Airports Charging for Pick Ups - What can we do about it?

MrSmartprice

bagand96 wrote: »

They charge £1 if you want to drive up to the terminal. They have another facility whereby you can park in a long stay for 30 minutes for free, and get the free bus down to the terminal to collect people.

In fact there is an even better system. Drop off or collect your passengers from International station, avoiding all the airport traffic, and the passengers can get the free 2 minute monorail right into the middle of terminal one.

The charge at Birmingham is just a nasty little scam. In reality it has been a nightmare there for years as over zealous parking Stasi were upon you in seconds, even at quiet times. We have done the dropoffs at the station and used Maglev for years, since you can park in the short stay by the bus stop without any hassle.

Birmingham is a lousy airport, and although it is our closest we much prefer Coventry or East Midlands. They are much better organised and seem to employ proper staff. At Brum you are lucky if you can find anyone who speaks English!

anley1

Hammer

You're so right, and it's sort of funny to see how so many people believe the terrorist angle as an excuse for profitering.

I just hope that nobody ever blows up a bus/tube/train in or around an airport. I mean, it's all been done before - just not at an airport.

chika

Tbh I was speaking about Manchester when I mentioned the terrorist threat. You could drive right up to the terminal and jump out of the car before the glasgow incident.

As said before at the end of the day an airport isnt a freebie paid for by the government its a business and businesses exist to make profit! Strange but true.

tomstickland

A bit of planning and a bit of walk is probably a solution. Get someone to drop you off at some other convenient point and walk in.
If you're collecting then don't stop until you see the people you're collecting.
All a load of hassle, and the economics might make paying £1 seem worth it.

anley1

Mark my words, it won't be long before the public transport routes into airports start charging and extra £1-£5 per ticket as a 'anti-terrorist surcharge' to 'help' pay for extra security etc.

Well, that will be the spin anyway. But in reality it will be just another way to squeeze just a touch more profit out of all of us without having to actually raise the 'travelling' price of the fare.

This step will likely com around because if the companies see charging working for cars (ie, 95% of people will pay because they have no real choice and it's not that much money) they won't be able to resit the potential profits from other forms of transport.

This is how the game is played these days - Pure greed............