What to book before you fly — and what to skip
Some airport costs are fixed and some are entirely a choice you make at the kerb. These are the ones worth sorting out in advance, worked out from the real rates we track across 53 airports.
What our data says
We have full parking tables for 49 of the 53 airports on this site, and across the 22 priced in dollars the gap between the cheapest and dearest daily parking averages $101 a day. Parking is the single biggest avoidable cost at most airports — bigger than lounges, transfers, or anything else on this page.
1. Parking — book it, always
Drive-up rates at the terminal deck are the most expensive way to park at almost every airport we track. The economy or park-and-ride lot is usually a shuttle ride away and a fraction of the price.
| Airport | Cheapest | Dearest | Gap / day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇹🇼 TPE | $20 | $980 | $960 |
| 🇲🇽 MEX | $5 | $391 | $386 |
| 🏔️ SEA | $32 | $273 | $241 |
| 🗽 JFK | $6 | $75 | $69 |
| 🛫 LGA | $25 | $89 | $64 |
| 🦁 SIN | $0.65 | $57 | $56.35 |
| 🍑 ATL | $20 | $75 | $55 |
| 🗽 EWR | $21 | $60 | $39 |
| 🌴 MIA | $2 | $39 | $37 |
| 🐝 CLT | $14 | $50 | $36 |
| 🔔 PHL | $4 | $40 | $36 |
| 🏔️ DEN | $10 | $45 | $35 |
Calculated from each airport's published rates on our airport pages. This table covers airports priced in dollars — we don't convert currencies, so airports priced in pounds, euros or yen show the same comparison in their own currency on their own page.
2. The ride into town — check the train first
At the airports we rate highest for transit, a train from inside the terminal costs a few dollars and beats a taxi on time as well as money. Book a private transfer only where there is no rail link, you land late, or you are moving a family with luggage — our airport pages flag which is which.
Fixed-price airport transfer
Worth it where there's no train, you land after the metro stops, or you're travelling with a family and bags.
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3. Lounges — only for long layovers
A pay-per-visit lounge is rarely worth it for a short connection. It becomes worth it on a long layover, an overnight, or at airports where the public seating and food are poor — check the layover comfort score on the airport page before paying.
4. Data — sort it before you land
Airport Wi-Fi is free at most airports we track, but it often stops at the terminal door — and roaming charges start the moment you switch your phone on. A travel eSIM bought before departure avoids both the queue at the airport SIM counter and the bill afterwards.
Land with data already working
A travel eSIM activates before you land — no roaming bill, no airport SIM queue.
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Some links here are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend: the numbers above come from the rates on our own airport pages, and we say plainly when something is not worth booking. How we research →