Any Airport Transfers Cost Cutting Tips?

wmat983

We are due to travel in May for 10 nights and travelling from South Wales to London Heathrow, we normally drive as travelled from Cardiff and Bristol in the past. Anyway, the cost of airport parking was coming up around £188, plus I would have to add maybe £40 fuel. 

I got a price on airport transfer and came in at £450 for car so as it stands better off with the airport parking and driving, if a taxi was a bit closer to price would have preferred that but you have to think the Taxi has to drive up and back twice.

I looked at a hire car for day, pick up near me and leave at Heathrow but that came up around £400 just for one day.

I doubt there are any other options but people on here always seem to come up with great travel hacks so thought I would ask, any other options I could consider?

elsien

Are you staying over the night before? Sometimes it can be cheaper to book the hotel and then extend the parking for the time you are away than  to pay for airport parking the whole time.

wmat983

elsien said:

Are you staying over the night before? Sometimes it can be cheaper to book the hotel and then extend the parking for the time you are away than  to pay for airport parking the whole time.

Thanks for your reply, no we weren't planning on staying at a hotel as flight is at 1pm, will just travel up in morning.

davelewis

National Express? I often take it to Heathrow from Swansea. No problem at all. 

ellenvan

Even though you were not planning to stay can be lots cheaper to add parking to hotel room. Worth pricing up.
Also try parking somewhere near but not at Heathrow and finish journey on public transport/taxi

CKhalvashi

davelewis said:

National Express? I often take it to Heathrow from Swansea. No problem at all. 

Or Flixbus, which is generally from about £5pp each way. My only experience with them is between Poland and Ukraine but they're generally reasonably priced, reliable with free WiFi and new buses.

Don't book transport through shyster operators and only through the official bus company website, especially companies like Trainline (who charge an admin fee) or Infobus (that seem to want to expand into the UK, they're a dodgy Czech website whose main purpose is to scam serve Ukrainians). You're also adding a middleman who you'll have to deal with in the event of any problems.

For airport transfers, you may be better off contacting a Bristol-based operator depending on where in S. Wales you are. A quick look from Bristol on our system shows transfers from £142 each way (standard estate car) and Cardiff from £181 from a Bristol-based operator (several national transfer operators are based in Bristol for licensing purposes). A quick Google suggests a number of operators are available for a similar price. The Deregulation Act explicitly allows bookings from outside the area.

Such shuttle operators make their money through low prices both ways and definitely as someone who has both driven taxis for flexibility when starting a business with 2 young kids and later owned an office (close to another airport), Probably about £2/rolling mile after commission is worth hanging around a few hours at Heathrow for.

TELLIT01

That taxi price doesn't surprise me.  Pre-covid and pre massive fuel price increases we typically paid about £130 from Gloucester to either Bristol or Birmingham airport (return).  Checking for this year and the prices are anything from £200 to £280 for the same trip.  Unfortunately it doesn't work out much cheaper to drive and park at the airport.

Doshwaster

ellenvan said:

Even though you were not planning to stay can be lots cheaper to add parking to hotel room. Worth pricing up.
Also try parking somewhere near but not at Heathrow and finish journey on public transport/taxi

Actually I find that the hotels (especially Travelodge and Premier Inns) around the Heathrow perimeter road tend to be some of the cheapest in the area as there is a lot of capacity andcompetition. 

Even if I have a midday flight then I still like getting an airport hotel as it takes the stress out of departure day and reduces the risk of problems on the road or public transport. Plus an extra night away makes your holiday feel as if it is starting earlier.

tightauldgit

I would second doing national express if going to heathrow though I would disagree with the idea of not using a middleman. Last time I took the bus i booked it with getbybus (I think) and it cost me £1. Same fare on National Express site is usually about £15-30 depending on how far in advance you book. 

baser999

welshmatt983 said:

elsien said:

Are you staying over the night before? Sometimes it can be cheaper to book the hotel and then extend the parking for the time you are away than  to pay for airport parking the whole time.

Thanks for your reply, no we weren't planning on staying at a hotel as flight is at 1pm, will just travel up in morning.

Regardless of the time of your flight, it can sometimes be cheaper to book airport hotel accommodation that allows you to park for the period you’re away; travel night before, stay over and then subject to the time you get back either stay over or pick car up and drive home. Saves a lot of hassle, traffic delays on the day of your flight etc 

jimi_man

Use Justpark. It's a parking app where you leave your car on someone's driveway. I've used it before many times and it's very good. Depending which terminal you are going from, there are a range of places from about £70-100 for 10 days in May. Then just jump on a bus to the terminal (the bus service around Heathrow is pretty good).