SFO Parking Fee: Garage and Long-Term Parking Costs Explained

You land back from Chicago. It’s late. You slide your card at the exit and the screen says $123. Three days. Hmm. Where did that number come from?

The SFO parking fee isn’t a mystery. It’s built in layers, and nobody explains the layers at the gate. This guide does. You’ll see how the fee builds up, what it covers, what costs extra, and how long-term stays change the math.

Rates here were checked in October 2026. Airports can change them, so confirm before you drive in.

How the SFO Parking Fee Is Built

Every SFO garage uses the same two-part system. Think of it as a meter with a ceiling.

1. The meter: $4 for each 30 minutes you stay.
2. The ceiling: once the meter reaches the daily maximum, it stops.
3. The reset: after 24 hours, a new cycle starts.
4. The tax: taxes and fees are already inside the posted number.

That’s the whole system. What changes from garage to garage is the ceiling.

SFO Parking Fee by Garage

Here’s the fee for each airport garage, plus a seven-day total for reference.

Garage	Per 30 minutes	24-hour maximum	7 days	Serves
Long-Term Garage	$4	$27	$189	All terminals, by AirTrain
International Garages A and G	$4	$37	$259	International Terminal
Domestic Garage	$4	$41	$287	Terminals 1, 2 and 3
ParkFAST	$4	$70	$490	Inside the Domestic Garage

Say you fly Southwest out of Terminal 2. The Domestic Garage is your closest bet, because tunnels lead straight in. Way’s SFO Terminal 2 guide lists the airlines there.

Reading the Meter: Worked Examples

Numbers make this easier. Here’s how the meter behaves in real situations.

• 90 minutes in the Domestic Garage: three half-hours, so $12.
• 3 hours in the Domestic Garage: six half-hours, so $24.
• 4 hours in the Long-Term Garage: the meter says $32. The cap holds it at $27.
• 6 hours in the Domestic Garage: the meter says $48. The cap holds it at $41.
• One day in ParkFAST: the meter passes the $70 cap, so you pay $70. Even the eight-hour minimum runs $64.

See the pattern? The cap does the saving. After a few hours, a short stay costs the same as a full day. That surprises people who think of parking as pay-by-the-minute.

One Trip, Three Fees

Dan flies Delta to Atlanta on a Thursday. He’s back Sunday night. Three days. Here’s his fee three ways.

• Domestic Garage: 3 days at $41 comes to $123. Shortest walk.
• Long-Term Garage: 3 days at $27 comes to $81. An AirTrain ride.
• Hilton Garden Inn North lot: 3 days at $9.30 comes to $27.90. A shuttle, plus about 30 extra minutes.

Which is right? That depends on Dan. A 6 a.m. flight and a bad back? Domestic. A flexible schedule and a tight budget? Offsite. Neither answer is wrong.

Why the Fee Differs Between Garages

Same airport, four ceilings. Why? Airports price convenience. The closer a garage sits to your gate, the more it costs. The Domestic Garage puts you in a tunnel to the terminal. The Long-Term Garage asks you to ride a train first.

You’re paying for steps saved. Some people value that a lot. Others would rather spend $14 a day on something else.

Long-Term Parking Fees at SFO

Long-term parking is where the SFO parking fee turns into real money. The Long-Term Garage costs $27 per 24 hours. A week comes to $189. Two weeks is $378. A month is $810.

SFO’s online booking covers stays of up to 60 days. Do that math and you’d pay $1,620. Please don’t.

The garage price has bounced around. It sat at $18 before a 2016 hike took it to $25, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Later, a new garage opened and the rate dropped back to $18. Today it’s $27.

Offsite long-term fees work differently. The lot sets a daily price, and you see it before you book. The Westin San Francisco International (SFO) Parking lot lists from $14.40 a day. It sits 0.9 miles out, runs a free shuttle, and holds a 5-star rating across 80 reviews. A week there comes to roughly $101.

Old Numbers Still Floating Around

Search for SFO parking costs and you’ll find a mess. Some older pages quote $2 per 15 minutes. That’s the same $8 an hour, just billed in smaller steps. Others list daily caps between $25 and $36. Those caps are out of date.

Back in 2016, reporting put the Long-Term Garage at $25 and Garages A and G at $36. Today they’re $27 and $37.

Check the date on any page before you trust it. Then check the airport’s own site before you drive in.

What the Fee Includes

A fee is easier to judge when you know what’s inside it. Here’s how the airport garages compare with offsite lots booked through Way.

Item	SFO garages	Offsite lots on Way
Taxes and fees	Included in the posted rate	Shown in the price breakdown
Ride to the terminal	Free AirTrain	Free shuttle at most lots
EV charging	Free at Level 1 and Level 2	Varies by lot
Changes	Online bookings, up to 2 hours before entry	Free cancellation before check-in
Payment	Cards, cash at booths, no FasTrak	Paid online when you book
Maximum stay	60 days booked online	Set by each lot

Read the offsite column once before you book. Two minutes. It can save a very annoying conversation at a check-in booth.

Reading an Offsite Price Breakdown

Offsite lots on Way show a price breakdown. Open it. Don’t stop at the daily rate on the card.

The card shows a per-day price. The breakdown shows how the total builds, including taxes and fees. Compare totals across lots, not teasers. Then check three things: does the lot have a shuttle, when does it run, and what’s the cancellation window? Those three move your real cost more than any single fee.

Extra Charges and Add-Ons

The posted rate is rarely the whole bill. These items sit on top.

• ParkFAST car wash: an optional add-on when you book.
• Covered or valet offsite: covered starts near $9 a day and valet near $13.50. Uncovered starts at $7.70.
• Rides from no-shuttle lots: Courtyard lists from $7.80 and Homewood Suites from $9. Neither has a shuttle. Two rideshares erase the saving.
• A late return: the garages bill in 24-hour blocks. Come back late and a new block can start.

Distance matters too. Hotel Focus San Francisco (SFO) Airport Parking sits 2.5 miles out and lists from $11.30 a day. It has 778 reviews and a 4.8 rating. The shuttle ride is longer, though.

Vehicle Size and Your Options

Your vehicle can narrow your choices before price even matters.

• Long-Term Garage: Garage 1 allows up to 6 feet 10 inches. Garage 2 allows up to 8 feet 2 inches. A surface lot takes vehicles 8 feet 2 inches and over.
• ParkFAST: vehicles up to 6 feet 6 inches.
• Electric vehicles: free charging in the garages, first come, first served. Bring your own cable for Level 1.
• Offsite lots: ask about height and size before you book.

Driving a lifted truck or a van with a roof box? Check the height before you pay, not after.

How to Pay the SFO Parking Fee

The method depends on how you booked.

• Drive-up at the garage: pay with a card. Cash works at booths. FasTrak no longer works for SFO parking.
• Booked with SFO: you receive a QR code for entry and exit. No ticket to pull.
• Booked offsite through Way: you pay online when you reserve. Show your pass at the lot.

That’s all. No app puzzles, no mystery fees.

When Fees Pile Up: Frequent Flyers

Fees look small until you repeat them. Take a consultant who flies out twice a month. That’s 26 three-day trips a year.

• Domestic Garage: 26 trips at $123 comes to $3,198.
• Long-Term Garage: 26 trips at $81 comes to $2,106.
• Offsite lot at $7.70 a day: 26 trips at $23.10 comes to about $601.

That’s a gap of more than $2,500 a year. Savings like that cover plenty of extras. Some travelers spend theirs on a lounge visit. Our guide to San Francisco airport lounges lists what’s available.

Changing, Canceling and Extending

Plans change. Meetings run long. Flights get canceled. Here’s what you can do.

At the airport, you can change or cancel an online booking up to two hours before your entry time. Offsite partners on Way allow free cancellation before check-in.

Need more days? Open “My Orders” in the Way app or on the site, choose your booking, and extend it. Whether it works depends on the lot. If a lot doesn’t support extensions, you may pay the extra days directly to the lot.

Fee Mistakes at the Exit Gate

• Assuming a day means a calendar day. The garages bill in 24-hour blocks.
• Booking ParkFAST for a three-hour visit. It needs an eight-hour minimum, so you’d pay $64 for three hours.
• Treating a no-shuttle lot as a bargain.
• Forgetting your return time, then paying for a fresh block.
• Counting on FasTrak. It no longer works for SFO parking.

One or two of these catch almost everyone once.

The Mental-Math Version

You don’t need a calculator at the garage entrance. Try this instead.

Take your number of days. Multiply by $27 for the Long-Term Garage or $41 for the Domestic Garage. For an offsite lot, multiply by the listed daily rate. If the lot has no shuttle, add two rideshares. Compare the totals.

Five minutes of that beats an hour of regret at the exit gate.

Habits That Keep the Fee Low

• Compare total cost, not the daily rate.
• Pick the garage that matches your terminal, and no more.
• Use the free Cell Phone Waiting Lot for pickups.
• Check the shuttle hours before you book offsite.
• Reserve early for holiday weeks.
• Use the Way app for an extra 5% off.

Fees at Other Bay Area Airports

Some Bay Area travelers can fly from more than one airport. If that’s you, price the parking before you price the flight. Check San Jose airport parking and Oakland alongside SFO. Compare the full trip: fare, drive and parking together.

The Short Version

The SFO parking fee is a meter with a ceiling. Know the ceiling for your garage. Know what’s included. Check the date on any rate you read. Then pick the option that fits your trip, and book early. Easy.

Related guides

• SFO Parking Rates: A Guide to Daily and Hourly Costs
• SFO Parking Prices: How to Compare Different Parking Options
• How Much Does Airport Parking Cost? A Complete Guide to Parking Rates

Frequently Asked Questions