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November 28, 2005
Why I pay more to park at the airport
For years I parked at the Jet Motel when flying out of Sea-Tac Airport. It looked a bit dumpy, but it was cheap and the staff was friendly. The only annoyance was the form I had to fill out every time I parked: name, address, phone number, date of return, make, model, color and license plate of car.
Many times I suggested that they create a Frequent Parker’s card, or a customer account number, so that I wouldn’t have to spend so much time filling out paperwork when trying to catch a flight. They never did.
When MasterPark opened nearby, they looked good: they had multiple lots and slick graphics, uniforms, and buses. They were also more expensive than the surrounding lots. I was happy to stick with the dumpy little motel and save a couple of bucks a day.
Then a colleague drove and took us to MasterPark. We stepped out of the car, our bags were whisked to the bus, and a uniformed attendant asked what day we planned to return. He then handed us a ticket and pointed us to the bus with a “have a nice flight!”
I haven’t filled out the Jet Motel’s form since. MasterPark looks great, but it was the customer experience that sold me. And the tragedy is that Jet Motel could have done the same thing at almost no cost. They don’t need handheld wireless terminals and remote printers. A paper file with my account information would have been enough to avoid the annoying form and keep my business.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at November 28, 2005 07:00 AM
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Comments
I've parked at the Orlando Airport and at the parking area nearby, and haven't had to fill out a form. That's kind of weird, IMO.
On the train back from the airport last time I flew out of Atlanta, another dude on the train said it was $12 per day. Compared to $3 per day at the train station on the other end of the city, that's criminal, especially if you live in the north end of the city, as I do. Covered parking, no traffic to or from the airport, no waiting for airport trams, all for $3 per day.
I'm prepared to pay for convenience. Just not that much.
Posted by: Josh Cohen at December 5, 2005 06:28 AM
I used to use Ajax for my SeaTac parking, but I felt that my car wasn't really safe, the customer service was horrible, and I had to walk their lot (usually to the back) to park and pick up my car myself.
When I switched to MasterPark (the bright, clean lot convinced me to try them), the customer service was stellar, my car was parked for me when I dropped it off, my car was waiting up front for me when I got off the shuttle on my return - and all that for the same price as Ajax!
My wife and I are about to go on vacation - want to guess where our minivan will be?
Posted by: John Moody at February 8, 2006 05:53 AM
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