The Locals' Rate at Jackson Hole Airport Takes Thursdays Through Saturdays Off This Winter

The first of this season's peak blocks at Jackson Hole Airport begins Saturday, Nov. 21, and runs through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. For those nine days, a resident enrolled in the JAC Parking Program pays the same $35 a day as everyone else in the main and overflow lots. On any ordinary day the program rate is $17.

After the holidays the pattern changes. From early January into mid-March, the peak dates come back every week, and they come back on the same three days: Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The airport's locals' discount still exists this winter, but on the airport's calendar it is mostly a Sunday-through-Wednesday rate.

Two Rates and One Calendar

The rates come from Resolution 2026-04, which the Jackson Hole Airport Board adopted on June 17, 2026. It took effect July 1 and covers the fiscal year through June 2027. In the main and overflow lots, the first 1.5 hours are free. Five to 24 hours costs $25 on a regular day, $35 on a peak date, and $17 for a vehicle checked in under the JAC Parking Program. The resolution also says plainly that program pricing is not available on peak period dates.

Here are the peak dates for the rest of the 2026-27 season, as printed on the airport's parking page, with the days of the week added:

That comes to 71 peak days between now and early April. In the 10 weeks from January 7 to March 13, a resident leaving on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday gets the $17 rate on the day of departure. Leaving on a Thursday or Friday, or flying home on a Saturday, does not. The parking page is the place to confirm how the airport bills a trip that starts before a peak block and ends inside one.

Why the Blocks Fall on Thursdays

The airport explains the peak periods in one sentence: program pricing is unavailable "due to high parking demand during busier travel times." The flight schedule shows where that demand comes from.

According to the airport's Winter 2026/2027 flight schedule, winter nonstop service begins on December 17 for Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Newark, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle and two of the Los Angeles routes. Atlanta, Minneapolis, San Diego, Washington Dulles and Delta's Los Angeles flight start on December 19. December 19 is also the first day of the holiday peak block.

The new routes follow the same weekend pattern. Washington Dulles on United is listed as Saturday service starting December 19. Jackson Hole Air Improvement Resources described it as a "new request" in its August application to the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission for a minimum revenue guarantee covering December 2026 through March 2027. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort's air travel page calls Boston United's first-ever nonstop to Jackson. It runs on Saturdays from February 13 to March 20, 2027. All six of those Saturdays fall on a peak parking date: Feb. 13, 20 and 27, March 6 and 13, and March 20, the first day of the spring block.

So a resident who books the new Boston flight will be parking at $35 a day, at least on the day they leave.

What the Gap Adds Up To

The difference is $18 a day, and it grows with the length of the trip. At the posted 5-to-24-hour rates for 2026-27:

• One day: $17 on the program rate, $25 regular, $35 peak.
• A week: $119 at $17, $175 at $25, $245 at $35.
• The full 16-day holiday block: $560 at the peak rate, where the program rate would have come to $272.

The short-term lot at the south end of the terminal is not the way around this. It is free for 1.5 hours and then costs $15, $30 and $60 for the next three hours, rising to $100 for 4 to 24 hours. The airport says it is not meant for overnight parking. The 1.5 free hours in the main and overflow lots are there for pickups and drop-offs.

Program members also get $5 off each Uber or Lyft ride to or from the airport. The airport's transportation page lists a $10 TaxiPool discount on posted fares, with Uber and Lyft pickups at the north island.

The Lot Mostly Belongs to Locals

For the last three winters there was another option. START's airport shuttle ran from town to the terminal as a three-year pilot from the town, county, airport and Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board. Last season it ran from Dec. 13, 2025, to April 6, 2026, leaving Miller Park every hour from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and stopping at the Antler Inn, Deloney and Home Ranch. The adult fare was $10.

The Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that the airport lots reached capacity on four days in 2023-24, five days in 2024-25 and one day in 2025-26. Airport communications chief Jeremy Barnum told the paper the drop was likely because the airport freed up more parking spaces and made other operational changes, and he noted that last winter was a low-snow year. He also told the paper, "People who park at the airport are locals." Barnum told KHOL that the airport had not seen the shuttle directly free up parking, though he considers the pilot a success. The News&Guide article put the shuttle's average ridership last winter at 61 people a day and its cost at about $44.50 per passenger. That is far above START's town shuttle, which costs $5.50 per passenger.

In April, START director Mike Toronto recommended pausing the service. He explained his reasons to KHOL:

"It didn't reach the riders per day, average riders per season. And it didn't reach the cost per passenger, the farebox recovery goals."

KHOL also reported that the biggest complaint from locals was that there was no free place to park near the in-town pickup stops. The News&Guide reported that the Town of Jackson and Teton County make the final decision on the shuttle. On August 31, the two boards met jointly about START's budget gap and directed staff to study fare increases and service reductions. Those motions did not address the airport route. The airport's shuttle page still describes the season that ended April 6.

Taken together, this explains the calendar. The lot fills on only a handful of days each winter, and the people parking in it are mostly residents. The peak dates price the days most likely to be among them, and the weekly blocks fall on the days visitor flights arrive. A resident's parking cost now depends more on which day they leave than on how long they stay.

Getting the Code Before Nov. 21

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26, inside the first peak block, so the program rate won't help with that trip. It applies again from Nov. 30 to Dec. 18, and in the open weeks that follow, as long as the code is set up.

Eligibility is shown on the airport's eligibility map. The shaded areas qualify, and a circle marks 50 miles from Jackson. The registration form asks for a name, phone, email and a physical street address. PO boxes are not accepted, and each registration covers one person. The airport asks applicants to allow 72 hours for processing.

Once you're approved, the airport emails a personal QR code. Scan it at the kiosk before taking an entry ticket, because scanning it afterward does not apply the discount. The code can be used again and again, but it covers only one vehicle in the lot at a time, it cannot be shared, and it does not apply to a vehicle taking up more than one stall. In a household with two drivers leaving on different days, each driver needs their own registration.

The airport's off-season gets quiet in mid-November. Our look at Jackson's nine quietest days ended on Nov. 18, three days before the first parking peak begins. For more on how the valley runs from season to season, see our Teton County guide and Jackson lifestyle guide.

At The Legacy Group, many of our clients split their time between Jackson Hole and somewhere else, and a lot of that travel goes through the terminal on Spring Gulch's side of the valley. If you're timing a move, a closing or a seasonal arrival around this winter's flight calendar, we're glad to help you plan it. Work With Us.