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What’s the best Philadelphia Airport parking facility to go to these days? My sister asked me this question lately while preparing for a family vacation to Europe. The family is traveling through PHL to Madrid on a 15-day trip, they reside in D.C. but my sister managed to ferret out more affordable tickets from PHL. They’re driving up to Philadelphia from Washington D.C. for the flight and intended to have their vehicle ready for them at Philly for some sight seeing when they returned. 

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is one of the busiest air terminals in the U.S. serving no less than 31 million passengers every year. With these many individuals passing through PHL, hoping to locate a random Philadelphia Airport parking spot by pure luck may not be a very good idea. Parking at the airport (airport-managed lots) is well-situated but far from cheap and the lots can very easily get full usually around the holidays.

To start off, let’s consider the on-site parking solutions. Definitely, the $300 15-day parking fee at the terminal garages won’t do, so we began browsing for budget parking rates. Budget parking at PHL is available at the lot close to Island Avenue. Still comfortably near the terminal with complimentary ground transportation that the airport supplies but at $11 per day, that is equivalent to $165 for a 15-day surface parking. My sister said we should continue searching.

Outside the airport, various commercial companies provide very attractive parking prices for PHL passengers. We checked out all the rates and reduced the choices to the Colonial parking lot on S Governor Printz Blvd and the ExpressPark lot on Tinicum Island Rd. Colonial charges a touch more (at $133 for 15 days parking) than Expresspark ($119), but it’s highly praised by many users so we considered the $14 discrepancy is well worth the great caliber of service in this location.

But, my sister realized that they might have to lodge at a nearby airport inn when they come back to do a bit of visiting in the city the following day - their return flight from Spain is due to land at PHL at 3:30 in the afternoon - too limited time afterward to stop by Philly’s landmarks and drive 2 ½ hours back to D.C. 

PHL Airport Parking on Squidoo

In that case, the best option is perhaps hotel parking, I said to my sister. She was concerned that it could get frightfully extravagant, but when I informed her that it’s can be the most efficient choice considering their travel specifications she agreed to look more closely.

Yet again, we did an appraisal of all the airport hotels in the area and simplified the choices between Ramada Airport Hotel and Skyview Plaza Hotel and Suites. The two hotels are situated very close to the terminal and both field round-the-clock shuttle services. There’s a substantial difference in charges though - Ramada’s room rate for 4 persons with 14-day hotel parking starts off at $189 whilst Skyview only charges $109 for the same combo. I called up a good friend who regularly travels out of PHL and had used Ramada in several instances in the past. She said Ramada is perfect in her past visits and the price difference is worth it.

Ultimately, my sister made up her mind to go ahead with Ramada for their Philadelphia Airport parking and needed to find out if she can get the 1 day parking fee ($7.95) for their 15th day of parking discounted from the total bill. I left her dealing with the hotel parking manager - that’s my ever budget-conscious sister, bless her. Looking forward to enjoying the family photos of the Almudena's interiors and the roasted suckling pig at Sobrino de Botín.