Long-term airport parking may be your only option when you go on vacation if you cannot get a ride to the airport. You may also not be close enough to an airport to take public transportation such as a bus. Luckily, with long-term airport parking, you have the option of parking your car for a number of days without having to worry if you have parked in a place that will be legally okay for you to leave your car there for an extended period of time.
If you are going to utilize an airport's long-term parking, depending on the airport, they offer reasonable rates. Usually these rates are per day, and not charged by hours and minutes like most regular parking lots. For example, the San Francisco International Airport charges $14 a day at the time of publication for long-term parking. Some airports may even have a cap for how much you get charged if you are parked in the long-term parking lot for over a week, thus cutting you a break. Each airport is different and the rates may be higher at certain airports.
Because there is only so much space and because there are so many people going in and out of airports daily, it's hard to manage how many people will be needing long-term airport parking. Some airports may allow you to make reservations so you can know ahead of time if there is going to be a spot for you on the day that you arrive, but this is usually not the case. If you get to the airport and there aren't enough spaces in long-term parking, you may be forced to find another option, which may cause you to miss your flight.
Long-term parking lots often become a target for break-ins and car theft. Knowing that you will be gone from your car for at least a few days means less foot traffic to deter criminals from breaking into your car, or stripping it for parts or stealing the whole vehicle. Although some long-term airport parking lots are monitored by cameras, they are not full-proof, and experienced criminals can break into your car or steal it in a matter of minutes.
