What's up with T/A and their "Parking Reservations" ?!?!?

They told me you can not use points to redeem for cash towards reserving parking spots. It has to be actual cash or credit card payment. Told them I thought that is a bunch of BS since I can use the points redeemed cash towards anything else in store. Said they don't make the policy.... I never called anyone over it.

 

The last time I parked at the TA in Southington, CT you could park without paying a fee if you bought a certain amount of fuel.

I would disagree on it being any kind of compromise at all since if everyone just decided to take the paid spaces there still wouldn't be enough parking.

 

Here's the thing about TA, reserved parking and paid parking lots: Even though you pay for a reserved spot, you STILL have to pay the lot fee at paid parking locations. So, if you don't spend $20 in the store and / or restaurant or buy 50 gallons of fuel, you will need to pay the lot fee when you exit, even if you paid for a reserved spot.

Oh, and if you've got an OS load on, you need to pay for 2 spots. Just sayin'.

 

I noticed a sign at the Petro in Atlanta that says if you reserved a parking spot, they would need to confirm before letting you in, which led me to believe that if you had used the service ahead of time, they wouldn't issue you that card they use for a ticket.

 

The OS load is only if you're wider than 11'. If you're 10'11" wide or less then you only need to buy one spot

 

That may be an attempt to keep drivers from parking in those spots without a reservation. Some locations actively police the spots, and require those parked there to tape the confirmation receipt visibly inside their windshield. One TA location had security going the extra mile; making the rounds and waking up drivers that came in and parked at the ends of rows or who weren't in a lined and marked spot and sending them on their way out of the lot in addition to verifying the legitimacy of those parked in the reserved spots.

This I didn't know. I always answer 'no' to the OS question when making a reservation, so I never got to the 'how much OS' question lol.

 

I know the gate guard person at the south Baltimore TA will go wake up drivers and tell them to park or leave if they're not in a parking spot. I've seen him do it every time I've been there. Though instead of allowing people to leave while he's not in the booth, he leaves the arm down and makes people wait till he gets back to cash them out, which I think is a "Richard" move.

And yeah, I found that out when I was 10'6", they asked if I was os, said yes then asked if I was over 11', said no and they charged me for one spot, so I'm assuming because the spots are 11-12' wide then you'd have to buy two to keep from having someone hit the load.

 

yes but the reserved parking receipt can be used toward the 20 dollars they want you to spend, you don't have to spend 20 in addition to the reserved parking fee.

 

I've never worried about it, since I almost always snag 50 gallons of fuel or hit the shop for a tractor lube.

 

That's odd. They have a full time security person who handles the parking issues. I'm surprised that the booth guy goes out and does it. Usually he leaves the booth and the gate open sometime between 4 and 6am while he goes inside and handles some business...