Terminal 1 Garage

$28 a day buys you the closest self-park to Terminal 1

Two-minute covered walk into STL Terminal 1, elevators straight from the garage into the ticketing level. This is the airport’s short-term / hourly-style garage, sitting at the top of the on-airport price chart with a posted daily cap of $28. If time and staying out of Midwest weather matter more than saving money, this is the spot.

Hourly rates in the Terminal 1 Garage start around $5 for the first 2 hours, then jump to about $10 for 2–4 hours, and continue stepping up until you hit the full-day cap. For pick-ups, quick meetings, or same-day turns under four hours, you usually pay less than the $28 daily max. For anything beyond a day or two, the premium over Super Park and Lot A/C is noticeable.

This garage directly serves Terminal 1, which covers most mainline STL flights, so you skip shuttles completely. The walk from your car to TSA is roughly 2 minutes if you park near the central elevators. Compare that to on-airport economy at $7 per day plus shuttle time, and you see what you’re paying for: proximity and a weather-protected path.

Watch out for: Sunday evenings and major holidays. Reviews say the Terminal 1 Garage can go FULL, even after you’ve pulled a ticket, forcing a loop back out and over to Lot A or C. Spots are tight and ceiling clearance is low, so larger SUVs and trucks may feel squeezed on ramps and corners.

What regulars do: before leaving home, they check the STL site’s “Term 1 Parking Availability” tile. If it shows full or single-digit spaces, they skip the gamble and drive straight to Lot A or C. One last tip: aim for lower levels near the terminal-side elevators; it cuts both walking time and exit time when you’re racing a connection home.