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Stay Up and Save: Better to rideshare or pay-to-park at the airport?

If you're catching a flight, is it better to order a ride or to drive yourself and pay-to-park?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you’ve got a flight and are going back and forth about whether to buy a ride to the airport or drive and pay for parking, we’re here to help you.

Of course, things tend to fluctuate depending on the time of day when it comes to using rideshare apps, and with cabs, you’ll generally be paying by the mile (unless you find a service with a flat airport rate).

But we did the experiment from Downtown Jacksonville, about a 20-minute ride to the airport, using Lyft and Uber apps to get a general price.

The trip to the airport is right under $20. We rounded up to $25 to account for a tip if you’re so inclined.

That means a $50 round trip ride from the airport and then back home when your trip is over.

Then we researched various lots around the airport. There are private companies that handle various types of parking, and then shuttle you to the terminal. But the cheapest lot we found was the Economy Lot 3 on Jacksonville International Airport property. It is $5 per day, and of course, has a shuttle that will bring you directly to the terminal.

So if you chose the most economical lot to park, you’d have to be gone 10 days to get to $50 for parking, which would equal the rough estimate of the cost to get a ride.

We also found that at the airport lots they offer free battery charging, tire inflation and car location assistance. 

All some pretty interesting perks if you do happen to be gone a long time and the car needs some TLC, or you just come back to find a pesky flat tire or dead battery.

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