Dallas Love Field’s days as a bastion of affordable airport parking have come to an end as the airport sucumbs to a national trend of park-flation. Starting Oct. 18, daily parking rates at the airport are increasing by as much as 80% in some garages.
According to a city hall memo, ridership out of Dallas Love Field has swelled to nearly 18 million passengers annually, exceeding pre-COVID numbers. That increased traveler count has resulted in the airport’s garages consistently reaching capacity — a strain being felt by airports across the country. Demand for parking at Love Field could certainly warrant a new garage, but one is not in the airport’s immediate future due to its being landlocked with nowhere to build.
Garage A will see a 50% price hike, going from $16 per day to $24, and Garage B’s new $18 price tag for uncovered parking is an 80% increase. The covered parking in Garage B will be $21, up from the previous $13 — a 62% increase. The cost of uncovered parking in Garage C is increasing by 53%, from $13 to $20, and covered parking is increasing by 31% to $21.
Remote lots on Love Field’s property managed by Best Parking and the Parking Spot will also increase their daily rates to align with the airport’s prices.
One-hour parking for passenger pickup will remain free in Garage C. According to the city memo, even with the price hikes Love Field’s parking remains the least expensive of Texas’ airports. Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin-Bergstrom International Airports, for instance, increased their self-parking rates earlier this year, sending some garages’ daily rates into the $30s.
Although the pricing update is sure to elicit a groan from Love Field loyalists, the city memo didn’t bring all bad news.
Anyone who has ever taken an Uber from the airport has likely experienced the Odyssey-esque trek from the baggage claim areas to the Garage B pickup location. That walk has resulted in “extreme dissatisfaction,” the airport reports, resulting in plans for a new ride-hailing pick-up spot adjacent to the valet pavilion on the terminal’s southeast side. The new location could launch by January 2025 or earlier, and the airport is working to mitigate a traffic bottleneck.
