scdreamer

We will be on a month-long trip, departing from and returning to SFO in August 2014. We live about two hours from the airport - not sure if we can persuade (coerce) friends or family to drop us off and pick us up. The departure and arrival times are not the greatest.

Does anyone have any suggestions for really long term parking - without spending a ton of money? We've done the park-and-fly many times, I wonder if we can just do it - times two?

DebitNM

Have them drop you off at a time that works for them and stay the night in either San Francisco [take BART to airport or taxi] or stay at airport hotel. Has to be less money than paying for a month parking. Do the same for the return.

janisj

When I've needed long term like that at SFO I've booked the night before my flight and the night of my return -- since most of the park/fly packages are limited to 14 days (and I begged the hotels to allow an extra few day -- they went for it)

But that is because I wanted to rest up pre/post trip and didn't want to drive back on I-80 after 5 weeks of driving on the left.

What I generally do is pay for the gas and treat the friend to Lunch at Skates at the Berkeley Marina -- very easy off/on the freeway since we come from the NE.

Depending on where you are coming from do something like that. Generally in this part of the world folks don'r blink about 2 hour drives each way.

emalloy

Have you compared the cost of a limo/car service to the cost of parking for a month?

Katzgar

fins a friend near the airport for parking and take a shuttle.

AAFrequentFlyer

BART offers 1 month parking permits. The cost ranges from $30 up to $130 per month depending on the location of the station. You need to investigate which station would be most convenient and safe. You also have to purchase a R/T train ticket from the station to the airport.

http://www.bart.gov/guide/parking

scdreamer

AAFrequent - thanks for that info. I'm going to check into that option. Wondering about the security though; we've parked at BART near Millbrae and headed into the city for the weekend a few times with no problems, but have heard stories of break-ins.

emalloy - Have thought of looking into a car service - it may be the best option, but definitely pricey from where we live.

Unfortunately we don't have any friends who live anywhere near the airport, and asking family or friends to make the four-hour round trip from here to drop us off or pick us up, especially since we're flying in and out on weekdays when people are working and dealing with rush hour traffic, feels like too much.

spirobulldog

Maybe rent a car one-way 2X's. Sometimes the drop fees are high, sometimes they aren't.

janisj

I've done the one way car rental too - and even w/ high drop off fees it is cheaper than a car service/limo.

I've also taken the train to Richmond or Emeryville and BART from there

There really isn't an easy/cheap option -- except for a nice friend.

scdreamer

No one-way car rental options from where we live - we are rural, and it would be like making the trip twice each time to get the car, drive home to load up and then drop it off.

The BART option looks like a possibility. We also often stay at a park-and-fly hotel near the airport - I think I will call them and ask of there is some option for us to pay extra to leave the car longer.

Christina

YOu aren't allowed to use that monthly parking permit at BART to just keep your car there without moving it for a long time. In fact, you aren't allowed to park it without moving for more than 24 hours.

However, I think BART has a monthly airport parking permit where you can do that, but you need to make sure you buy the right kind. I think those spots are limited and you have to get there at the right time of day or they are filled. Look at this page on the right side to read about airport parking. https://www.select-a-spot.com/bart/

scdreamer

Yeah, I saw that when I looked at it. We would have to be there early enough in the day to get one of the monthly airport spots - and our flight leaves in the late afternoon.

Still thinking I'll check with the park-and-fly hotel. I don't see why they wouldn't let us do a back to back for a month - since they already allow for three weeks.

I heard about another option at SFO the other day, but haven't decided whether it's something I would want to do. You can leave your car to be used as a rental for other people while you're away. I guess the agency that does this must carry insurance. It sounds interesting, but not sure I want my car to be a rental while I'm gone.

scdreamer

Here's what I was hearing about:

https://relayrides.com/sfo-airport-parking

spirobulldog

So what happens when you come home and after a month your car has 6000 miles on it? What happens if they blow a tire? They have to replace it, and then your the one with the bill? The windshield is cracked. There are 5 extra scratches on it now. The car has been smoked in and they rode around with their dog.

doug_stallings

Actually, the way this service works is that if something happens to your car, their insurance pays. I just saw a story on this ... one guy's front fender was bashed in, and he was waiting to get it fixed by the company. Apparently, they do have good insurance. The company I heard about was called Flight Car, though I have no specific information.

And you can't do anything about an extra 1000 miles.

However, your car may or may not be rented depending on how attractive it is to renters, and if it is rented, you get a share of the payments. So you might park for a month and actually make $250 on the deal.

What I'd suggest for scdreamer is to look into alternative transportation. Depending on the location, there are buses, trains, etc. Get to the nearest bus or train station with friends and then take transit into SF or direct to SFO if BART.

You could also hire someone to drive you in their own car. Do you know anyone between jobs? Or someone with a college-age son or daughter? That would be cheaper than a car service. Pay $100 each way for 4 hours of drive at $25 per hour. That's a good rate and probably cheaper than long-term parking.

janisj

What part of NorCal do you live? (my comments were mostly about the NE corridor (Vacaville through Auburn). But There are very likely other options IF we knew where you were coming from. Up the coast ? upper Sac Valley Valley? San Joaquin Valley? somewhere else?

scdreamer

We're in a rural area in the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Santa Cruz - not really any great ways to get back and forth to SFO on public transportation (And, yes, I know we COULD figure out a way to get to the bus, then take the Hwy 17 bus to the train station in San Jose and then take the train to BART and then BART to SFO - but seriously? With baggage for a month-long trip? ... and how about coming home from Europe jet-lagged and trying to do it in reverse?)

It's a long drive to SFO and back for anyone - and another hitch is if our flight coming home is delayed - always a possibility and I hate for someone to have to come and get us at a different time than they planned.

In looking at the car rental options, it sounds intriguing. Some of them let you put limits on mileage and smoking, etc. They all seem to have $1 million insurance, so that wouldn't be an issue. Excessive mileage is my big concern - but my 2010 car isn't so new or expensive that a few thousand miles would freak me out.

Also - we have lots of friends who travel, so in the next few months we may be able to work out a trade for driving to the airport. We've done this before, but last time ran into problems (after we'd fulfilled our part of the deal) with a last minute glitch in our friend's schedule, which ended up being a little awkward.

Otherwise, I think we'll just suck it up and add the cost of a hired car to the cost of our trip, and stop stressing. Still plenty of time to figure it out.

I'm open to ideas in the meantime! Thanks.

MichelleY

We are from the Sacramento area, about two hours from SFO. In the past, we have either had family drive us or asked the park and fly hotel to extend our parking. Sometimes they will charge an additional fee for the extra time. It is worth asking.

janisj

Have you checked into these guys?

http://www.santacruzflyer.com/Rates.html

spirobulldog

Hitchhike and hope you get lucky