California’s Oakland International Airport (OAK) is offering free parking for passengers flying from the airport midweek between Thanksgiving Day and the December holidays.

To get the deal, which can save you up to $66, you just need to fill out an on-line form and download the coupon from the OAK website.

That’s not the only thing you can get for free at the OAK airport.

The airport website also has a coupon good for free rental clubs at Metropolitan Golf Links, located on airport property.

From now through December 31, 2010, Seattle’s Sea-Tac International Airport is offering a discount short term parking coupon for greeters.   Better yet: the coupon includes a 2-for-1 offer for coffee.

Any other airports doing something like this?  Let me know!

Find the Sea-Tac discount parking coupon here.

Airports around the country are expecting long lines and lots of extra travelers this weekend, but in Chicago, both O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport will be offering up some entertainment to help move things along.

To give travelers a taste of this weekend’s Chicago Jazz Festival, there will be live performances at both O’Hare and Midway on Friday, September 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. Look for the stages set up past the security checkpoints at O’Hare in Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and on the lower level Arrivals area in Terminal 5; and in the baggage claim area at Midway.

The Chicago Children’s Museum will also offer a workshop for kids at O’Hare’s “Kids on the Fly” play area in Terminal 2 on Friday, September 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Free parking in Tampa

And as Steve Huettel of the St. Petersburg Times reports, at Tampa International Airport airport officials have decided to continue offering free first-hour parking in both the short and long term garages.

“Currently, no matter how long drivers stay in the garage, the first hour is free. Under the new policy, it’s free only if drivers leave before the hour is up. Otherwise, they’ll pay $3 starting Oct. 15.”

Free is free though, and it’s good news that – for now – this perk is staying in place.

Saving energy in Portland

In Oregon, Portland International Airport has installed moving walkways that only move when someone approaches. Popular in Europe and Asia, the four energy-saving, auto-start walkways are in the pedestrian tunnels connecting the parking garage to the terminals and are said to be the first such walkways installed anywhere in the United States.

Having paid a small fortune recently to park in an airport garage for a few days, I was wondering about the bills some of those volcano-delayed folks would be facing when they finally got home and went to retrieve their cars.

So I was pleased to read Roger Yu’s USATODAY Airport Check-in column last night and learn that some U.S. airports are offering to refund the additional parking charges for passengers whose flights home got waylaid by the volcano.

So far, says Yu, JFK, Newark Liberty, and airports in Las Vegas and Denver have offered to refund the extra parking fees.  I bet other airports will do the same.  Good for those that do.

Let’s hope some British airports offer a parking refund as well. According to an article in The Independent, “[a]s many as 50,000 British travellers remain stranded abroad this weekend because of the volcanic ash crisis, some being told they face delays of up to a month before they can return home.”

Yikes!

It may be stressful traveling this week through the nation’s airports, but there are some freebies and special events being rolled out that you may find useful and entertaining.

In addition to the events we listed yesterday at Boston’s Logan International Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Airport, you’ll find:

Two days of free valet parking at Kansas City International Airport (MCI). To get a coupon for the free parking, fill out this form.

Through Wednesday, November 25, 2009, you can stop by any Travelers Assistance Info Booth at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and pick up a free children’s book, courtesy of Cheerios and The Spoonful of Stories program. The books include: “Junkyard Fort”, by Jon Scieszka, “Tea for Ruby”, by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, “Sleepyhead”, by Karma Wilson, “Ballyhoo Bay”, by Judy Sierra, and “What’s Under the Bed?”, by Joe Fenton.

And don’t forget that many airports around the country have opened on-site dog relief parks.  The latest to open is at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which now has a dog park with two sculptures by Doug Makemson of Commerce, GA, who says:

“The model for “Abby” was my beloved yellow lab, Abby, who was always willing to strike a pose. She had a full life and a mercifully rapid demise a few weeks after the sculpture was completed. She was the world’s best dog; I miss her. The sculpture is made mostly from parts of a backhoe and a bulldozer, and the stone is Gneiss, a type of granite, from an old quarry near Glade, Georgia. For me, “Abby” the sculpture will always make me remember Abby the dog, the most loyal friend I ever had.

You can see the sculptures – and a happy dog in the park – in this cute one minute video ATL airport posted to celebrate the opening of the dog park.

Happy Thanksgiving – more airport freebies tomorrow!

Then be sure to go the airport’s Web site and download a coupon for a free day of valet parking.

That’s a good deal.  But wait  – there’s more:  each time you use the coupon you and everyone in your party gets a pass to the airport’s Altitude Club, a lounge that has computer work stations, and complimentary snacks, soft drinks, local and long distance phone calls,  and wireless Internet access.

But after getting turned away from several near-the-airport parking lots one Christmas holiday I figured out the answer to “Do you have a reservation?” was “Of course!”

Even though the thought of making a parking lot reservation hadn’t ever crossed my mind.

So I’m glad that the folks at AirportParking are making an extra effort this holiday season to remind us that it’s a good idea to check prices, get directions, and make a reservation for a parking spot before you head to the airport. Their site helps: it’s got links, distance, and price information about parking lots near more than 100 airports. I checked the information for my city and was reminded by another users’ note about the discount coupons that put a valet lot in my price range. Thanks!

]]> http://stuckattheairport.com/2008/12/15/parking-ticket-check-parking-spot-oops/feed/ 1 http://stuckattheairport.com/2008/11/21/shuttle-bus-yoga-coming-to-airport-parking-lots/ http://stuckattheairport.com/2008/11/21/shuttle-bus-yoga-coming-to-airport-parking-lots/#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:44:29 +0000 Harriet Baskas http://stuckattheairport.com/?p=1490 Everyone seems intent on helping travelers stay cool and calm this Thanksgiving season.

Some airports are rolling out entertainment programs. In others, travelers will be able to take advantage of free massages, snacks and other services. Now an off-site parking company is getting in on the stress-relief action.

On Nov 25th and 26th, travelers parking at many FastPark & Relax (or Airport Fast Park) locations will find yoga instructors on duty in the shuttle buses to the airport. Depending on the day, shuttle-bus yoga instruction will be available from 9 am to 11 am in Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Houston; Miami; Milwaukee; Orlando; Raleigh, N.C. and Tucson, Ariz.

In general, there are plenty of parkers to go around. But with folks cutting back on travel – and trying to squeeze more out of their travel budgets – there are more open empty stalls at airport parking lots than ever before.

Maybe that’s why Nashville International Airport (BNA) is offering to accept off-site competitor’s parking coupons until November 15.

According to the airport’s press release:

“Valid coupons from any competing parking service will be honored and applied toward parking fees accrued when customers utilize any of BNA’s parking lots. Off-airport parking companies in the immediate vicinity of BNA are considered competitors…. Competitors’ coupons can be applied toward parking fees accrued in the valet, short-term, long-term and economy parking lots…”

Once the holidays are over, I predict we’ll see more matching offers like this at other airport parking lots. And then, it’s anyone bet when airports will adopt the grocery store idea of offering “double coupons” days. I’m all for it.

According to this article from the Star Telegram.com, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has equipped about 90 gates with an auto-docking system that allows some American Airlines planes to park at the gates without the aid of ramp workers standing there waving orange sticks.

For now, it seems, the laser-based Safedock guidance system will be used when thunderstorms, lightening, and other conditions make it unsafe for people to be out there guiding planes to the gate.

The system seems to be common in other countries, but still unique in the U.S. But with airlines and airports trying to cut costs any way they can, I wouldn’t be surprised if the self-parking airplane system takes off and the orange wand-people disappear.

That will be too bad. In a world where ticketing has become automated, flight attendants have become sandwich salespeople, and airplane pilots stay locked in their cabins, at least we could pretend that those ramp workers waving at the plane were actually welcoming us to town.