Long cruise parking in Boston?

Can anyone tell me if they have any suggestions for longer-term parking in Boston. Or nearby?

We are booked on the Voyage of the Vikings for 2018 and would prefer to drive to Boston rather than fly. Would need 38 days of parking.

Suggestions?

Since you are looking for airport parking, there are many offsite parking lots that will be cheaper than the airport. You might want to try a call a hotel that offers park and stay rates and see if they can offer anything for 38 days.

Can anyone tell me if they have any suggestions for longer-term parking in Boston. Or nearby?

We are booked on the Voyage of the Vikings for 2018 and would prefer to drive to Boston rather than fly. Would need 38 days of parking.

Suggestions?

That's going to be pricey. However, there is long term free parking at several NH bus park/rides, but I don't think it's for 38 days. I will check. There is a Red Roof Inn at the Salem NH transportation center at I93 exit 2.

Call the Best Western Adams in Quincy to see what kind of price they could offer you. Basic park/cruise there runs $300. The last time I checked extra days were $10/day, so this could end up being a very pricey option.

That's going to be pricey. However, there is long term free parking at several NH bus park/rides, but I don't think it's for 38 days. I will check. There is a Red Roof Inn at the Salem NH transportation center at I93 exit 2.

 

Call the Best Western Adams in Quincy to see what kind of price they could offer you. Basic park/cruise there runs $300. The last time I checked extra days were $10/day, so this could end up being a very pricey option.

Unfortunately, the parking limit at Logan Expess bus stops is 21 days.

What is your budget for 38 days of parking?

Hanscom Field in Bedford MA also offers "free parking". I will try to find out if there is a time limit. I live near there and would have no problem recommending it as a place to "ditch" your car for 38 days. Basically it's an air force base and a civil air terminal for private planes with a visible security presence. Car Service or Uber to the Boston Cruiseport would be reasonable.

Unfortunately, the parking limit at Logan Expess bus stops is 21 days.

 

What is your budget for 38 days of parking?

 

Hanscom Field in Bedford MA also offers "free parking". I will try to find out if there is a time limit. I live near there and would have no problem recommending it as a place to "ditch" your car for 38 days. Basically it's an air force base and a civil air terminal for private planes with a visible security presence. Car Service or Uber to the Boston Cruiseport would be reasonable.

21 days at Logan Express? Wow, I've parked at Braintree for 24 days. Here's another idea, something DH is working on for our trip to England in April & May. Rent a car near home, drive to Logan and drop the car at the rental garage and then take their free shuttle to the terminal. When we return from England, shuttle to pick up another car and off we go. Return the rental the following day at a local site. Yes, DH is using corporate codes to keep the multi-site drop rate off the books and total cost well under "normal" rates, but they aren't that much less. Maybe will a little creativity, OP could do something similar.

Renting a car in CD and taking it into the US might be expensive and limited. Any chance of friends/family driving into the US and your renting a car in the states?

DH is looking at this due to the horrid experience we had with LXpress upon return from Europe in July. It was Sunday night, one bus per hour and the line to access the Braintree bus was huge, plus we were at Terminal E, end of the bus route. The driver said he would call a back-up bus, never happened, two hours later, we were sitting in each others laps for the ride back to Braintree. Many of us attempted to call Logan Express, but all we got was a recording of whre to locate the bus. A number of us attempted Uber, they would not pick up at the terminal, only the Hyatt, taxi was over the top to Braintree, and sharing with other was impossible due to all the luggage. Then the driver wanted our tickets - NO, I still have the 2 booklets of discounted tickets.

Darcy

I agree with the prior response. I'd book a pair of 1 way car rentals. Even at a place like Hanscom with free parking, an out of state (or country!) car parked there for over a month is going to attract attention. You'd have to arrange directly with a place like that to leave your car that long so it wouldn't be considered stolen or some other kind of risk at an air base.

I have emailed Massport to clarify how long cars can be left at Hanscom Field and will post back when I get a response.

Free parking, if available for 38 days, is free parking. Bedford Taxi offers a round trip to the Cruise port area in the $125 range.

Boston hotels are very pricey on a weekday night. If sightseeing in Boston is not an objective, staying in the Bedford area would offer options like the Aloft Lexington (2.5 miles from Hanscom) for about $150 tax included.

Thanks for all the replies and comments so far. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. I will look into the 2x1-way car rental idea (hadn't thought of that), but I expect, as suggested, it will be very pricey to another country. Maybe not even allowed.

And I may just drop the idea: It's just frustrating to have to check in 2 hours in advance of flight departure for a one and a half hour flight.

Thanks again for your comments.

Thanks for all the replies and comments so far. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. I will look into the 2x1-way car rental idea (hadn't thought of that), but I expect, as suggested, it will be very pricey to another country. Maybe not even allowed.

And I may just drop the idea: It's just frustrating to have to check in 2 hours in advance of flight departure for a one and a half hour flight.

Thanks again for your comments.

I you fly in the day before on July 19, I'm seeing the Copley Square Hotel on lastminutetravel.com for $192 plus tax cancellable. This is a great deal and is in the heart of Back Bay. Our daughter has stayed there and would recommend it. On Hotwire any blind hotel in the Seaport area will be OK. These properties are all relatively new by Boston standards (all new builds within 20 years except one rehab - several new within the last 5 years)

At this time we are booked with a package that includes return air and an overnight pre-cruise hotel in Boston (specific hotel not identified yet).

We are only looking at driving and parking in Boston because of the god-awful hassle of flying out of Pearson Airport (Toronto.)

As discussed in this thread, long-term parking in Boston is prohibitively expensive, and one-way car rentals from Canada into the U.S. (and return) are not allowed.

I sent a message to our package provider today to ask if they could delete the air and hotel from our package, and if so, how much the price would come down.

If the reduction is reasonable, I will pursue our last option which would be to drive from home down into the U.S., maybe Albany. Then rent a car in Albany for the drive to Boston, same day as embarkation (if we are allowed to leave our own car in the rental company's secure lot).

Then do the opposite on our return - rental car to Albany then pick up our own car & drive home.

Good luck deleting the air/hotel portion of your cruise package .

We booked the Holiday Inn Express Saugus MA with Bruce at Trinity Reservations . It was a stay park & shuttle (to the airport) deal From there we took an Uber one way and the express bus from the port. I believe it only came with 14 or 15 days of parking but it may be negotiable . They also had deals with other hotels that have different parking policies .The cost of our package was less then the cost of just the parking .

But why leave Muskoka in the summer (unless you rent out your home for big $$$'s .:D)

If Pearson is so bad (I know it is!) why not fly Porter to Boston? Easy access in Toronto, great product, lots of flights and good prices.

For those who tried to help with this, here's where I stand.

I have cancelled the air and hotel component of our package and got a very generous reduction.

My plan now - UNLESS SOMEONE IN THE KNOW TELLS ME WHY I SHOULD NOT DO THIS - is to drive our family car from Ontario down to Worcester and park it in the Worcester Regional Airport long-term parking. Then use a van or Town Car transfer to the Boston cruise terminal. And, of course, the reverse of that to go home.

It all works out well for me, unless someone on this board provides a good reason why I should NOT park at that airport.

Comments?

For those who tried to help with this, here's where I stand.

I have cancelled the air and hotel component of our package and got a very generous reduction.

My plan now - UNLESS SOMEONE IN THE KNOW TELLS ME WHY I SHOULD NOT DO THIS - is to drive our family car from Ontario down to Worcester and park it in the Worcester Regional Airport long-term parking. Then use a van or Town Car transfer to the Boston cruise terminal. And, of course, the reverse of that to go home.

It all works out well for me, unless someone on this board provides a good reason why I should NOT park at that airport.

Comments?

What is your estimated cost for all this?

I tried to contact Hanscom Field in Bedford MA twice, but they did not respond to my email inquiry. I didn't follow up further because I was away cruising for 3 weeks and didn't see any further posts from you. I think it might still be very worthwhile to pursue. I did find this phone number tel:(617) 568-5000 for M-F normal business hours. http://www.massport.com/massport/media/get-in-touch/

Worcester will work, but if Hanscom Field is doable, it is free and it's much closer to Boston. It is a civil aviation terminal and the second busiest airport in MA. It is adjacent to Hanscom Air Force base in an upscale suburban Boston area that IMO is a preferable location to leave a car than Worcester.

"Hanscom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. "

"Massport operates Hanscom to guarantee year-round efficiency with public safety andsecurity provided by the Massachusetts State Police, Massport Fire-Rescue,Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection"

I have extensive experience with the airport and have left my car there numerous times in the free parking area while taking regional flights. My husband kept a small plane there for a number of years. The airport is a very serious operation with visible security but is not really frequented by the general public.

Wow, it's tough getting information on the Massport website.

I wanted to contact Worcester Regional Airport to make absolutely sure there are no length of time restrictions for a parked vehicle. (Sure don't want to get back after 38 days & find my car towed away!)

If there's a contact phone number for that airport, I sure can't find it.

I tried to use th contact link to send an e-mail message and when I tried to send a question about this, once I composed the message & clicked "submit', nothing happened. So I don't know if the message was sent or not. Guess I have to wait 5 business days to see.

I'll wait a few days and see if I get an answer before trying the phone number for Hanscom...

Grrrr!

A further update: Perseverance pays off.

I was finally able to find a phone number for Worcester Airport and was told there are no restrictions as to the length of time I can park.

When I tried to call Hanscom field with a number I found on the Massport website, I got an answering machine, so I chose not to leave a message for now. But I do know for sure the parking is free there, so let's assume there's no restriction.

I got a taxi fare estimate online, and it appears it would be about $63 less (incl. tip) to take a taxi round trip between Hanscom and the cruise terminal than taking the shuttle van quote I have for travelling between Worcester airport and the cruise terminal. (I expect the taxi fare would be a little more on a weekday morning.) Of that, about $15 would be taken up by additional fuel cost & tolls for me to travel between home & Hanscom rather than Worcester.

Then I would save $231 - $238 on parking, so let's say net I would save a total of $280 by using Hanscom Field.

I then have to balance that against the aggravation of driving that 45 extra miles further toward Boston on a weekday morning and (less a concern) back the other way on a Saturday. I hate driving in that heavy morning turnpike traffic, which is one of the reasons I chose to consider parking and taxi from Worcester rather than rent a car somewhere around Springfield and drive into the cruise terminal area. I've heard horror stories about driving there!

I don't have to make a decision for another couple of months, so I'm certainly open to any additional comments and suggestions. Thanks for your ideas.

The Massport website is really uninformative. I did call and finally reached a very nice lady in the Airport Manager's office at Hanscom Field. Her boss isn't there today, but she will try to find out if it's possible to leave a car there for 38 days. She will also talk to the state police sergeant who manages the 7x24 State Police coverage at the airport. Hopefully I will get a call back this week.

I'm unclear about your morning timeline going to the pier. Where would you be leaving from and at what time? To get to Hanscom Field you would take I290 through Worcester to I495 north to route 2 East to route 2A east in Concord to the Hanscom Field entrance. At the height of rush hour there will be traffic on I495 and route 2, but later is better on these roads since they are not major routes into downtown Boston.

Found this number of Worcester Airport FB page about parking: 508-849-5550

The Worcester airport only has 2 commercial flights daily. I don't know if the parking is manned all the time, or just around flight times.

The Massport website is really uninformative. I did call and finally reached a very nice lady in the Airport Manager's office at Hanscom Field. Her boss isn't there today, but she will try to find out if it's possible to leave a car there for 38 days. She will also talk to the state police sergeant who manages the 7x24 State Police coverage at the airport. Hopefully I will get a call back this week.

 

I'm unclear about your morning timeline going to the pier. Where would you be leaving from and at what time? To get to Hanscom Field you would take I290 through Worcester to I495 north to route 2 East to route 2A east in Concord to the Hanscom Field entrance. At the height of rush hour there will be traffic on I495 and route 2, but later is better on these roads since they are not major routes into downtown Boston.

We hope to be at check-in for the cruise between noon and 12:30.

So transfer from either airport to the pier should be well past rush hour issues.

And return to the airport will be a Saturday morning.

No call back from Massport. I will try to call again.

No call back from Massport. I will try to call again.

Please do not spend a lot of time on this on my behalf. It's really not worth the effort, IMO.

Not to say I don't appreciate everything you've done... because I DO!

As I said in an earlier post, even tho' it will cost me about $250 more to use the Worcester Airport parking, It will keep me out of the worst of the Boston traffic, so, although I haven't made a decision yet (and probably won't until much later (we sail in July), I'm still leaning strongly toward the Worcester option.:D

Have you looked into any of the off airport parking lots near Logan? It just seems ridiculous for you to park in Worcester and have to deal with the logistics of traveling back and forth.

Have you looked into any of the off airport parking lots near Logan? It just seems ridiculous for you to park in Worcester and have to deal with the logistics of traveling back and forth.

Thanks for you comments. I did a quick search and the best parking deal I could find around Logan or close to the cruise terminal was the Holiday Inn Parking lot on Washington St.

It would cost me $360 to park there, plus about $50 for a taxi from there to the cruise terminal and back, so $410.

For the same amount (actually about $428), I can park at Worcester and let somebody else do the driving both ways between there and the pier.

Since I am coming from north of Toronto, it appears to me to be no more hassle to do that than to do what you suggest. Same amount of driving &/or being driven, same effort to park & transfer luggage... And for $18 more, I'm certainly prepared to let somebody else to the driving in Boston!

Again, thanks for the suggestion. It was worth a look.

But thanks for the suggestion

Sorry to report that such long term parking is not available at Hanscom Field, so it looks like Worcester Airport is your best option. So glad you didn't pick the Holiday Inn in East Somerville.

Could you report back on your experience? You are not the first person to ask about parking for the "Voyage of the Vikings"