Man Charged Nearly $20,000 for Short Parking at Denver Airport Due to System Error

A man from Colorado was unexpectedly billed almost $20,000 after parking for less than 30 minutes at Denver International Airport (DIA), highlighting a recent series of parking system glitches.

Jim Boyd parked his vehicle in DIA’s garage for 27 minutes while dropping off his wife for her flight to Germany. The expected parking fee was just $7. However, when he exited, his credit card was charged $19,824.

Boyd recounted hearing a bank notification about the charge as he left, which prompted concern. His receipt revealed the system mistakenly recorded his entry date as June 6, almost four months prior, with the system claiming his vehicle had been parked over 169,000 minutes. Boyd confirmed he was not at DIA during that time.

Airport authorities explained the error resulted from a glitch that misidentified his license plate, which differed from another vehicle’s by only a single character—a “B” instead of an “8”.

Upon discovering the mistake, DIA promptly collaborated with its parking contractor, LAZ Parking, to reverse the incorrect charge as well as Boyd’s actual parking fee, issuing a full refund on the same day.

This incident is not isolated; DIA reported four similar cases since June 1. Previously, a driver was incorrectly billed over $2,300 for over two months of parking due to a system error involving an unclosed entry ticket.

The airport attributes recent improvements to its parking system vendor, Flash Parking, which has successfully corrected the bugs and deployed updates across all kiosks. DIA emphasizes that such glitches are rare, citing the approximately 1.5 million transactions since June with only a handful of errors.

Boyd expressed concern over potential financial strain had he not had sufficient credit. DIA advises travelers to verify charges carefully and report any discrepancies by canceling, rescanning, or seeking assistance.

The airport plans to implement a new camera-based system within six months to better differentiate vehicles and prevent future misidentifications.

While Boyd plans to pick up his wife in two weeks, he admits that the experience has made him cautious about returning to the garage, emphasizing the importance of vigilance during parking transactions.