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Free Airport Parking at 50% — Unlimited at the Airport, Seven Days at the Cruise Terminal

A veteran with a service-connected rating of at least 50% may be eligible for free parking at Louisiana airports for any length of time, and for free parking at the Port of New Orleans cruise terminal for seven days. Both need a form certified by a veterans assistance counsellor; the cruise terminal additionally needs a military honors licence plate.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A veteran with a service-connected rating of at least 50% may be eligible for free parking at Louisiana airports for any length of time, and for free parking at the Port of New Orleans cruise terminal for seven days. Both need a form certified by a veterans assistance counsellor; the cruise terminal additionally needs a military honors licence plate.

What it's worth: Airport parking free for any length of time; cruise terminal parking free for seven days

  • No amount is claimed because the parking rate differs by airport and by car park. On a long trip the airport limb is the larger of the two, because it is not capped by time.
  • The department says requirements may vary by airport, so this is a benefit to confirm with the specific airport before relying on it.
  • The seven-day cruise terminal limb is a cap, not a per-day allowance — a longer cruise means paying for the balance.

Who is entitled to it

  • The certified form is issued to the rated veteran.
  • Your rating meets the 50% gate.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Before you travel — the itinerary is part of what is presented
  1. 1Get the form certified first. The department requires a form certified by one of its veterans assistance counsellors for both the airport and the cruise terminal, so this is not something to sort out at the barrier.
  2. 2For the airport, bring the certified form and your itinerary. The benefit as published is free parking for any length of time, which is unusual — most parking concessions cap the days.
  3. 3For the Port of New Orleans cruise terminal you need two things, not one: the certified form AND a military honors licence plate. Turning up with the form alone is the common failure here.
  4. 4Ring the airport before you travel. The department states in terms that requirements may vary by airport, so the certified form is the state-level part and the airport sets the rest.
  5. 5If you do not yet hold a military honors plate, do that before booking a cruise — a veteran rated 50% or above may qualify for a disabled veterans plate or a military honors plate at the motor vehicle office.
  6. 6A Veterans Parish Service Office is the single point for all of this. The department runs at least one in every parish and they certify the form.
Form
A parking form certified by a veterans assistance counsellor
File with
A Veterans Parish Service Office to certify the form; then the airport or the Port of New Orleans
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
At each renewal
Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.
CorrectionThese are two different benefits with two different proofs, and they are usually run together as one. The airport limb needs a counsellor-certified form and an itinerary and is not limited by time. The cruise terminal limb needs a counsellor-certified form AND a military honors licence plate, and stops at seven days. A veteran who has the plate but no certified form, or the form but no plate, will be short of what the cruise terminal asks for.
Worth knowingThe gate is 50% service connected, not a total rating — the same threshold that opens the free hunting and fishing licences and the state park day-use exemption. A veteran at 50% who assumes the parking is a 100% benefit is leaving it unclaimed.
Known gapThe department says requirements may vary by airport and names no airport. Which Louisiana airports honour it, what each of them asks for at the barrier, and whether any of it rests on statute rather than on airport policy were all unverified this session — the state statute server does not answer from here and no airport authority page was read.

Sources

Why only one source type: The department is the only body that publishes the concession as a statewide benefit; individual airport authorities publish their own rules and were not read this session, and the state statute server does not answer from here.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.