DAL Raising Parking Rates

Parking rates at Dallas Love Field airport will increase $1 to $4 a day under a plan approved by the City of Dallas Wednesday as airport leaders grapple with overcrowded lots heading into the busy summer travel period.

The city council unanimously approved plans to raise parking rates between 7% and 44% at Dallas Love Field, pushing passengers into higher-priced lots and encouraging them to find alternative methods to get to the airport for their flights such as ride-hailing drivers, taxis or public transportation.

The new rates will go into effect on May 27, the Friday before Memorial Day. The smallest increase will be in the most expensive lot, Garage A, the oldest lot, where rates will go up from $15 a day to $16 a day. The same with Garage C, the newest lost that is also close to the terminal. Garage B, long considered the budget lot, will see prices go from $9 a day for covered spots to $13 a day, and from $7 to $10 for uncovered rooftop parking.

That’s still a bargain compared to the daily terminal rate of $27 a day at DFW International Airport, but DFW also encourages drivers to book in advance with rates in the terminal of around $10 a day. DFW is also reopening its cheaper, remote lot. DFW raised its parking rates by $3 a day in October.

Dallas Love Field’s director of aviation Mark Duebner said the airport’s parking garages have been pushed to peak capacity during heavy travel periods such as spring break and Christmas. That congestion frustrates customers and creates lines around the airport.

Love Field’s parking hike will bring in about $5.7 million in extra revenue.

Raising rates is simply a way to balance the supply and demand of the 12,000 space parking garages, Duebner said in April.

“Revenue is really secondary,” he said. “I can tell you that our goal is to optimize our spaces so that we won’t run out.”

While Dallas Love Field’s passenger volumes haven’t quite reached pre-pandemic levels, the way that people travel to the airport has changed.

Fewer people are taking ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, and taxis, which have been short-staffed across the country and seen rising prices because of that. There are also fewer business travelers and more leisure travelers, who tend to travel in larger groups and park themselves instead of catching a ride.

“We want to price is to where the garages are nearly full,” Duebner said. “It’s really a question of as you raise the price, you will discourage people from parking.”