LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO BEGIN VALET PARKING
(Los Angeles, California – May 3, 2006) Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) today announced valet parking service in the Central Terminal Area will begin May 10. The valet parking lot will be located across from Terminal 4 on the Lower/Arrivals Level and will serve 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 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.
To use the lot, air travelers simply drive into the valet lot, turn over their vehicle to the attendant, and receive a receipt. Upon returning to LAX, the lot attendants take the receipts and retrieve the vehicles – or 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.
In order to encourage the use of zero- and lower-emission vehicles, airport officials are waiving the daily valet service fee for drivers of vehicles displaying a state-issued sticker allowing the use of high-occupancy-vehicle (carpool) lanes. Drivers of these low-emission vehicles can park in the valet lot for just the $30 daily parking rate. NO valet service fee will be charged.
"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.
Owners of electric vehicles may still park and charge their vehicles for free at electric-charging stations located in Parking Structures 1 and 6.
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.
