There's a really good thread on here about where to park/drop off/check in etc, but I'm not sure if it's current because I think some of the construction has finally finished. Anyway, for someone flying United out of Houston this week, where is the best place to park and check luggage and everything else?

Construction is done in E, however, my client sent me this today:

"IAH is a mess because of construction. We had to park in A/B garage because the other parking lot was reservations and valet only, so we had to go all the way around".


I feel like once they finished with E they were moving on to something else, but honestly I cannot remember what that was.

Thanks

I just asked husband and he just said "Everything is still jacked up. E is still a disaster. B is totally tore up. D is renovated".

Are you still supposed to do that thing where you go through security in one terminal and then take the tram to a different one?

We're planning on using FINE parking in a few weeks. Usually had decent luck with them.

I don't think so. I think that was when E was completely down. I know I had gone into A or B (can't remember) and took a tram over.

Where you parking? I don't ever park at the physical airport but one of the nearby lots and shuttle over.

Just don't play the terminal parking game. It is hellish whether or not the construction is finished.

Park at The Parking Spot #2 and take the shuttle in. Let the shuttle drivers use their knowledge of the back roads and shortcuts to get around the traffic.

Counterpoint said:

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Are you still supposed to do that thing where you go through security in one terminal and then take the tram to a different one?

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It depends, I guess. We flew from IAH to Vancouver last week. We were instructed to request drop off at C, check bags and go through security there, then walk to our departure gate in D.

I have to say we're big fans of the agents roving the floor to assist with baggage tagging, etc. It makes the process easier and it seems to flow much better.

We also never do Terminal parking. We park at Fast Park and Relax. It's better to let them deal with the traffic and it's much cheaper. If you're doing business travel and can expense it, that's not an issue but for personal travel I wouldn't do it any differently.

I fly from this disaster construction pit every week…

A is open, so you can park in A/B garage and take security through A and skyway to B C D E.

B is closed for security/pick up and drop off and no stop on the subway. Can only get there via skyway from the other terminals.

C is business as usual for most part.

D is business as usual for most part, although I never use it. To get to new D gates 1-9 it is easier to go through C.

E is relatively back to normal, security wait times suck because if new machines slowing it down. And they are still doing construction but you can pick up and drop off there etc.

Also, weekends if you reserve/prebook for garages it is 50% off thurs-monday.

Something I learned last night coming home. In terminal A, they have closed the exit which is closest to the Skytrain. I usually turn right off the Skytrain and it's not far to the exit, but last night I found out that they've boarded that exit up. So, if you're coming off the Skytrain in terminal A and trying to get to the parking garage, you have to turn left and go all the way down through the opposite end of the terminal to get to ground transportation, baggage claim or exit/parking.

Going through B is so weird passing through the temporary tunnel from the tram to the gates. Sucks to not have Chicfila.

I live in Corpus. When we go travel, it's generally a longer winter trip so I book the Marriott with points, park there and leave it for my trip and then pick up my Jeep when we get back. Cost for parking = $0.

Oh, and the tram that takes you to the terminals runs right under the Marriott so we just go down there in the morning and take it to check into our flight...

I fly out of IAH 2-3 times per month, usually out of C. I park in CDE and reserve in advance in order to guarantee parking. When entering the garage, I go straight up to level 5 or 6, take the bridge over to the connected garage and usually go up to Level 7, where there are always spots. That gets me parked within 2-3 minutes of entering the garage. Take the elevator down, walk across the drive through where departure drop off is and take TSA Precheck through security. With no checked luggage, I'm typically past security no more than about 10-15 minutes after entering the parking garage. If you need to go to another terminal, the tram is very close after getting past security.

Another great thing about reserving parking in advance is that is reads your license plate so the gate arms automatically open upon approach when entering and leaving the garage. You barely even have to slow down.

You also get a discount.

kyledr04 said:

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Going through B is so weird passing through the temporary tunnel from the tram to the gates. Sucks to not have Chicfila.

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Went through there this morning and was thinking that same thought exactly.

I fly out and back almost every week.. or at least a few times per month. Unlike the new D and renovated E construction that plagued IAH for what seems like 5 years, the current B renovation/rebuild is funded by United, not public/government contracting, so allegedly it should only take about a year instead of 5... or so I'm told. but alas, the traffic will continue in and out of IAH for a while.


As per usual, if you want to park at terminal C/E and you're not leaving early on a Monday morning, terminal parking will be pretty full if not completely full (like later Monday or on a Tuesday morning), so if you don't want to take a chance circling around looking for a spot, you can enter C/E and try to cut across to the old purple garage where there are usually spots.

Otherwise, your other options are

1. reserve a spot- I prefer valet- at least 12 hours in advance. You won't be able to pre-book terminal parking the day of travel, but if you remember the day before, book valet and save the hassle.

2. park at A and take the interterminal tram. If you're not checking baggage, you can use A's short security line and use the fast and frequent above ground tram to B, C, or D/E. If you're flying United or international out of B/C/D/E and trying to enter in terminal A with oversized checked bags, you'll have to take the under ground tram, but that thing is slow and runs infrequently if at all so I'd recommend against this option if you need to check bags. Also, both trams stop running at night- early like 8pm for the above ground one, later for the underground one- so beware of what time you return and have to find your way back to A where you parked.

3. Uber/Lyft to IAH. Could be cheaper or a wash depending on distance and timing/surge pricing. Convenient getting there; can suck when you get back, especially the madhouse zoo of the C ride share pick up zone. A recent Uber driver told me a hack - to go to the E pick up zone no matter what - shorter, easier in and out, and the divers prefer it- but you can't do that if you checked bags and have to go to C baggage claim.

4. park offsite at one of the two ecoparks or one of the two sparking spots and take the shuttle bus. This can also suck waiting for a bus that isn't completely full when you return, depending on day/time when you get back, especially from C baggage claim. If you didn't check bags, consider tramming to A and catching an ecopark or ecopark2 bus there in stead.

Commentary on E based on going out and coming back over the past week.

The new security machines are AWFUL. I've got PreCheck and my friend was through regular WAY before me. Their remote viewing or AI (I asked, he wouldn't say) flagged my backpack and diverted the tray for inspection. He went to pull up the imagery, The machine lost the image. So he carried my tray back to the machine and put it back in the queue. Even supposedly at the head of the line it was another 5 minutes for my backpack to be re-scanned. It passed through no issues.

Construction is not completed. When we left customs and went to the elevator (tiny things) there were still temporary walls up blocking something.

When I dropped off "The Parking Spot JFK" was running dedicated E shuttles. But when we picked up, there were C passengers on our van still needing to be dropped off.

Yeah I tried the new E once for security, In just gonna stick with the hoodrats in A until B gets redone. E was stupid slow

Went through C today at 5:15AM. Breezed right on through (but we do have precheck)

We flew internationally about 10 days ago and our uber dropped us off at E. I agree with the "stupid slow" comment - they seem woefully understaffed, and there's no Clear yet either. Thankfully we cleared customs in EWR Friday afternoon rather than IAH on a Friday night.

For work travel, I'll continue to reserve a spot in A and take the tram to the terminal I'm flying out of. It adds time but it's a surer thing for finding parking and easier security.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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Commentary on E based on going out and coming back over the past week.

The new security machines are AWFUL. I've got PreCheck and my friend was through regular WAY before me. Their remote viewing or AI (I asked, he wouldn't say) flagged my backpack and diverted the tray for inspection. He went to pull up the imagery, The machine lost the image. So he carried my tray back to the machine and put it back in the queue. Even supposedly at the head of the line it was another 5 minutes for my backpack to be re-scanned. It passed through no issues.

Construction is not completed. When we left customs and went to the elevator (tiny things) there were still temporary walls up blocking something.

When I dropped off "The Parking Spot JFK" was running dedicated E shuttles. But when we picked up, there were C passengers on our van still needing to be dropped off.

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Flying out of E tomorrow morning. Checking bags with wife and kids. Based on your experience, do you recommend I check bags in C and clear security then use the skyway to go to E?

JT05 said:

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Kenneth_2003 said:

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Commentary on E based on going out and coming back over the past week.

The new security machines are AWFUL. I've got PreCheck and my friend was through regular WAY before me. Their remote viewing or AI (I asked, he wouldn't say) flagged my backpack and diverted the tray for inspection. He went to pull up the imagery, The machine lost the image. So he carried my tray back to the machine and put it back in the queue. Even supposedly at the head of the line it was another 5 minutes for my backpack to be re-scanned. It passed through no issues.

Construction is not completed. When we left customs and went to the elevator (tiny things) there were still temporary walls up blocking something.

When I dropped off "The Parking Spot JFK" was running dedicated E shuttles. But when we picked up, there were C passengers on our van still needing to be dropped off.

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Flying out of E tomorrow morning. Checking bags with wife and kids. Based on your experience, do you recommend I check bags in C and clear security then use the skyway to go to E?

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I wouldn't, but that's me. We went through E 3 weeks ago and it was fine. *We do have TSA precheck but I didn't find that the regularly line looked any different. I would think its more of pain to do the sky train with kids.

Just checked in through E terminal. The AI on the bag screeners is terrible. I take the same stuff (carry on only) with me on every trip, which is probably twice a month to many different airports around the globe. This is my very first time to have both my suitcase and briefcase pulled for extra screening. And I had to take both my shoes and belt off to get through the metal detector…and I am pre-check and have worn these same shoes and belt through metal detectors at least fifty times. Probably 1/3-1/2 of everyone's bags were getting pulled for secondary screening. Fortunately the line was short or it would have been a sh*t show. It's amazing how so many countries have this figured out, yet Houston is just a disaster third world airport.

That's funny. I checked in through E on the 23rd as well. around 10am. Didn't have any issue. I'm precheck and the new machines are definitely slow. Same machines I've seen at other airports being slow. But I didn't see an unusual number of bags getting the manual screening. ANd I got through with my normal carry-on.