denver Airport
Jan 13, 2005, 10:44 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Denver CO
Posts: 3,682
Rinky-Dink Denver Airport
Yesterday I went to DIA, dropping off a passenger and I also had to park to go into the terminal and do some business at a ticket counter. We got to DIA at 9am and there was some snow falling-nothing big, just a few inches still coming down.
When we got there on this midweek, mid-January morning, the signs indicated that all the garages were full, and indeed, when we got to the gate to get our ticket, the gate to the garages was shut. Now I understand that over Thanksgiving or Christmas there may be a parking crunch. But on a Wednesday in January?
So we went to the "outlying" parking, which is uncovered and a lot further away from the terminal. Trouble was, almost all of this parking there was gone too. We drove around and around, finally finding a parking spot several hundred yards away from the parking garages, way out next to the roadway that comes into the airport. I seemed to recall there were shuttles for these lots, but the only one we saw was meandering slowly way over on the other side of the lot, and since it looked liked we'd have to wait a long time in the falling snow, we dragged the luggage toward the garage and the terminal. Maybe 10 minutes later, we got to the covered garage, with our shoes soaked since the walkways had not been plowed or shoveled, and with our hair flying in the wind.
About 45 minutes later, as I took the long trek back to my car, a couple of drivers stopped to ask me how far I was parked, and one even "stalked" me back to my car to get my parking spot when I left. I concluded from this that these tight parking conditions aren't just during snowstorms.
What a rinky-dink, amateurish operation. One would think that in charging $2 an hour and $15 a day for parking in the garage, a cogent city would have enough to go around in non-peak hours. You'd also think that at $1 an hour and $7 a day, they could plow the outlying parking lot walking lanes and have enough shuttles to pick folks up in a few minutes. Maybe that's too much to ask-how about this: at least spend a few hundred dollars for a big sign that you can see from the other side of the outlying parking that indicates where to walk into the garage.
20 years ago, Federico Pena, the Mayor that built DIA, ran an election with the slogan: "Imagine a Great City". The joke became: "Imagine a Great City-Then Go There!".
When we got there on this midweek, mid-January morning, the signs indicated that all the garages were full, and indeed, when we got to the gate to get our ticket, the gate to the garages was shut. Now I understand that over Thanksgiving or Christmas there may be a parking crunch. But on a Wednesday in January?
So we went to the "outlying" parking, which is uncovered and a lot further away from the terminal. Trouble was, almost all of this parking there was gone too. We drove around and around, finally finding a parking spot several hundred yards away from the parking garages, way out next to the roadway that comes into the airport. I seemed to recall there were shuttles for these lots, but the only one we saw was meandering slowly way over on the other side of the lot, and since it looked liked we'd have to wait a long time in the falling snow, we dragged the luggage toward the garage and the terminal. Maybe 10 minutes later, we got to the covered garage, with our shoes soaked since the walkways had not been plowed or shoveled, and with our hair flying in the wind.
About 45 minutes later, as I took the long trek back to my car, a couple of drivers stopped to ask me how far I was parked, and one even "stalked" me back to my car to get my parking spot when I left. I concluded from this that these tight parking conditions aren't just during snowstorms.
What a rinky-dink, amateurish operation. One would think that in charging $2 an hour and $15 a day for parking in the garage, a cogent city would have enough to go around in non-peak hours. You'd also think that at $1 an hour and $7 a day, they could plow the outlying parking lot walking lanes and have enough shuttles to pick folks up in a few minutes. Maybe that's too much to ask-how about this: at least spend a few hundred dollars for a big sign that you can see from the other side of the outlying parking that indicates where to walk into the garage.
20 years ago, Federico Pena, the Mayor that built DIA, ran an election with the slogan: "Imagine a Great City". The joke became: "Imagine a Great City-Then Go There!".
Jan 14, 2005, 5:08 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA LT Gold; BA Silver; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,081
I had a couple of close calls trying to find a parking place at EWR before a flight, but I don't think it was a Wednesday on January. Eventually I gave up and used car services to and from the airport and off-airport parking lots run by independent companies. I used the latter sometimes even for meeting others flying in- at least I knew I could get a place and the shuttles ran frequently. In EWR's case, I think it was a victim of its own success and passengers who previously used JFK and LGA moved in. Denver doesn't have that excuse!