The last time I picked up someone at the airport was pre-9/11, when it was SOP to wait at the gate for them to disembark. Now, with all the security, you need a boarding pass to get to the gate, so where is the standard place to pick someone up? I thought of just waiting in the car at the “arrivals” exit, but it’s usually taken up by taxis, and I’m not sure if cars are allowed to just sit there waiting for someone. Am I right about this? Or would I have to park the car and go to an accessible area like Baggage Claim?
I’d check on the airport website or call them and ask. I know that at least a few airports have something similar to a taxi stand where folks can pull up their cars and wait for their arrivals to give them a call. The catch of course being that they can’t leave the cars. Typically it’d be around the corner from the front door, out of the way but conveniently placed.
Which airport are you talking about?
It would be the Cleveland Hopkins Airport, and it seems like the logical place is the “Arrivals” exit, if non-taxis are allowed to wait there.
I’ve never seen any airport where private cars are allowed to sit still until someone is in the active process of entering or exiting. You have to drive around a loop until you see your person come out.
The other option is to arrive at the airport at about the same time as the plane, maybe 10 minutes later, park in short term parking which will be the closest lot to the doors, and meet your person at baggage claim.
They might have a cell phone waiting lot, where you are allowed to sit in your car. When your party arrives, they call you when the clear baggage check, you zoom up to baggage and get them.
When my husband has to pick me up, he waits outside the airport, because the airport charges a toll based on when you enter and exit the place. I call him when the plane touches down and I know which baggage claim area I’ll be in. I usually arrive at Terminal B, and have to traipse down to baggage claim at the other end of the terminal, no matter which end my plane landed at. Then I go outside, look for my husband, get on the cell again and ask him where the hell he is. We confirm that he is waiting for me at the wrong spot (and it’s always his damn fault, too), and then 10 or 15 minutes later I see him drive up.
The DFW airport is horrid, but Dallas Love Field is even worse. DFW is huge, the roads are confusing, and everything is 30 miles from everything else. Love Field is also huge, but not as big as DFW, and doesn’t have much in the way of services. I have other Issues about the Love Field airport, but that’s political stuff from way back when. The Springfield/Branson is tolerable because it’s tiny, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of amenities, again because it’s tiny.
**Glory **nailed it. Look for the signs for the “cell phone” lot. Park there for free & have them call you when they have their baggage and are about to walk outside.
If they’re infirm or unsure of themselves then the best thing to do is park the car in the short term = high $ lot and wait for them immediately at the security cordon exit. That choke point will ensure you and they don’t miss each other.
If they are children under ~17, talk to the airline reservation folks. Somebody will have to go out to teh gate to sign for the kids. There are procedures for getting that someone past security since this happens dozens of times every day. Each airport is different and the res people have the details on file.
I haven’t picked anyone up at CLE in a long time. I’ve dropped people off and it’s a clusterfuck, I’m sure just like every other airport.
Last time I flew out of there it was post-9/11 and my dad waited for me in the parking garage. My bro’s been there a few times in the past couple years and he says they do not have a “waiting” lot. He says “either utilize the ‘first 30 minutes free’ in the garage or drive around the loop again and again until your person is ready.”
Might actually be easiest if your person calls you at home when they land and hope you arrive around the same time they’re waiting on the curb.
Also, tell your person to fly into CAK next time - I’ve picked up my friend there lots of times and they do have a nice “waiting” lot plus they don’t give you shit if you linger in front of the pickup areas. CLE security definitely does care.
I’m considering this . . . only because there aren’t as many places to get lost.
I go to two different airports, San Francisco (SFO) and San Jose (SJX or something). At San Jose airport they have the cell phone waiting lot, which is great. You pull in, sit back listening to some music, and wait for the arivee to call you, then you swing around and pick 'em up. Pain free. Every airport needs one of these.
San Francisco, a much bigger airport doesn’t have one (at least didn’t when last I checked) so you have to pull over outside the arival gates (where the taxis are) and every few minutes the security comes by and chases you away so you have to drive the big loop than repeat the process. It’s very annoying, it’s wastes gas, and it wastes time (I usually make a habbit of coming 15-20 minutes late at SFO so I don’t have to do this. The arivee might have to wait 5 or sometimes 10 minutes, but it’s generally less hassle for them to wait than for me, unfortunately). SFO get with the program. Cell-phone waiting area lots. They’re a blessing
San Jose = SJC
Baggage claim has worked fine for me. The three most recent airports I’ve been to which involved post-9/11 passenger pick-up were LAX, SFO and MSP where anyone can wait in the baggage area. Park your car, then walk on over. Of course, SFO and LAX are bleeding expensive to park in, so you may want to do the drive-around-in-circles-while-communicating-by-cell-phone trick in the more expensive airports. I’m not sure how Cleveland is, but if it’s reasonable like MSP, paying to park is a fair option. And if you know your friend’s flight number, you can check the arrivals screen to determine which baggage carousel to wait by.
Cell phones are handy. Like Zips said, there is no waiting lot at CLE. So you either park and walk into the baggage area, or wait for a call to zoom in and pick them up at the curb. I prefer zooming in and this is what most people do. There are two zooming methods you can employ. Either circle the loop until they come out to the curb, or get pretty close to the airport, park and read a book or something while waiting for the call. There are all sorts of hotels and stuff near by, but my dad likes to pretend he is a maintenace employee and parks next to the hangars where they fix the planes.
While I like CAK, it can be a trek for most Clevelanders. What burb are you in?
I’ve flown in and out of CAK numerous times, and it’s great for a small airport. There’s even a little parking lot right by the pickup/drop-off areas that’s within walking distance.
Be advised, however, in numerous flights on Delta out of CAK (which seems to have the most flights), I have rarely flown out on schedule. I don’t know what it is about Delta and CAK, but holy crap, it’s annoying. OTOH, CAK offers free wi-fi now, so at least there’s a good time-killer.
It does not appear that Cleveland Hopkins has a cell phone lot. You need to just circle. Or park and wait just out the security checkpoint.
http://www.clevelandairport.com/site/430/default.aspx
Traveler Drop Off and Pick Up
Travelers may be dropped off or picked up on either the arrival or departure levels of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE). To ensure the safety of our travelers, no parking on the airport roadways is permitted. Vehicles may stop for active loading or unloading of passengers only. Any vehicle found in violation will be ticketed and towed.
Here at the Dayton airport, the short term lot (closest to the terminal and most expensive) is actually free for 30 minutes. They must do that in lieu of having a cell phone lot.
I thought DAY was fairly unique in that regard. But I just checked CLE’s website and they do something similar.
Found at http://www.clevelandairport.com/site/390/default.aspx
They don’t allow you to stand at all. My friend is a limo driver and there are no exceptions to this rule. Your best bet is to sit at a nearby lot and wait for a call. Otherwise, you just keep circling. We used to always pick people up at departures (at O’Hare), because it’s less of a clusterfuck. But my husband doesn’t ever pick me up at the airport. I get a cab or a limo. Less hassle.
My SO’s parents picked us up at Hopkins a few weeks ago. They parked in the lot and greeted us in the baggage claim, and then his dad ran off to retrieve the car and picked us up at the curb outside.
This is how I’ve done it at LAX, CLE, and HNL in the post-9/11 era.
Note that that map does not have a scale. The lot is like two exits north of SFO. Any farther, and you could just go wait at San Jose’s lot.
I’ve had some luck with SFO, though. I’ve been able to pull to the very end of the terminal and stay with my car until my friend showed up. I did that mostly because I couldn;t find the cell phone lot, since there’s one sign between the terminal and the next town over, where the lot is.
Oakland sucks, though. All you can do is loop until the perpetually-late Southwest flight arrives or you run out of gas.