Airports ring the changes with cell-phone parking lots

The latest craze for airport-parking solutions seems to be the cell-phone lot, where friends or relatives can sit and wait in their car for their guests to arrive.

Frequently, airport ring roads and traffic systems have been clogged up with drivers circling the terminals to avoid the high parking charges at airport lots.

Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport is the latest airport to bring in this innovative new idea. The Florida airport's facility consists of 49 spaces where waiting “chauffeurs” can stay in their cars for free, just 30 seconds from the main building.

Drivers can track flight arrivals on four monitors in the lot and await the call from their loved ones once they have cleared baggage claim.

The new lots also conserve gas that would otherwise be used up by driving around as you wait, a growing concern with the high prices at pumps across the country these days.

Miami International has also recently opened a similar lot, as have airports in San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles and San Diego in California; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

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