This Discount Comes with Covered Parking – and Compassion

Traveling soon? Use a discount at Fast Park & Relax RDU

A photo of Fast Park & Relax airport parking shelter and shuttle
Fast Park & Relax RDU offers a 15% discount to Duke staff and faculty. Photo courtesy of Fast Park & Relax

On Connie Nichols’ return trip from celebrating her grandson’s first birthday on Grand Cayman island earlier this year, she lost 12 hours to travel delays, much of her energy and nearly her cell phone.

But thanks to Fast Park & Relax RDU, the airport parking facility she has used for years because of a Duke employee discount, and a conscientious shuttle driver who took time to locate her misplaced phone, at least one part of her trip was a little bit easier.

“I was already a Fast Park fan because of price and convenience, but I am a super fan now,” Nichols wrote in an email to the company.

Nichols, a Research Scientist in Infectious Diseases at Duke, has long used Fast Park & Relax RDU because of a 15% discount offered to Duke staff and faculty.

In addition to the discount, customers enjoy covered parking, earn free parking days, reserve spots online and use electric vehicle chargers at no extra cost. Shuttles to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, about 4 miles away, run 24/7 and pick up and drop off at your vehicle.

“It’s a little farther away so you have to plan accordingly, but it has always been great – fast service for buses, nice parking and attendants who always make sure you know where you parked,” Nichols said.

Connie Nichols
Connie Nichols with grandson Henry on a trip to Grand Cayman early this year. Photo courtesy of Connie Nichols

And after the trip with her son and his family in April, a Fast Park shuttle driver showed how the personal touch can mean a world of difference.

Nichols’ original flight through Orlando was rebooked to one with a layover in Baltimore – making it a 12-hour trip. By the time she arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, it was past 11 p.m., and she was exhausted.

In her haste to get back to her car and return home to sleep, Nichols left her phone on the bench at the Fast Park pickup site just outside the terminal – something she realized halfway back to the parking lot.

Nichols told shuttle driver, and after everyone else was dropped off at their cars, he took her back to Terminal 1 to find the phone. While Nichols searched, Patrick tried calling the phone, and they discovered someone had turned it into lost and found at Terminal 2.

“So off we went again,” Nichols said, noting the shuttle driver, Patrick, went into the terminal to retrieve her phone. “I was already exhausted from traveling, so having the driver help me find and fetch my phone was amazing.”

While the circumstances were unusual, Nichols said the story exemplifies Fast Park’s service and how they went “above and beyond.”

To access the Fast Park & Relax discount, enter promo code 017E87 and use your Duke University email address when registering online. New members who sign up before Dec. 31 receive two free parking days.

Send story ideas, shout-outs and photographs through our story idea form or write working@duke.edu.

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