August 16, 2007
Effective Thursday, August 30, 2007 the Houston Airport System will change the parking rate structure at George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and William P. Hobby (HOU) airports. The new rate structure simplifies, slightly increases and holds the line on various airport parking rates.
As passenger traffic increases at both airports, terminal parking demand has also risen, at times affecting parking availability in the garages. The $2.00 rate change for 5-24 hours of terminal garage parking should alleviate some of the congestion. At the same time a number of customer suggestions indicated a desire for simplified hourly rates.
“These rate changes provide an optimum combination to satisfy market and customer service demands,” says Rick Vacar, HAS director. “On the one hand we have extremely high demand for terminal garage parking at IAH and HOU; at the same time we are responding to customer feedback to change our rate schedule to use whole hours versus fractions of hours.”
The rate structure will change as follows:
|
New Rates (as of August 30th) |
Old Rates |
|
Terminal Garage |
Terminal Garage |
|
0–1 hour |
$1.00 |
0–1 ½ hours |
$1.00 |
|
1-2 hours |
$2.00 |
1 ½ -3 hours |
$2.00 |
|
2-3 hours |
$3.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
3-5 hours |
$5.00 |
3-5 hours |
$5.00 |
|
5-24 hours |
$15.00 |
5-24 hours |
$13.00 |
|
Parking Cents |
Parking Cents |
|
0-3 hours |
$2.00 |
0-3 hours |
$2.00 |
|
3-24 hours |
$6.00 |
3-24 hours |
$6.00 |
These small changes are permissible under current City of Houston ordinances and do not require action from City Council.
After the minor changes parking rates at IAH and HOU will still be some of the lowest in the nation. Other airports comparable in size with IAH and HOU charge as much as $30.00 for daily terminal garage parking and $13.00 per day for economy-type on-airport lots.
Bush Intercontinental Airport also offers a free and conveniently located Cell Phone Lot. There, those expecting arriving passengers can wait for their party to complete the baggage claim process; when they have done so they can call them on their cellular telephones; and the waiting party can drive from the Cell Phone Lot to the respective airport terminal to pick them up. The money-saving Cell Phone Lot has proven to be very successful in reducing congestion and the need to use the terminal garages just to greet an arriving passenger.
# # #
The Houston Airport System served 51 million passengers in 2006. It is the 4th-largest multi-airport system in the U.S. and the 6th-largest in the world. Bush Intercontinental is the nation’s 9th-busiest airport. According to J.D. Powers & Associates, William P. Hobby Airport is first in customer satisfaction among smaller airports in the United States. HAS annually contributes over $24 billion in positive economic impact to the Greater Houston region. For more information watch Houston Airports Today every Saturday at 9:00 am on KTBU Channel 55 or visit www.fly2houston.com. | 
