Valet parking tickets

What each part of the ticket is for

Ticket stock is sold by part count, and the part count is a decision about what you want recorded, not about how much paper you like.

• Two part. A guest stub and a key tag. The stub proves the claim, the tag ties the key to the hook. This is the minimum that works.
• Three part. Adds a windshield or dash copy, so the number is visible through the glass and a runner can find the car in a dark lot without opening anything.
• Four part. Adds a file or damage copy that stays with you. A four part ticket printed with a car damage diagram is the one that records the vehicle's condition at drop-off, which is the only version of that record you will have if a guest calls back two days later.

Most operators who have had one bad claim move to four part and stay there. The price difference across a thousand tickets is smaller than the cost of a single argument about a scratch nobody wrote down.

Numbering and hook matching

Stock tickets come numbered, typically 000 to 999 within each thousand. The number is the whole system: it appears on the guest stub, on the key tag and on the dash copy, and it is the number the attendant hangs the key under on the board. Guest hands back a stub, attendant reads the number, key comes off that hook, car comes back.

The failure mode is two open books carrying the same number range on the same night. It happens when a second stand opens, or when someone grabs a fresh pack out of the van mid-shift. Two cars hang under hook 214 and the system stops being a system. Work one book at a time per stand, keep the next book sealed until the current one is finished, and if you run two stands at one venue, keep their books in different number ranges and note which range belongs to which stand.

How many tickets do you need

Here is a simple method. Multiply cars per shift by shifts per week by the number of weeks of supply you want to hold. Add roughly 10 percent for spoilage, the voided, torn, rained-on and miswritten tickets that never make it onto a hook. Then round up to the next thousand, because that is how stock is sold.

Worked through with real numbers: a restaurant stand parking about 60 cars a night, five nights a week, holding twelve weeks of supply. 60 times 5 is 300 tickets a week. 300 times 12 is 3,600. Add 10 percent for spoilage and that is 3,960. Round up and you order 4,000.

Two adjustments are worth making before you place the order. If you run events, add the event nights separately rather than averaging them in, because a single 400 car night eats more than a normal week. And if the price break at 10,000 is meaningful to you, it is usually worth taking as long as the stock is not custom printed with something that might change, like a phone number or a venue name.

The cars-per-shift figure is the input everything else depends on. If you are estimating it rather than counting it, how many valet attendants you need works through the same volume math from the staffing side.

Stock or custom

Stock tickets are numbered, generic and ship immediately. Custom tickets carry your company name, and sometimes a venue's, plus whatever wording you want on the back. The trade is a setup charge on the first run and a lead time measured in weeks rather than days.

Order in larger lots and the per-thousand price drops sharply: buying in a lot of ten thousand costs meaningfully less per thousand than buying one thousand at a time. That is the argument for custom, since you are already committing to a run. The argument against is that anything printed on the ticket is frozen for as long as the stock lasts, so keep phone numbers and venue names off it unless you are certain.

Disclaimer wording on the back

Most valet tickets carry a few lines on the reverse. The common ones say that the ticket is a receipt rather than a contract of insurance, ask the guest not to leave valuables or items in the car, and state a time limit for making a claim.

What that wording actually does is a different question, and the honest answer is that it varies. Whether a disclaimer limits anything depends on your state's law and on the terms of the venue contract you signed, and those two can point in different directions. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Have your own attorney or your broker read the wording before you print ten thousand of them, because the text is frozen once it is on the stock.

Two pieces of background are worth reading first: what happens if a valet damages your car covers what guests expect and what typically happens, and garage keepers liability explained covers the cover that sits behind the ticket.

Chicago ticket stock

Chicago regulates valet ticket stock by municipal code, which is why suppliers sell Chicago-code ticket stock as a separate product line. If you operate in Chicago, buy stock made for it and confirm the current requirements with the city before you order, because the code text is the authority and it changes independently of anything a supplier's catalog says.

That is the only city named on this page. We make no claim about what any other city requires on a ticket. The permit side of the same picture is covered in how to start a valet parking business .

Ticketless systems

Ticketless valet exists as a category: SMS retrieval, where the guest texts to request the car, and app-based check-in that replaces the paper stub with a phone. It changes the guest experience and it changes what your record looks like afterwards. We are writing that comparison separately rather than half-covering it here, and it names no product either way.

One thing is worth saying now. Paper stays the fallback. Phones die, signals drop inside parking structures, and a guest who booked through the venue may not have the app. Every ticketless stand still needs a book of numbered tickets in the drawer.

Coat check tickets

Coat check tickets are a different, seasonal product with their own numbering and are not interchangeable with valet stock.

What tickets cost

The three part stock sitting below the two part is not a misprint, it is what the published prices looked like when they were checked. Part count and price do not track each other neatly across suppliers, so compare on the same part count rather than assuming more parts always costs more.

Common questions

How many parts do I need?

Two part runs a stand. Three part makes retrieval faster in a dark lot. Four part with a damage diagram is the one that records condition at drop-off, and that is the part most worth paying for.

Can I print my own tickets?

You can, and a thermal printer will produce a numbered slip on demand. What home printing does not give you easily is carbonless multi-part stock and a sequential number you cannot restart by accident. Most operators print their own only as a supplement.

What does the disclaimer on the back actually do?

It depends on your state's law and on the venue contract, which is a genuine "it depends" rather than a dodge. Get the wording reviewed by your own counsel or broker before it goes to print.

What does the number on a valet ticket mean?

It is the match between the guest's stub, the key tag on the board and, on three or four part stock, the copy in the car. It is not an inventory or a fee code. It exists so one key finds one car.

Paper tickets or a ticketless system?

Ticketless systems replace the stub with a text message and the hook number with a record on a phone or tablet, and they usually add card tips and damage photos on top. They cost a monthly fee and depend on a signal at the stand. Paper costs cents per car and never loses connectivity. Many operators run both: paper as the fallback book in the podium, ticketless as the day-to-day flow once a site is steady enough to justify the subscription. Start on paper, and switch when the volume makes the fee small.

Related guides

• Valet key boxes and key stands: the hooks those ticket numbers have to match.
• The rest of the valet kit: thermal ticket printers, radios, cones and the damage-check kit.
• Valet parking equipment: the full checklist and the buy-first order.

Running a valet company already? List your company in the directory so people searching for valet service in your city can reach you.

Last updated 2026-09-22.