Great Cheap Airport Parking Hunt merged threads

Mary_Hartnell

mattyh wrote:

It could be cheaper to go to the airport by taxi - it definately was for me (and a lot less bother too!)

If they cover your area it's worth looking at https://www.airportbytaxi.com - you click on your nearest town, and they give you an instant quote for how much it'll cost from real minicab firms that have submitted their example fares.

Hi fellow money saving experts,
Here are a few thoughts gathered from a lifetime of catching planes:
At commercial airports (ie not some of the landing strips used by Ryanair) there is a heirarchy of transport options.
As mr executive encumbered with lap top and duty frees escapes from customs, the sliding doors present him with option 1:
rank of taxis. Ok they are real taxis with a lit sign reading "TAXI", almost new, probably wheel chair friendly, fitted with a meter, licenced and examined by the local authority; their uniformed drivers have been vetted and probably examined for local knowledge. If they are all from the same firm, the airport authority has charged them a huge fee to be allowed to rank outside. They will charge you an arm and a leg.
Option 2 is a premium public transport offering, such as Gatwick Express, Heathrow Express or an air conditioned coach. If there is more than one person in the party this is likely to be the second most expensive option for getting to town.
Option 3 is an ordinary bus or train into the local town or village; all airports have them so that the staff can get to work; though they might be hidden somewhere round the back - ask at "Information", they should have some leaflets. Gatwick has cheaper train operators. Heathrow has a tube connection and lots of buses, it is probably cheaper to go and "do" Oxford by coach and then catch the "Megabus" back into London, than to catch the Heathrow Express. The ordinary bus/train is probably the cheapest
option for a couple of back packers - and I'm proud to be a pensioner back packer.
Option 4 is to go and get a private hire car. These have to be booked. So if you have not booked the return journey in advance, hit the mobile phone as soon as you leave the plane. If you have booked in advance there should be a driver with a sign waiting for you at the barrier. Private hire cars come in
different prices, ages and qualities.
The vehicles and/or the drivers may or may not have been vetted by a local authority. If you are worried ask to see badges and more importantly evidence of "hire and reward" insurance. This option competes with parking the family car for a fortnight for medium distance journeys (say up to 100 miles).
Remember driving the family car costs fuel, wear and tear, and the risk of a claim on your insurance as you get stressed and carved up on overloaded motorways to the airport. When it all grinds to a stand still, your driver should know some of the "back doubles" to get you there. If there are five of you, the family car may come into its own again, as a minibus taking 8 passengers tends to cost half as much again as a 4 passenger car.
There is a final option - respond to a spiv who sidles up asking if you need a cab. You are taking a chance, you might well end up with an uninsured economic migrant who can't speak English and tries to drive and read the AtoZ at the same time. This is more of an option in central London on a wet Friday night Make sure you agree the fare in advance and it is the big rugby player who gets out last !

My most recent experience of park and fly was 5 days (4 nights) at Gatwick booked over the net at https://www.connectcarrental.com with ADS Parking for 34 GBP last April. (That is interesting Google still has a cached version of this site but the real thing is not available - are they heading down the tubes or just doing maintenance ?) Everything went according to plan, the car was taken off us in exchange for a receipt and a carbon of a plan, showing any damage, at 11:00 on a Sunday morning. It was promptly delivered back to us at the terminal at 20:00 on the following Thursday. However there was one glitch. We got to Gatwick, after driving about 50 miles, in good time and found ourselves in the car park of the deserted "Flight Tavern" pub, south of the airport.
The appointed pick-up time came and went. A mobile phone call elicited the response. "Oh didn't we tell you; we don't pick up people there anymore - stay where you are, we will come and get you."

To the moneysavingexperts who had their bridge toll money stolen, I would say I would not leave a packet of fags or a box of CD's in the car, let alone ready cash.

To the person who found the handbrake left off, I would say quite right. I have always driven a modest second hand car (let someone else pay the depreciation) and often simply fitted a chain and pad lock clearly over the steering wheel having parked it in a side street within reach of the airport. It is not so easy to park on the street these days, there are yellow lines everywhere. I've had two near misses, both back in the 70's and both in the
back streets of Hounslow and both after a 2 week stint of working abroad. In one case my car was one of only 3 left in the crowded road. It was Sunday and a notice on the windscreen from the local authority said the vehicle would be removed on the Monday morning if its owner had not removed it before, as the road was to be painted with yellow lines. In the second
occasion, I got the engine started but the car would not move. One of its rear drum brakes had rusted on. Fortunately I found a DIY road side mechanic, who came to my rescue and demonstrated how to remove the wheel, loosen the retaining screws and bash the drum with a copper hammer (in exchange for some duty free cigarettes which seemed a fair swap). The
message is: turn the wheels to the curb, or chock them with a lump of wood and leave it in reverse gear.

Let me finish with the memory of just how much fares from the airport can vary:
A dozen years ago, we went as a family of 4 for a two week holiday in Santiago Cuba. A friend dropped us off at Stansted at the start of the holiday but was at work when we arrived back.
In Cuba there were 4 types of vehicles on the road, recognised by the colour of their number plates.
The state had invested in Toyota people carriers as taxis. You could haggle a fare with these drivers but they were not cheap. When the meter got to about half the agreed fare, the driver would switch it off, so it was pretty obvious that half the fare was going in his pocket.
We soon learned where to find a "Taxi Particulair" (As you can see I don't speak Spanish). This would be a sad old Russian car with an unreadable name (Cyrillic ?). Its Cuban owner could not drive you round all day as he could not get the petrol but he would be happy to be at your command all day for about 10 dollars - an interesting experience.
On arriving back at Stansted we approached a taxi on the rank: "How much for a taxi to S.Essex ?" Oh about 40 quid "I've been on holiday for 2 weeks and 28 hours of flying and you want to charge me almost 10 percent of the cost of my holiday for a 40 minute car ride ?".
Ten minutes of phone calls and a bit of haggling got an offer from deepest Thurrock to do the journey for 14 GBP.
Perhaps I got lucky and found someone who had just dropped off and was on his way back empty. Mind you the car was far from new, the seats were covered with furry covers (to disguise something unspeakable a late night drunk had done ?) and the choke was held half out by a clothes peg. The driver was not too clear about where he was going, but we were, so no problem there. Yes he got a tip and I've no idea what sort of insurance he had.
These days I tend to use INTACAB, from Laindon. (01268 545454) They seem to be small enough to care but big enough to cope with a 24/7 service and no niggles about "extras".
Regular adverts in one of the freebie newspapers promote their modern Vectra cars and usually come with a 10 percent off voucher from their standard single GBP fares of:
38 for City Apt.
42 for Stansted.
58 for Gatwick
60 for Luton
72 for Heathrow

Mind you perhaps we should all drive to our destination and try to save the planet, not just the money.
I'm sure I read somewhere that surface travel saves 95 percent of the fuel used for air travel.
Anyone for a cheap Channel Tunnel ticket ?
Mary.

CAHA

If flying from Heathrow or Gatwick I normally use hotel websites that have a price matching policy...Hilton or Sheraton for example...always seem to get a good deal...have 15 days parking and one nights accommodation for £95 at the Sheraton Heathrow this weekend...I always use http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/ in the first instance to establish a baseline...

gromituk

Take a motorcycle to the airport!

Free parking in short term (close to the terminal), under cover unless you're very unlucky (or at Luton!).

More reliable than a car/taxi (traffic jams) or public transport (sadly).

You can get your holiday stuff in a large rucksack and store your bike gear in panniers or top box. The helmet can go on the chain used to secure the bike, or you can take it with you as hand luggage (it's an item of safety equipment so they can't insist on putting it in the hold if you have other hand luggage). But get there another way if it's raining - your gear will be rather ripe on your return if it's been stewing for two weeks in a sealed box.

HoneyPhilip

applehead wrote:

Anndim - Anyone know about Bristol please?


We always park here :-

http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/oldchaffmill.html

There is a pub at the bottom of the hill about 1/2 mile from Bristol Airport - I think it is the Airport 'somthing' (maybe Inn?). Secure parking, free shuttle bus, and they will valet your car as well. Better value than Silver in my experience.

Biggles

After waiting for the Heathrow Hoppa on our last holiday, I wish Maple Manor had an office at Heathrow.

We now only use Meet & Greet for any stay over 3 or 4 days (up to that, we leave in the short stay parking).

It isn't the cheapest option but it's by far the most convenient. We decided we'd had quite enough of lugging our bags onto shuttle buses and standing for 15 minutes or more while it hurtles around the various car parks.

APH do Meet & Greet at Heathrow, and you get the AA member's discount if you book via their website.

deejaygee_2

still accepting code at 18.15 2/11/2005

bloaty

pikaju wrote:

Hi All - I'm new to this chat forum thing, but finally registered after seeing this thread!

Whenever I've parked at Manchester airport I've left my car at clough bank farm. They've now gone upmarket and got a website (hope that hasn't pushed the prices up) http://www.cloughbankcarstorage.co.uk.

They are basically a farm near the runway by providing parking and mini-bus transfers (they leave as soon as you are ready and you just call them once you have your luggage and they come and pick you up!).

A couple of weeks ago I parked at Regent Lodge Hotel - it's nothing special but parking for a week, transfers, a nights accommodation and full english for two was £80, not bad considering we were landing quite late and parking alone was around £60 - sometimes lifesaving has to come before money saving and I figured driving home late after a long flight wasn't a good idea!

Hope that's of some use!

Pikaju



The

Am I right in thinking from your post above that the night's accommodation can be taken at the end of the holiday, not just at the start?

I have often wondered if this could be done but never enquired.

Regards

bloaty

Hi

I work for the NHS but I am not aware of this website.

Do you have the www. please.

Regards

marion715

At Manchester I found the cheapest parking to be the Airport Shuttle, just 1.5miles from airport. Only £30 for 8 days. This is a new service run by Manchester Airport and is very good.

Bathsheba

bloaty wrote:

Am I right in thinking from your post above that the night's accommodation can be taken at the end of the holiday, not just at the start?

I have often wondered if this could be done but never enquired.

Regards

I have booked hotels with parking several times with Holiday Extras. They usually seem to be the best value, certainly for Heathrow and Gatwick. If you book online, the assumption is that you have your night then park, in that order. However, you can do the booking over the phone and explain that you want it in reverse order. For some obscure reason not all hotels appear to offer this option, but it can be done!