Parking at LAX in long-term parking lot C costs $12 a day, but most travelers don't consider a potentially costly additional expense: their cars can potentially be towed or cited.
Tickets in that lot aren't rare - in 2012 and the first three months of this year, police issued 940 citations in the parking lot.
About 51 percent of the tickets were for expired registration. Improperly attached tags accounted for 39 percent of the tickets and another 7 percent were for improper license plate display.
Police towed 108 vehicles, 84 percent of them for expired registration.
Olivia Duke, an Angeleno who went on an extended trip to visit a sick relative, ended up leaving her car there for a month and a half.
Soon after she parked, she received a $50 ticket for having expired tags. Because she didn't pay the ticket within 21 days - despite the fact that she was gone and had no idea she received a ticket - the fine increased to $135.
Add that to her $550 in parking fees.
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"I was truly devastated," Duke said. "Had I known what I know now, I would never park at LAX city parking structures anymore."
There are no posted signs at the parking lot notifying travelers that they could be subject to citations. LAX Police Chief Patrick Gannon told NBC4 he would consider posting signs.
