Baltimore Survey Finds Americans Not Cutting Travel Plans but Seeking Ways to Save Money

March 24, 2009

BALTIMORE, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a survey conducted by Fast Park, an off-site airport parking company, 66 percent of its business and leisure travel customers plan to take the same number of trips as they did last year. Although they do not plan to cut travel plans, they are looking for ways to save money on those trips.

According to the airport parking company survey, almost 50 percent of travelers will reduce expenses over the next six months. Fifty percent plan to look for online deals, 27 percent will plan trips closer to home, 21 percent plan to shorten trips and 11 percent listed other ways.

Fifty-three percent of business travelers reported their employer has taken measures to reduce travel costs in 2009. Of those, 56 percent said their companies mandated specific cost-cutting travel policies; 54 percent said companies cut travel across the board; 38 percent restricted the number of employees allowed to travel; 14 percent established new partnerships with services in exchange for discounts and 13 percent reported other measures.

"It's clear most of our customers want to (or must) continue traveling despite current economic conditions," said Manuel Chavez , chief operations officer at Fast Park. "We're all affected by the current economy in one way or another. Many of our corporate partners are unable to reduce their travel and we understand their need to reduce expenses. We're working with these groups individually to develop bulk rate discounts whenever we can."

Fast Park offers exclusive airport parking discounts to its frequent parkers and corporate partners. They also provide online deals and coupons to customers at airportfastpark.com.

Fast Park Baltimore operates two facilities, a blue lot and a red lot, at the Baltimore Washington International Airport. Both locations provide a shuttle service that conveniently picks up patrons directly outside their car door. Each facility also provides added amenities such as, complimentary jump starts and flat-tire assistance, free bottled water, free newspapers, free luggage assistance and free kids activity books. In addition, the red lot offers oil change and car wash services. Airportfastpark.com offers a special online coupon of $6.40 per day, excluding tax, at the Baltimore airport parking facility.

Fast Park, headquartered in Cincinnati , is an off-site airport parking company operating 14 facilities in 10 markets throughout the country. Business units of Fast Park include Airport Fast Park, FastPark & Relax and Park Place . Airport Fast Park facilities are located in Albuquerque, N.M. ; Austin, Texas ; Baltimore (two facilities); Cincinnati (two facilities); Cleveland ; Memphis, Tenn. ; and Miami . A Park Place facility is located in Cleveland . Fast Park & Relax facilities are located in Houston ; Raleigh, N.C. , and Tucson, Ariz. The self-serve parking service is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with instant shuttle service transporting customers to their specific terminal.

SOURCE Fast Park