9 hours ago
10
Book early
How much airport parking will cost you depends on several factors – when you book; how close to the airport you want to be; how you book; how long your vehicle will stay in the car park; and which airport you are flying from.
Prices vary widely between different airports. According to figures from the comparison website Confused.com, the average cost for four days in a short-stay car park in England will come in at £110, whereas in Scotland it is £58 and in Wales £88. The car retailer Motorpoint surveyed 25 UK airports for a week’s stay at the beginning of August and found London City the most expensive (£149.50 being the best price) and Teesside the cheapest (£50).
It is best to book as far in advance as possible as prices go up the closer you get to departure and the most expensive option is to simply turn up and park.
Ben Custard of Motorpoint advises booking once you have paid for your holiday. “Space is limited and prices tend to increase as your holiday approaches. You might be able to park for under £10 a day – even in peak season, at some airports,” he says. “They tend to charge considerably more without a reservation, meaning you could find yourself paying double the price advertised online.”
Big airports have multiple car parks – Heathrow has 11 official ones – and prices can differ between each, often depending on how close they are to the terminal, or whether staff park your car for you.
For example, at Stansted for a week in August, it currently costs £138 to drop the car with the “meet and greet” at the terminal, while at the short-stay, a five-minute walk away, it costs £113. Parking in the long-stay section comes in at £98.
Booking through comparison sites can often save you money and MoneySavingExpert offers discount codes.
For that same week at Stansted, booking through the Holiday Extras site costs £111 for “meet and greet”, £96 at the short-stay and £83 at the long-stay. It is worth looking at other comparison sites such as FHR, SkyParkSecure and Airport Parking and Hotels to see what the best price is.
Know the details
Travel plans can change, so it is worth understanding whether you will be able to cancel your booking. Some providers allow this right up to the time when you are due to arrive.
Official parking at Heathrow lets you cancel two hours before without being charged, while Stansted has a 72-hour deadline when you book directly. Comparison sites can include free cancellation with bookings, or you may have to pay extra on top of a booking to get it.
Some airports have a grace period if your flight is delayed arriving back and you pick up your car a few hours later than expected. But it is vital to check as, even within individual airports, different rules can apply to different car parks.
If you are going to park at the long- or medium-stay car parks, factor in the time that it will take to get to the terminal. While buses may be advertised as every 10 or 15 minutes, other people may be lining up when you get to the stop, so you may miss out on the first one.
At London Gatwick, the long-stay car park is 10 minutes from the terminal and buses arrive every 10 minutes. At Stansted, they are every 15 minutes.
Go off-site
Off-site parking is where you can leave your vehicle at a car park outside the airport complex. These are typically run by third-party companies and operate in a similar way, with passengers ferried to the terminal by frequent buses.
They are often cheaper than official airport car parks and a survey by the consumer group Which? last year showed many drivers thought they provided a better service. The best-rated were Sentinel at Leeds Bradford airport and APH at Gatwick and Manchester.
It is important to do some research before signing up to a third party company, however. Which? found that some private “meet and greet” providers – which collect the car from the terminal and then park it themselves off-site – were responsible for petty theft and speeding in the vehicles.
Alternatively, you can avoid car parks altogether and put your vehicle in a private space in front of someone’s home, or on their land.
A number of websites, such as Justpark and Parklet, advertise available spots around airports. In the case of Stansted, car parking for a week in August currently costs between £49 and £97 in the immediate vicinity of the airport on Justpark. But you will have to consider whether you need to get a taxi from the spot you park in. Security will typically not be as good as in a fenced-off car park.
Consider alternatives
Do you need to park at all? Trains, and even taxis, can often work out cheaper than parking the car for your week or two in the sun – although it is worth doing the sums to make sure.
Heathrow is on the Piccadilly and Elizabeth lines while Luton airport is on Thameslink and East Midlands Railway services. Gatwick is connected via Southern, Thameslink and Great Western Railway. TransPennine Express and Northern Rail run trains to and from Manchester airport to Manchester Piccadilly station.
There are also a number of direct services to airports, and prices vary depending on when you book and what type of ticket you need. Stansted Express goes from London Liverpool Street (£29 return in advance); Heathrow Express goes to London Paddington (£37 return in advance) and Gatwick Express to Victoria (£42.70).
If you are travelling as a family with children, the cost of a car park may be a similar, or a less expensive option, once you take into account the cost of getting to the station where the airport train goes from.
Local private taxi companies often offer fixed prices to airports. Coaches, meanwhile, may be one of the cheapest options but can also take longer than getting a train.
Beware drop-off fees
Possibly the cheapest way to get to and from the airport is to rely on the goodwill of others. But getting a lift is not always free because of the high cost of drop-off fees introduced at many airports.
At Southend airport, it costs £7 for just five minutes to pick up and drop off. Go over that time and it will cost £15 (for up to 30 minutes). Research by Select Car Leasing shows that Leeds Bradford International, Gatwick and Bristol airports charge £7 for a drop-off of up to 10 minutes.
However, London City, Exeter International, Inverness, Birmingham International and Newquay Cornwall allow free drop-offs.
