Birmingham airport - car/parking or train? Getting in a muddle!

ChasingtheWelshdream

I have not been on a flight for many, many years and am getting myself in a bit of a muddle with logistics!

I am flying from Birmingham with my son at 6am next week, so I presume I need to be there by 4am, and being 2.5 hours away I decided to book a hotel the night before. The parking looked horrendous prices at first glance (£105) so I thought I'd get the train (£21-each way).

I looked at the Travelodge as the cheapest (£31), but the reviews say you can't get the shuttle bus unless you are parked in the car park and a taxi is £15-20. The next hotel (Holiday Inn?) has its own shuttle bus, but doesn't operate until 5am.

I've heard there are long queues now, and didn't want to panic about time so I booked the Ibus Budget next to the terminal - £63 - as I can walk in. This is non-refundable as it saved me £5.

However, now looking at train tickets, I have to get an advance ticket for specific trains or the cost goes up significantly - up to £78 each way on the day.  My worry is that I don't know what train to book for my return. They are hourly and my flight is due at 14:30, but I have no idea how long it takes to get through these days. 

If miss my train and have to buy a new ticket, I would end up paying more than if I had just added parking/hotel as an add-on to my holiday (£120 - I only found this out just now!).

I wondered about just driving anyway and parking in the train car park, which I can pre-book for £37.50. But, it won't let me book beyond 11:30 on the day of my return, when I guess I would need at least 4pm?  It just says that pre-booking is sold out but spaces may be available on the day. I don't know whether to risk it or not.

I feel that I have been trying to chase the odd £ savings that I am now making everything much more difficult for myself. 

So I guess my question is, do I pre-book train tickets and hope nothing makes us miss the train, or do I drive instead and park at the station, but risk there not being enough spaces?

JGB1955

For an early start like that I would choose to drive and park in NCP5, booked via various websites - less than £100 for a week.  Since you're now committed to Ibis Budget I would stick with that and add on the NCP5 parking.  If you decide to go by train, book flexible tickets for the homeward trip - the £78  you quote is less than the cost of parking....

EDIT - have you looked at splitting your rail ticket to the airport?  Could save a fair amount.  I can get from London to home for £19.10 whilst the standard price is more than double that.

ChasingtheWelshdream

I haven’t looked at splitting no actually, so I will have a hunt around.

Do you think the station parking is a non-starter? 

It’s annoying that I can pre-book up until 11:30am no problem, but not after that. I don’t know what happens if you overstay, or if there are likely to be enough spaces to just turn up on the day. I wouldn’t be arriving until 8pm ish so after rush hour.

Voyager2002

If you decide to do it by train, what I do is book a train sufficiently late to allow for a three-hour flight delay. If your flight is that late then you are likely to get sufficient compensation to pay for new train tickets. And bring a good book or something to pass the time while waiting for your train if the flight is on time.

ChasingtheWelshdream

Using split fares, I have just found an open return for £49 or £67 depending on which station I leave from (both are 40 minutes drive away) which makes it much easier!

SiliconChip

ChasingtheWelshdream said:

I am flying from Birmingham with my son at 6am next week, so I presume I need to be there by 4am

I haven't been there since I gave up flying 5 years ago but friends who had a 05:55 flight last week were queueing outside the airport by 03:00 and still had to run to get to their gate on time. Apparently the airport is currently a gigantic mess, and those in the know have recommended not using Birmigham at all until the issues are resolved (not a help those like you who have already booked their travel, but possibly useful for those still to book).

See this recent thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6533663/delays-at-birmingham-airport-any-end-in-sight#latest

ChasingtheWelshdream

Yeah, it doesn’t bode well.

We can check in our luggage the night before which I hope will help a little, and having the Ibis hotel saves us waiting for the shuttle buses. Still dreading it slightly though…

badger09

Hope I’m not too late….
We fly regularly from BHX and often stay in one of the Ibis hotels the night before early flight. They’re only a few mins walk from terminal though with the current work & ongoing check in delays I’d allow 3 - 3.5hours. 

Re the train, we’ve had a few return flight delays & never had a problem travelling home on a later train than the one we had booked. 

ChasingtheWelshdream

Not too late, we travel tomorrow. 

I have checked in online and got my boarding passes. I went for an open return in the end so the plan is to get the bus tomorrow afternoon, arriving at the airport about 8pm to check our suitcases in. Then early night at the Ibis and aim to be in the queue for 3:15am (bleughh). 

In total, it is costing me more than if I had just added on the parking/hotel as a holiday extra. Oh well!

I am just checking the hand-luggage list. I didn't realise roll-on/spray deodorant is classed as liquid so I need to pop to the shops tomorrow morning for a stick type, so we have something for Tuesday morning at the hotel. 

badger09

Looks like you’re sorted. 

I don’t know how far you’re travelling to BHX, but sounds like a long journey. We get there a bit earlier but don’t bother trying to get a meal as I need Gluten Free & it’s virtually impossible @ BHX or hotel. Instead we buy picnic stuff from M&S, with a beer & mini wine, that’s the start of our holiday. 

The Ibis Budget is very basic but ok for 1 night. Watch your head if you’re in a triple room with bunk bed.  

Enjoy your trip!

ChasingtheWelshdream

So we're back. :-)

Everything went smoothly and I learned a couple of things for (if) there is another time.

Ibis Budget:

Very much budget, but perfectly functional for one night, and only a couple of minutes walk from the airport entrance.  The surprise was the lack of bathroom walls! The sink is in the room, and the shower door opens directly into the room, which is rather awkward as a mum sharing with a teenage son... I actually thought there wasn't a loo for a few minutes as it appears to be in a cupboard. I can only suppose it makes the overall room footprint smaller, and therefore they can fit more guests in. Tea/coffee are in a communal area on the first floor.

Food is costly. Instead, we popped over the road to Greggs and got a huge pizza box for £7.99, and sat in the sunshine.

Airport: 
We dropped off our luggage the previous night and were advised to start queuing at 3am. We did and were through security within 40 minutes. I think if we had left even another 15 minutes to join, we would have been waiting much longer, judging by the build up behind us.

Parking:
It looked like the station car park was half empty by the time we arrived, so next time I think I would drive/park at the station and get the monorail over (2.5hours drive vs 4 hours public transport).

On our return, the queues to get to the station link, via the lifts was horrendous. My son ended up abandoning and walked over instead. He was there 15 minutes before me, so next time I would join him!


All in all, event-free, which I judge as a success. :-)