LAX BEGINS VALET PARKING TO ENHANCE CUSTOMER SERVICE
Daily Valet Service Fee Waived for Alternative-Fuel Vehicles To Promote Use of Low-Emission Vehicles
(Los Angeles, California – May 10, 2006) Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) today begins valet parking service in the Central Terminal Area as the airport's latest innovation in customer service.
The valet parking lot is located across from Terminal 4 on the Lower/Arrivals Level and serves Terminal 4 (American Airlines and American Eagle), Terminal 5 (Delta, China Southern and Aeromexico), and the more than 35 airlines in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The valet parking lot is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The daily rate in the valet parking lot is $38, which includes the regular $30 daily parking fee charged for Central Terminal Area parking, and an $8 daily valet service fee. Vehicles may park in the lot for up to 30 days. For travelers who wish to valet park for less than 24 hours, a rate of $10 per hour or any fraction thereof applies, up to a maximum of $38 per day.
To encourage the use of zero- and lower-emission vehicles, airport officials are waiving the daily valet service fee for vehicles displaying a state-issued sticker allowing the use of freeway carpool lanes. Drivers of these alternative-fuel vehicles can park in the valet lot for just the $30 daily Central Terminal Area parking rate. NO valet service fee will be charged.
To use the lot, an air traveler simply drives into the valet lot, turns over his vehicle to an attendant, and receives a receipt. Upon returning to the lot, the air traveler turns in his receipt and an attendant retrieves the vehicle. To expedite the service, passengers can call the valet service upon landing at LAX and their vehicles will be waiting for them when they arrive at the lot. Customers pay the attendant directly, eliminating the need to wait in parking structure exit lanes to pay parking fees. Cash and major credit cards will be accepted for payment.
“Many travelers who regularly park in the Central Terminal Area parking structures want greater convenience and service when they travel through LAX," said Lydia Kennard, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the city department that owns and operates LAX and three other Southern California airports. "The valet service is one of a number of near-term initiatives currently underway to increase customer satisfaction at LAX.”
The new valet service will operate as a pilot program that could be expanded to parking areas serving other terminals. Airport officials also are studying the feasibility of adding other services including airline skycap service and issuing boarding passes at the valet parking lot.
More than 70,000 vehicles enter the airport's passenger terminal area each day. Last year, more than seven million vehicles parked in the Central Terminal Area parking structures. Airport officials believe a portion of them will pay extra for the convenience of having their vehicles close to their terminals and avoiding the wait in the exit payment lanes at the other parking facilities.
Valet parking is one of the customer service improvements recommended in a J.D. Powers survey of customer satisfaction at LAX conducted in 2005. Such a service has been well received at airports where it is currently offered, with customers responding positively to the enhanced service. Other U.S. airports that offer valet parking services include Dulles International (Washington, D.C.), San Francisco International, Oakland International, McCarran International (Las Vegas), Bob Hope Airport (Burbank), John Wayne Airport (Orange County), and Charlotte-Douglas International (North Carolina).
