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About DIA - Travel Tips

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  Before You Leave for the Airport

Call and check ahead to plan your visit to the airport.

Visit the Transportation Security Administration Web site to learn how to SimpliFLY your overall security experience. Check in online in advance (if your airline offers such service). Call (303) 342-8477 (303 DIA-TIPS) for current wait times at security screening. Call (303) 342-7275 (303 DIA-PARK) for parking space availability. Call (303) 342-4059 for information on taxis, buses, shuttles, and other commercial transportation; or e-mail ground.transportation@diadenver.net

• Short-term parking is available.  If you want to park and enter the facility to pick up or drop off travelers, park in short-term parking on Level 4 of Terminal Garage West or Terminal Garage East for only $3 per hour.
• The $10-per-day Economy West and Economy East lots (located next to the terminal garages) usually fill up first. Get updated information on available parking spaces by visiting our Parking page or by calling (303) 342-7275.
• DIA’s least expensive parking is the $6-per-day Pikes Peak Shuttle Parking. Allow an extra 20 to 30 minutes to get to the lot and catch the free shuttle bus to Jeppesen Terminal, where you will be dropped off at curbside. Free shuttle buses leave for the terminal every 10 minutes.
• Last-minute travelers should be able to find space in the terminal parking garages, which cost $2 per hour or a maximum $18 per day. The garages normally do not fill up during the holidays.
• Overhead electronic signs and variable message boards on inbound Peña Boulevard display real-time parking information.
• Parking or stopping along any airport roadway is illegal and dangerous, and violators are subject to towing and a fine. Curbside parking at Jeppesen Terminal is prohibited.
• The free 45 minute waiting area is also available at the 75th Avenue exit from inbound Peña Boulevard.

  Checking In

The airport recommends that you be in the ticketing lobbies at least two hours before departure, with international travelers allowing even more time. This will give you ample time to check in, pass through security screening and get to your departure gate. Add extra time if you plan to use one of DIA’s shuttle parking lots.

Ticket Counter

• You can save time by using the self-service check-in kiosks, but if you are checking luggage, you still need to stop at the ticket counter.
• You will need a government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport, etc.) to check in at the ticket counter. Ask your airline what its ID requirements are for minors.
• Allow more time if you are traveling with infants, young children, elderly passengers or people with disabilities. Read Traveling With Children for suggestions about traveling with children.
• Never leave your luggage unattended, and never accept any objects from strangers.

Checked Luggage

• Checking luggage at curbside may be faster than checking bags at the ticket counter.
• Check as much luggage as possible to minimize carry-on bags and to speed up security screening. Many airlines charge fees for checking bags.
• Ask your airline how long before departure it stops accepting checked luggage.
• The Transportation Security Administration screens all checked baggage. Unlocked bags can be examined quickly. Locked bags will be opened if necessary, and then be resealed. This process could result in delay or damage to your bag.
• Put identification on the outside and inside of all bags.
• Leave gift packages unwrapped.

Carry On Luggage

• You are allowed one carry-on bag and one personal item (purse, briefcase or laptop). Airlines are enforcing this rule more strictly.  A carry-on bag must fit under your seat or in the aircraft's overhead bin.
• Carry-on bag dimensions should not be more than:

9-inches by 14-inches by 22-inches (length by height by width) or 45 linear inches (the length, height and width added together).

• Check with your airline to learn which items may be exempt from the one-piece limit. Some examples are:
  • Child safety seats for ticketed children
  • Assistive devices (canes, crutches, etc.)
  • Outer garments (coats, hats, etc.)
• Pack medicines (insulin, needles, prescription drugs), diapers, baby food and other essentials in carry-on luggage. Remember that all carry-on bags are subject to random search.

  Passenger Pick-up

A 45-minute waiting area is located on Peña Boulevard approximately three miles from Jeppesen Terminal (just beyond the E-470 overpass on inbound Peña Boulevard). This location is ideal for people who are waiting to pick up arriving travelers and do not want to park and enter the facility. You may park in this waiting area until you make cell phone contact with your party, then drive to the terminal to meet them at a pre-arranged door on "Arrivals," Level 4.  NOTE:  Public telephones are not available in the 45-minute waiting area.

Curbside Pick-up
"Arrivals," Level 4 of Jeppesen Terminal is designated for curbside passenger pick-up. Arriving passengers collect luggage on Terminal Level 5 and take an escalator or elevator down to Level 4, where private automobiles drive through and pick up passengers.  Drivers are not allowed to park and wait for passengers to arrive.  Passengers must be at curbside waiting for their rides.  Any unattended vehicles will be towed immediately.

Drivers should follow the signs on Peña Boulevard to Arrivals either Terminal West or Terminal East, according to airline name. Overhead signs identify airline locations.

Meeting Passengers Inside the Airport
Only ticketed passengers may go to the airline gates. If you need to accompany a traveler who is a minor, an elderly person or an individual with disabilties to or from a gate, ask your airline for a demonstrated-need pass. Demonstrated need must be pre-arranged with the airlines, not the airport.

• Domestic Traveler - After parking in terminal garages or parking lots, we suggest meeting domestic travelers in the Jeppesen Terminal Level 5, at either the train exit or the appropriate baggage-claim carousel.
• International Traveler - To meet passengers who are arriving on a flight from Canada, Europe, or Mexico, go to Level 5 of Jeppesen Terminal. DIA’s International Arrivals area is at the atrium’s north end, near the north security checkpoint and the large bronze statue of aviator Elrey Jeppesen. International passengers will emerge from the Customs and Federal Inspection Services facility here. They will have claimed their bags before going through Customs. Not far from International Arrivals, among the concessions located Terminal West, is a Foreign Currency Exchange. In addition, several ATMs are located throughout Jeppesen Terminal.

  Airport Information and Assistance

Directions and information are available from the airport’s Hospitality Ambassadors or from Guest Services staff in the terminal and concourse information booths. Guest Services can be reached by dialing 303-342-2000, or by calling the airport’s toll-free line, 800-AIR-2-DEN (800-247-2336).

Travelers with special needs, such as oxygen, can make advance arrangements with the airport’s Travelers Assistance Program by calling 303-342-0400.