Tag: PARKING

He parked his car and they took it for a joyride

By Christopher Elliott |

It’s like a scene from the 80s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Minus the Ferrari, maybe. And the Star Wars soundtrack.
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Why won’t Econo Lodge pay my parking ticket?

By Christopher Elliott |

Even though Linda Troop pays for parking while she’s a guest at an Econo Lodge, she receives a parking ticket from the city of Aurora, Colo. Who has to pay?
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Locked out of the parking lot at Newark – can I get a refund?

By Christopher Elliott |

Cynthia Farmer/Shutterstock
Cynthia Farmer/Shutterstock
No one ever complains about airport parking lots because these businesses typically say what they do and do what they say. In other words, it’s a place to park.

So when someone does call me about a parking problem, I pay attention. Which is exactly what I did when I heard from Peter Gildenhuys, who recently parked his vehicle at an off-airport parking lot in Newark.

Getting it to the parking lot wasn’t a problem. Getting it off the lot? Problem.
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Sharing companies take over a share of the travel industry

By Christopher Elliott |

Radkov/Shutterstock
Radkov/Shutterstock
Instead of paying $18 a day to park at San Francisco International Airport last month, Daniel Denegre tried something new. He handed the keys to his Hyundai Accent to a start-up company called FlightCar, which offered “free” parking at an off-airport lot in Burlingame, Calif., and an opportunity to earn up to $20 a day by renting his vehicle to someone else.

“If I can find a way to reduce the burden of leaving my car at the airport and make it profitable, I’m game,” says Denegre, an independent film producer from San Francisco. Even though no one rented his car, he didn’t pay a dime to park. “To me, the convenience is amazing.”

But city officials have another word for it: illegal. In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, the San Francisco city attorney’s office said that FlightCar is running an “unlawful and unfair operation.” It says that the company, which is part rental-car company, part parking-lot catering operation, lacks the necessary permits to do business at the airport.
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Here’s why you should always take a picture of your car after you get a parking ticket

By Christopher Elliott |

Jkirsh/Shutterstock
Jkirsh/Shutterstock
I don’t know what to do about Clare Goyette’s case with the Philadelphia Parking Authority. I’m about to move her case into the “unsolved” file, but thought I would ask you before I did. Maybe I’ve overlooked something.

Goyette rented a car from Dollar on a recent visit to Philadelphia and parked the car along the 1900 block of Sansom Street.

“A city parking official assisted me with the parking kiosk and walked to my car with me and remarked that the receipt is to be displayed on the curb side of the car,” she says.
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Can this trip be saved? A full parking lot and a partial refund

By Christopher Elliott |

Gene Fayvusovich has a little parking problem, and he wants to know if he got ripped off.
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