I’ve used that flyaway shuttle you mentioned a few times
I find it very convenient, actually. I seem to remember the parking fees were not too out of line, and it was certainly more relaxing, versus driving a car in heavy traffic, on the way to the airport
I work around airports and frequently have to go inside to see US Customs. Before 9/11 I just parked next to the terminal right by the door and ran inside to take care of my official business. After 9/11 I was banished to the regular parking lot and all of the traffic parked in front waiting to be pick up arriving passengers was also banished to the parking lots. Very quickly the people waiting to pick up passengers got irritated that they now had to pay for parking so cell phone lots were constructed. Every airport I have visited has them although some make you work harder than others to find it.
There are signs at the Boston airport all over the place telling you you can’t park your car waiting to pick someone up…you must park in the cell-phone lot. Since then I start to look for them.
I’ve never seen the Minneapolis one full, and it’s just a strip of maybe 20 spaces.
Yeah I just saw the signs. It usually took me 7 minutes to make the way around and back to the pick up zone. If planes were late, I go hold up at the nearby Super America for a while, then start driving the loop again at 7 minutes each. Then came the signs which made it easier and a place to park without having to go to SA where all the cab drivers were. I didn’t speak their language at SA.
Here in Northern VA both Dulles and Reagan have them. The one at Dulles is large but a good distance away from the terminal. The one at Reagan is very small usually overflowing into the access road but is close to the terminal. When at Reagan I park and stay in my vehicle at the engineering building which is even closer than the phone lot.
I suspect two things. One is that some airports are sensitive to the possibility that a free cell phone lot will affect revenue from paid parking. So there are incentives to limit the size and maybe advertising for cell phone lots.
Second, and depending on the airport, the surrounding land can be very profitable if used For something other than a free cell phone lot. I’ve seen cel phone lots moved around different parts of an airport for no apparent reason.
Last I hope they never get the idea to charge for being in a cell phone lot.
I wouldn’t mind paying if they had TV and coffee but then the cell phone lots might become soft targets instead of the terminals. Take thee protective action, son.
Well, guys, I did it . . . !
I printed out directions to the cell phone lot, left my house and drove there. It was no problem, if you know where it is. If I hadn’t printed out directions, I might not have found it
It was a small lot . . . I counted 25 spaces . . . next to one of the employee parking lots. But it wasn’t full. Not eve close. It was near the airport, not at the airport. I brought some car magazines to read while I waited. After a while, I felt the need to relieve myself. I looked around, and the only thing available was a port-a-potty . . . the type used at construction sites. It was truly evil. Thankfully, I only had to do #1. For that reason alone, I recommend against using that particular cell phone waiting lot.
I arrived a few minutes before my mom’s plane was scheduled to land. I actually saw her plane on the landing approach, right before touchdown. But then it took her 1-1/2 hour to call me. Apparently customs and immigration was pathetic. She said only half of the booths were occupied. You’d think at a major airport, with big planes landing every minute or so, they would be at full capacity . . .
The only positive thing is that I saved a few bucks on parking fees.
But once I drove to the airport to actually pick up my mom, it was the usual chaos. It was so jam packed, I literally could not find a spot to pull over, so that my mom could load her suitcase. I had to be a complete jerk and stop right in front of a taxi. We quickly loaded up, and were on our way. The taxi driver called me a name, but all in all I only inconvenienced him by about 15 or 20 seconds.
The only advice I can give is . . . avoid driving to the airport at all costs. Take a shuttle bus, flyaway, etc.
Off topic here, but if I’m flying to LA I avoid LAX if at all possible. Long Beach has a nice little airport.
But it sounds like your mother was coming internationally. Maybe Ontario or John Wayne?
Are you Twin Cities guys aware of the new viewing area inside the airport perimeter? It’s between the two parallel runways, near the crosswind. Pretty neat. You actually drive through a tunnel underneath the westmost parallel to get to it. You can also wait there, and the view is a heck of a lot better than at Post Road.
You’re a good son, and thank you for sharing your porta potti experience. I usually carry hand sanitizer just for such occasions. Makes me feel better anyway.
Even though the porta potty experience was revolting . . . there wasn’t a problem washing my hands
Outside the porta potties was one of those plastic portable faucet/sink contraptions, like the ones you see at pick a part. I pumped the foot pedal a few times and water came out, and the soap dispenser was actually nearly full. It was a clear dispenser, so I could see the level. And even the c-fold type paper towel dispenser was okay. I pulled out a few and dried my hands. Then I opened the top to take a peek. It was more than 1/2 full. But the trash can was more than 50’ away . . .
Those guys that have to service those “facilities” . . . I hope they pay them very well. Because they deserve it. But clearly they need to allow them to service them much more frequently
If they wanted to put in some real and permanent facilities, they’d have to cut through a bunch of concrete, lay some electrical conduit and water/sewage pipes. But if you consider that “they” call lax a world-class airport, there’s really no excuse for the lack of a real restroom. Even if it’s just a small and basic one.
To keep it slightly car-related . . . during the time I was there, I did see a bunch of people come and go. The concept works, but only on a small scale. If they really advertised the existence of the cell phone lot, it would probably be full most of the time
The small cell phone lot was right next to a huge parking lot. I believe it was an employee parking lot, because I constantly saw “employee parking” buses coming and going. So they probably just reapportioned part of the employee parking lot, and called it the cell phone waiting lot.
I’m just kidding most of the time. I’ve been at LAX once and it was very confusing. Need two people-one driving and one reading the signs.
Last time I picked someone up at the airport I signed up for a service where they call you when the plane is about to land. Or maybe they text you. Then I parked in that cell phone area and waited for the text, at which time – a little timing strategy is needed here to make sure you allow time for them to pickup their luggage and get to the pick-up area – I drove over to pick up the arriving party. Worked nicely.
It’s been long enough ago I forget how exactly I did it, but it was free. Probably on the airline’s website.
Even if the airport doesn’t have a cell phone lot, there are lots of hotel lots within a few miles and you can wait there. Just use your creativity and look around. If you are 2 miles away, that’s close enough. Or a McDonald’s lot, or a Wal-Mart lot. They have rest rooms or a cup of lousy coffee while you wait.
A lot of the time when I need to pick some one up at the airport I use one of the flight trackers available on line. I know that if it’s going to take me 30 minutes to get there I leave the house when the tracker shows the flight 30 out. Minimum waiting for both myself and the arrivals.
Off topic here, but if I'm flying to LA I avoid LAX if at all possible. Long Beach has a nice little airport.
There are two airports near me (Boston and Manchester NH). When I fly for business I have them fly me out of Manchester…when we fly for personal use…we fly out of Boston. Sometimes as much as $200/ticket difference. And we’ll take a shuttle service (Flightline) to the airport. Lot easier then parking or paying the $60+/day to park.
Airport choice is a matter of convenience. When I fly to LA, I always use LAX. I used to travel there for business and my work was just off airport property. Flying anywhere else would have meant a long drive. Any other LA airport would also mean changing planes. If @db4690 's mother was flying from Europe, she might have gotten a nonstop flight to LAX, but may well have lad to change planes once or twice to fly to the small airports. I’ve also flown to John Wayne and Ontario, and I always had to change planes from the East Coast.
The first one offered for Sea-Tac airport was more out of the way and I think that you mostly knew about it from the website or from the news stories. The Current one has been there for about 10yrs and is much bigger with better signs directing you in while being within sight of the terminal. But we mainly used it to pick up my dad returning from a work trip. Now for the most part we just pay for the airport shuttle rather than have someone waiting at the airport.