Today we have a guest blog post from a customer of ours who wanted to share her story about her last trip to Mexico and how our team, parking, and shuttle made a difference in her trip.
From Lauren M., who parked with us in June of 2018.
===================
Dear ParkDIA Team,
I was a customer of yours in June of 2018. I also like to write creative short stories, so I jotted this one down for you one night as I recalled the hilarity of my own disorganization and how you guys saved the day. I hope you find enjoyment in this story, too. Thank you for your superb customer service. I’m a customer for life.
Sincerely,
Lauren M.
How ParkDIA Saved Our Trip to Mexico
“That’s the exit!” I shouted at my husband John as I looked down at our GPS dot of a truck that was tracking along Pena toward DIA.
We were running late already. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering I was bolting through the house for the hour or two before we left, trying to cram every last possible baby gadget, piece of clothing, or gear I might need for our 10-month-old’s first trip out of the country.
Preparing for an international trip is intense by itself. Sure, I spent the previous week doing laundry, buying baby swim shirts, and reading every possible parenting blog trying to prepare myself for taking a Colorado baby to the beach. I felt ready.
Passports? Check.
Baby’s birth certificate? Check.
Carry-ons, 10 days worth of luggage, and airport information? Check. Check. Check.
Then there were the toys. Snacks. Sunscreen. Diapers. Wipes — enough stuff that it felt like 500 pounds of extra gear just for a tiny little baby. How was this even possible?
Despite feeling prepared the night before we were supposed to leave, I still rushed around the house grabbing very important items and shoving them into my backpack when I was really supposed to be in the car heading down to DIA. I know airlines don’t care if I needed to find the right pacifier so my son would sleep; they were taking off when they need to whether we were on the plane or not.
The craze finally settled around the house. I literally could not fit anything else into my carry on and we needed to get out of the door.
Well, we were late. Like 30 minutes late. We live in Greeley, so it was a pretty far drive to DIA, especially when we were trying to make it during the afternoon rush hour.
Luckily, 85 wasn’t too packed, but we had the red-light curse upon us. Things weren’t looking good.
“John, there’s no way we’re going to make it through security and to the gate in time,” I turned and said to him as he quietly jammed to music on the radio.
“Why not? We’ll just run. It’ll be like the movies,” he returned.
Even though I pictured us screaming through the airport with our baby and baggage in tow, I envied his mellow attitude about the whole thing.
I didn’t accept that as something that was just going to work itself out. So I got down to work.
“We’re supposed to park at one of those lots off Tower. That’s the extra 30 minutes I wasted at home that we don’t have to wait for the shuttle and ride the rest of the way to the airport,” I thought out loud.
“So I know we wanted to buy our siblings something nice for taking care of the dogs. What if we take that budget and put it toward on-site parking instead?” I muse, as I tried to think of a way to save time.
“I don’t know, Lauren. That kind of sucks since they’re doing us a big favor,” John kicked back.
Dang, he got me again.
I grabbed my phone and opened up Chrome. I guess that’s the beauty of a longer drive — more time to do research. I already planned to go to one of the lots off Tower since that’s what I had always done, but desperate times call for creative ideas.
“DIA parking” flies off my fingertips into the search bar.
I scroll through a couple of results and check parking prices at DIA.
“Holy smokes! That’s way more than what we even wanted to spend for their gift,” I blurted out when I saw those high, on-site prices.
I kept looking. Back to the maps results. I needed something that was close to the airport, but I seriously could not reason with the on-site prices themselves.
That’s when I found ParkDIA.
“Brand new off-site parking!” I exclaimed. Yessss.
“John! Literally. The site says closest, fastest, most affordable. This is a lifesaver,” I reported.
I added the address to Maps so I could pull it up again when we got closer.
We took Tower to Pena Boulevard and were cruising east toward the beautiful canopies of DIA.
As we kept driving toward DIA, my eyes were glued to the airport.
“No way these directions are right. We’re getting way too close to the airport. We must’ve missed it,” I said.
“Well, hold on, what does your map show?” John asked.
“Wait! That’s the exit!” I shouted at my husband John as I looked down at our GPS dot of a truck that was tracking along Pena toward DIA. Just then, it notified us to take the next exit and head south.
John took the exit and wound along Jackson Gap. Sure enough a sign for ParkDIA popped up. It was easy to follow the signs to the lot, and I was totally impressed with how close this lot actually was to DIA.
Again, this was a game changer for my inability to leave the house on time. Our late departure from home was on the mend.
We pulled into ParkDIA, grabbed a ticket, and then followed the customer service team to the next open spot.
John pulled into the open parking space right as the shuttle turned onto our lane.
Before John put the truck in park, I jumped out of the car and ran to the tailgate to start unloading luggage.
The shuttle parked next to our truck. The driver got out and could immediately tell that I was stressed at our timeline.
“Are you in a hurry, ma’am?” he asked calmly.
“Yeah,” I ushered, “We have to catch our flight in 90 minutes, and we’re not even at the airport yet.”
“No worries, ma’am, you’re in good hands. Grab your son and take a seat inside. I can see your baggage here in the bed of the truck. I’ll load it,” the driver said.
There were plenty of other people on the shuttle, but I took my son, grabbed my way-too-full carry on, and headed inside the shuttle.
After another minute, John joined me inside the shuttle, the driver shut the door, and we headed out of the lot toward DIA.
“Who is on United?” the driver asked over the intercom.
John and another person raised their hands.
“Great, we’ll drop you off at the right gate,” said the driver.
Riding from the lot over to DIA was the first time I felt calm the whole day. The driver took off the pressure and made sure he would get me where I needed to be as soon as possible.
Sure enough, the ParkDIA shuttle dropped us off at the United gate so we could check our bags from the curb and head to our flight.
As I was getting off the shuttle, the driver handed me a business card that noted our parking space.
“Hand this card to your driver on the way home, ma’am, and they’ll take you right to your truck,” he said. “Have a great trip!”
As it turned out, the trip to Mexico was amazing. We made our flight in time (though we were some of the last passengers on board), and our little baby got to taste the beauty of salt water air on a Mexican beach.
Coming home from vacation is rarely easy for my family and me. We love the removal from the every-day life.
However, the last reason that ParkDIA stood out to me and why I really wanted to share this story is because of how we exited their company.
Finding the shuttle from DIA back to the lot was easy. I got on, handed them the card with the spot ID on it, and they took us right there. We loaded our baggage back into the truck and headed out of the parking lot. It was time to pay at the exit.
We handed them our ticket that we pulled at the entrance. They ran the total, and then as they were handing us the invoice to pay, they noticed my husband’s badge hanging from the mirror.
“Sir, is that a teacher’s badge hanging in your mirror?”
“Uh, yes, I’m a teacher,” replied John.
“Sir, you are eligible for a 15% teacher’s discount on your parking fee,” the agent said.
Wow. Just wow.
“It’s like they knew we spent more on our trip than what we wanted to,” John laughed as he whispered over to me during the process.
“We lucked out,” I said with a smile.
The customer service rep handed us back our card and receipt and sent us on our way.
