Edmonton International Airport reserves special parking places for Lexus products.

[mmcartalk]

Edmonton Airport in Western Canada has done what may (?) be a first.....setting aside specific parking places for Lexus products.*

* (I just wonder how many of those nice Lexus products are going to get keyed or vandalized by other jealous car-owners) -MM

http://edmontonjournal.com/storyline/edmonton-international-airport-defends-lexus-only-parking

Edmonton International Airport defends Lexus-only parking
AUGUST 8, 2016 2:01 PM


By Bill Mah

If you don’t drive a Lexus, you’re not welcome to park in 30 spots at the Edmonton International Airport.

Stalls in the airport’s parking garage’s second and third levels are painted “Preferred Parking,” along with a logo of the luxury car brand.

The preferential treatment is creating a furor on social media with some labelling it elitist, while others call it creative marketing.

Edmonton International Airport also took to Twitter on Monday to defend the parking spots, explaining that Lexus has paid for 30 of the airport’s more than 13,500 stalls through a contract with Pattison Outdoor Advertising that runs until March 2017. There are 2,200 stalls in the parkade. No financial terms of the contract are being released.

“As a not-for-profit, we have always reinvested parking revenue to offset costs,” the airport tweeted. It said other groups can also sponsor spots.

The deal with Lexus and Pattison also includes a giant wrap of the terminal tower and a Lexus display vehicle inside the terminal. The Lexus spots, installed last week, are located in blocks of seven. No handicapped stalls were removed for the Lexus stalls, as was circulated on social media.

Consequences for drivers of non-Lexus vehicles who park in the spots is up to Lexus, said EIA spokeswoman Heather Hamilton. “We’re not enforcing anything there.”

The airport is making no apologies for the preferred parking. “I don’t know that the public generally understands how important parking revenue is,” she said.

“Our revenue last year was a little over $200 million; $58 million of that comes from parking, concessions and advertising. Every dollar that comes to us from that route is a dollar that we don’t have to charge a passenger and we don’t have to charge an airline.”

EIA’s contract with Pattison pays for replacement of directional signs in the airport to new digital signage, Hamilton added.

“The benefit to this being that signs can be updated on the fly electronically, as opposed to having to be manufactured, and physically changed out by someone on a ladder or on a lift. This will be faster, cheaper and easier.”

 

[mikeavelli]

That is fantastic!

 

[Brooks2IS]

Though I have not seen this in airports before, Turner Field in Atlanta used to offer a "Lexus Lot" up front exclusive for Lexus products.

 

[krew]

Honestly, I don't like it -- but then, this is the kind of attention I try very hard to avoid. I don't know if you would get keyed like @mmcartalk suggests, but I wouldn't be surprised by a errant luggage trolley.

Pass.

 

[mmcartalk]

I don't know if you would get keyed like @mmcartalk suggests,

People like you and me, with our level of morals and maturity, no....we probably wouldn't even think about doing something inane and destructive like that to somebody else's car, even if we don't like the parking policies. But, unfortunately, the world is full of bozos, road-ragers, impulsive, and immature people who can't (or won't) control themselves....those are the ones that wouldn't think twice before getting that key out......or slashing tires.

 

[IS-SV]

Yes, pass. I rarely leave premium cars at airports.

 

[krew]

Yes, pass. I rarely leave premium cars at airports.

I don't know what it's like where you are, but at the Toronto airport there's an outdoor value lot that I would feel comfortable parking anything -- lots of room, huge spaces. It's the parking structures that I hate.

 

[mmcartalk]

I don't know what it's like where you are, but at the Toronto airport there's an outdoor value lot that I would feel comfortable parking anything -- lots of room, huge spaces. It's the parking structures that I hate.

Does the Toronto airport have reserved areas for specific vehicle-makes, like the one I started this thread with?

 

[Bulldog 1]

The only known "Lexus Only" Parking I'm aware of in South Florida is at the BB&T Center (or whatever it's name is, who knows these days with stadium names changing like underwear) in Sunrise, FL where the NHL Florida Panthers show up for practice every night and pretend it's an actual game.
I've been there for concerts before and they have a "Lexus Only" parking lot immediately adjacent to the front entrance. I will tell you, however, that I often get that coveted up front spot most places I go shopping and I call it my own "Lexus Valet Parking"