Park free at Cleveland-Hopkins Airport

My husband recently spent a week in Mississippi, and like any travel-obsessed good wife, I checked out the airports around us for the best deals and schedules. I settled on Cleveland-Hopkins Airport. It's substantially less busy than the expected airports, and even when I added the cost of a nearby hotel stay, it cost less than the usual choices. Its flights also matched our schedule better. But what about parking?

Airport parking runs $20-30 per day, and even though I photograph where I park, the precise location is easy to forget. Hunting for your car in subzero temperatures is exactly zero fun, I've found.

So I chose to park at Cleveland's nearby Rapid Transit Authority (RTA) Brookpark station and take a quick 3-minute ride directly into the airport. Parking was free, and even when we considered the cost of the ride, we saved over $20. My husband's fare cost $1.25 and mine cost $5 round-trip. I could have explored more of Cleveland for that cost, and I was armed with a list of possibilities, but in January it was just too cold.

The station felt clean, safe and temperature-controlled. The next time you travel, check out the airports beyond your usual choice, and explore your travel options to get there. You just might be surprised.