Multi-day parking at MAA works, but it’s really just extended hourly slabs
The Long Term Parking Lot at Chennai International (serving T1, T2 and T4) is essentially the same open-air car park everyone uses for drop-offs and short stays; staff calculate multi-day charges by stacking hourly and extended slabs rather than a clear flat daily rate. Daily pricing is not posted as a simple “₹X per day”; attendants instead “/calculate charges using extended slabs/,” which is why one traveller who parked for two nights reported a surprisingly high bill with almost no discount over standard hourly pricing.
This lot sits in front of the passenger terminals, a short walk of roughly 3–7 minutes to T1, T2 or T4 depending on where you find a space, and there is no separate shuttle or dedicated long-stay zone. Entry and exit work on manual tickets handed out by attendants rather than boom gates with ANPR; multiple reviews call out the lack of automated access control and say this setup doesn’t feel like purpose-built long-term storage for cars left several days in a row.
User reports on Google Maps and forums confirm that leaving a car for more than 24 hours is allowed, but drivers complain that they are rarely given a clear total for 2–3 days at the start. One reviewer who parked for around 48 hours said the final amount felt like pure accumulation of hourly slabs instead of a capped multi-day rate, and Reddit threads comparing options say an outstation taxi or app cab for a 3–5 day trip can work out cheaper.
Security here is basic: travellers mention perimeter guards and occasional patrols, but not a fully fenced, patrolled compound, and the lot is open-air with cars tightly packed. A few reviews mention coming back after two or three days to find minor scratches or mirror knocks, with no CCTV or documented handover to prove where it happened. Regular Chennai flyers on r/chennai say they only self-park here for short domestic hops or single overnights, using drivers or city parking plus a cab for longer international trips.
Tip: If you still plan to leave your car more than 24 hours, ask the attendant at entry to walk you through the exact extended-slab calculation for your expected duration and get a rough written figure before you lock up and head to T1, T2 or T4.