You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Off on our first foreign holiday for about 8 years next week and I seem to have missed some "movement" in the airport parking market. Anybody got any reccos on a more budget friendly alternative to the £100-150 I seem to be about to get stiffed for?
....Also a ****ing fiver to drop the family off?!?! Up yer pipe ya robbing chuffnuts!
Thanks in advance
Think the off-airport parking places are a bit cheaper but can be a bit wild west. Alternative is to drop the car somewhere near a station/tram stop thats within easy reach of the airport. To be honest though, I valued the 10 minute walk from the terminal and straight to my van vs faff of waiting for shuttle buses in the middle of the night or having to wait for a train/tram.
My daughter is flying to Brussels on Sunday morning for a few days away.
Her Ryan Air flights and hostel for 3 nights is costing less than the airport parking at Manchester! 🙂
I reckon that £100 is reasonable for eight years away, especially as you're leaving during a peak week 😉
....Also a ****ing fiver to drop the family off?!?! Up yer pipe ya robbing chuffnuts!
Manchester Airport also has paid and free drop-off areas – the former cost from £5 to £25 and the latter is a little further out.
The cheapest option. You'll pay £59.99 for a pre-booked eight-day stay at the airport's long-stay car park.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-airport-parking/
I think I paid about that for just over 2 weeks last time via purple parking.
Self park at Ringway or Jetparks 3, then a 5 min shuttle to the terminals - shuttle runs approx every 15mins so nice and easy.
Tip for Manchester - do not, under any circumstances, be tempted by the cheaper "valet parking" options or any deals that seem to good to be true. You will find your car £40 down on fuel, 300 extra miles on the clock or it's been parked up in a field for a week. Every time they close down one lot of parking scumbags, another load of criminal "entrepreneurs" spring up.
Park your car yourself. Keep the keys.
Depending on how much luggage you have, you could park up for free in one of the further flung outskirts and get the bus / tram / train to the airport...? But that'll depend on departure and arrival timings, you may find the hassle of an hour on the bus at 5am is not worth the saving in parking fees...
Yep parking prices at Manc have shot up, and the availability of handy parking gone down . You used to be able to park right outside te terminal for rough £75 for a week. Thats gone now.
i wouldn’t even trust the ‘official’ parking to park my car.
Then add in that Manc is a horrible airport, and the food is stupidly expensive 😡
Whenever we're flying out of Manchester we use the train or Uber.
Just paid £99 for 10 days in the Leeds/Bradford long stay. Seems pretty standard unfortunately.
Top tip: remember roughly which carpark you parked in. There are lots of them and they're very big. So it can take literally hours to find your car, in the rain, after midnight, if you have the brain of a total numpty.
(Also make sure your car has as many seats as intended passengers, or someone might have to wait for the early train. This one is a bit more specific.)
You used to be able to park right outside te terminal for rough £75 for a week
I just paid £160 for two weeks in the official Meet & Greet, so I parked up, gave them the key and walked across the road and straight into the terminal. On the way out, I scanned my receipt and a little drawer popped open with my key in it, and another very short walk back to the car.
Edit: And they do a full scan of the car on arrival so if there is any damage, it's easily provable (not that I have had to try this in the three times I have used the service).
Whenever we're flying out of Manchester we use the train or Uber.
The problem for me is that when I fly, I'm almost always travelling with the bike box which is a total pain on most public transport. I have used the bus a couple of times, unfortunately the bus from mine is effectively a regular commuter / stopper service until it reaches Stockport at which point it becomes a fast bus to the airport.
And the drivers really make it known that they are not at all happy about having a bike box taking up the entire disabled / buggy space on this single-decker since the bus is regularly used by such people just travelling a few stops.
Also, the walk at the airport end is literally across the ENTIRE airport from where the bus stops to the actual terminal.
Top tip: remember roughly which carpark you parked in. There are lots of them and they're very big. So it can take literally hours to find your car, in the rain, after midnight, if you have the brain of a total numpty.
I have been on an airport shuttle bus where this happened. A couple sitting there going "this doesn't look much like it...?" until they realised they'd got the bus to entirely the wrong JetPark.
Top tip: remember roughly which carpark you parked in. There are lots of them and they're very big. So it can take literally hours to find your car, in the rain, after midnight, if you have the brain of a total numpty.
(Also make sure your car has as many seats as intended passengers, or someone might have to wait for the early train. This one is a bit more specific.)
Snap a photo of the bus stop on your phone - bonus points if you can gey your car in shot too, to save further confusion! 😉
Yeah the offsite stuff is coming back 70-80, so for the extra avoiding a 30 min wait and 20 min transfer seems relatively good value. In a way. Sort of. Even though it's still daylight robbery.
I use T1/3 parking. As said, its a max 10 min walk from T1 even with bike boxes etc but once in the van its only another 5 mins and you're on the M56/M60. Convenience costs and its VERY convenient.
My favourite “lost the car” moment was returning to Luton after a week’s skiing. We had parked a brand new car in the pitch black and our return was delayed by snow AT Luton. So we arrived back, again in the dark, with every car under 4 inches of snow. We worked out roughly where we must have parked because there were others scraping their cars like fury but it still took a lot of frantic clearing of number plates to convince ourselves we were about to clear the right car.
Leave an Apple Airtag in the car?
A few holidays ago we used an alternative Manc car parking firm. After driving through what looked like a recently shut-down industrial scale cannabis grow, we found the portakabin.
I'm pretty sure the car had extra miles on it when we got back.
Pretty much every one is a temporary scam run by the kind of people you'd expect.
The £5 drop off fee is a bit cheeky. On the one hand a nudge to use the train, tram, or bus. On the other an unusual scam to get extra revenue.
Airport parking is definitely an incentive to use public transport to get to the airport. Very glad I’m a £15-£30 taxi ride away but then going both ways that’s a reasonable chunk of the OP’s £150 indicative parking fee and both are a fraction of a holiday’s cost.
As for finding the car when you return - the car’s app should have its location or your phone should have noted ‘parked car’ when it disconnects Bluetooth? Failing those then a phone photo is indeed a good substitute for geographic memory.
A few holidays ago we used an alternative Manc car parking firm. After driving through what looked like a recently shut-down industrial scale cannabis grow, we found the portakabin.
I'm pretty sure the car had extra miles on it when we got back.
Pretty much every one is a temporary scam run by the kind of people you'd expect.
That's why you use the self park ones that let you in via ANPR barriers
I used to use the ones with shuttle buses but the last time the drop n go was actually cheaper and it worked really well. Easy walk from terminals, so less faffing around than the shuttles (which are ok really, just a little slower).
The PCNs issued for the camera controlled drop off zones aren't enforceable if you don't tell Apcoa who the driver is. Normally private parking companies rely on the protections of freedom act 2012 which allows them to hold the registered keeper of the vehicle liable. POFA doesn't apply to land covered by bylaws such as airports and railway land. They can only pursue the driver directly but if they don't know who that is they can't transfer liability to the keeper.
£100-150 I seem to be about to get stiffed for?
Is it expensive or is it just you (and I) aren’t used to leaving your car parked up for over a week at a time?
Your price presumably is for the parking at the terminal so you are paying for the convenience of walk in / walk out. I’ve just paid £123 for T2 multi storey for 8 days and went through all the same emotions. Cheaper, less convenient options are available although still not ‘cheap’.
As a reference, Stockport train station is £135 for eight days. Even most bog standard pay and display retail/leisure car parks will be over a tenner per day.
The reality is that the price you’ll pay is actually better value per hour than a quid or two we would regularly pay to park for short stay parking for normal leisure activities.
I do agree that the drop off fee being a rip off though.
Someone mentioned train - to Manchester comming from the correct side of the Pennines?
I have done years ago, but commuting on the manchester/leeds line I know enough now, to know it's not worth risking it on the train - they are just not reliable enough so I relucatanly take the car now.
Always find it interesting that people book a holiday that very likely will cost a not insignificant amount of money and then complain about £80 for parking their car at the airport where they fly off to said holiday
We're flying from Birmingham next month. It's cheaper for us to stay at an Ibis the night before and catch the train up from Malvern, rather than drive up at 4am and park the car on one of the further afield car parks.
Hopefully it will be a more relaxed holiday experience.
The £5 drop off fee is a bit cheeky. On the one hand a nudge to use the train, tram, or bus. On the other an unusual scam to get extra revenue.
Edinburgh offer discounted drop off rates for Edinburgh residents. Makes no sense to me, why do those that could most easily use the tram or bus get car drop off cheaper?
Always find it interesting that people book a holiday that very likely will cost a not insignificant amount of money and then complain about £80 for parking their car at the airport where they fly off to said holiday
That's a bit unfair - most parking is more or less "as much as we can possibly charge" because airports know that the alternatives are limited.
That said, there's a psychological part where you go "£100 parking, the flight only cost £40!"
But if they said "flight to [destination], £140 inc free airport parking" you'd probably think that was decent deal.
You also need to remember the actual value of the land. a car parking space is worth a suprising amount - average value of land in or near cities is probably worth as a rental £1000 = 2000 a year. I have seen an offroad parking space in Edinburgh for sale for £10 000
Its just you are used to cheap parking
That said, there's a psychological part where you go "£100 parking, the flight only cost £40!"
Parking seems cheap compared to £45 each way for a single bag.
Just dropped my youngest daughter off at Edinburgh aitport. It's the first time she flown solo so I went in with her to help with bag drop abd see her through to security. Just over 30mins parking, £18.
I think EDI is up there with the worst airports in the UK now. So obviously ruining way above capacity.
I paid about £200 for 4 weeks parking at EDI using their FastPark system, which so far I've found super efficient and straightforward. Unfortunately then you have to go inside and exist in the Black Hole of Calcutta that is the "departure lounge". For a quick drop-off, last time it was £6 but with a 50% reduction for EVs. When I'm picking up MrsJ I park at Dobbie's on the by-pass and wait till she tells me she's almost out of the airport, and then I zoom in to get her. Coincidentally there's also a Dobbie's just near NCL where the same procedure works 🙂
Given the tram at Edinburgh airport I have no idea why anyone uses airport parking or drop off - even if you are not on the tram route why not do the drive and drop off at a tram stop? There is one just off the bypass at Hermiston gait
Given the tram at Edinburgh airport I have no idea why anyone uses airport parking
If I do that, where do I leave my car safely for a month while I'm away?
Because it's almost £8 to get the tram to Hermiston. Drop off at Edinburgh is free if you're driving an electric car.
At home? I was thinking more of the dropoff and pickup rather than your situation but I have looked after cars for folk flying out of Edinburgh but no free parking near me nowadays
The £5 drop off fee is a bit cheeky. On the one hand a nudge to use the train, tram, or bus. On the other an unusual scam to get extra revenue.
Edinburgh offer discounted drop off rates for Edinburgh residents. Makes no sense to me, why do those that could most easily use the tram or bus get car drop off cheaper?
it’s not all Edinburgh residents - it’s the postcodes closest to the airport I think - probably worst served by public transport and most likely to object to airport planning applications?
you can get a 50% discount in an EV but it is also not automatically applied - which is ridiculous as they use ANPR to determine your arrival time.
you can get a 50% discount in an EV but it is also not automatically applied - which is ridiculous as they use ANPR to determine your arrival time.
Yeah, it's bonkers - you have to tell the person the other end of the intercom what your reg number is.
Airport to Hermiston is £8 on the tram. Airport bus is about a £5 I think to the city centre.
At the T1 drop-off the other day I had to go around twice because all the spots were full of airport staff cars and the signage was really unclear. Got a bit worried over whether they'd charge me twice so I wanted to talk to them about it... this was a few days ago and this thread has remined me I've completely forgotten to pay! Help! Am I dead? Bankrupt?
Does no-one use airport taxis?
We're on holiday shortly, we've got a minibus booked. Doorstep pickup in East Lancashire, drop off at Manchester airport. Return leg obviously in the opposite direction. Drop off and pick up at the airport literally across the road from the building exit, enough room for the family plus all The Girl's luggage which is about the same as everyone else's combined. All cars left safely at home with the Brucie Bonus that the local scrotes don't think "hmm, their car's not been here for a while..."
I don't know what it cost, I didn't book it, but I doubt it's vastly different from some of the prices quoted here for parking.
I don't know what it cost, I didn't book it, but I doubt it's vastly different from some of the prices quoted here for parking
Chester to Manchester airport (and return) starts at £120 with the taxis we use - compared to £70-80 for jetparks 3.
Obvs depends on how long you're going away for.
it’s not all Edinburgh residents - it’s the postcodes closest to the airport I think - probably worst served by public transport and most likely to object to airport planning applications?
Ahh, I hadn't noticed that, just saw the section on their website and thought WTF. So it is a measly bribe for living under the flight path.
Chester to Manchester airport (and return) starts at £120 with the taxis we use - compared to £70-80 for jetparks 3.
I've considered taxis but as well as being twice as far away, last time I used one the driver was far more aggressive than I was comfortable with, it really wasn't a very enjoyable way to travel.
Not ideal driving for 1h30 after a long-haul flight but I make sure to get some sleep on the plane and drive carefully.
the driver was far more aggressive than I was comfortable with, it really wasn't a very enjoyable way to travel.
Last time I took a taxi to the airport, the driver thought I was really weird for asking him to slow down a bit (doing 80 in a 50 zone, with a car full of children)
@ossify, read my post earlier, most airport land is under statutory control and managed by bylaws, POFA which most private parking companies rely on isn't applicable so they can't hold the keeper liable and if you don't tell them who was driving they are stuck.
Always find it interesting that people book a holiday that very likely will cost a not insignificant amount of money and then complain about £80 for parking their car at the airport where they fly off to said holiday
That's a bit unfair - most parking is more or less "as much as we can possibly charge" because airports know that the alternatives are limited.
Parking is mostly competing with airport taxis in the catchment area.
Yeah, airport drop off costs me £6 to drop my lad at LGW. It's as quick and cheaper to do that from where we are than it would to take the train.
Why are we grizzling anyway, Ryanair, Easyjet etal have made shorthaul so stupidly cheap that a few quid to drop off....
It's basic economics and supply and demand, so many of us taking advantage of inter Europe fares less than getting fro. London to Macc on the train... so there's not enough room at the airport to cope w traffic ...
If we're off as a family, do i pay for a cab for us all, or pay to park......depends what the numbers and sh1te local taxi rank are telling me
Don't like it, don't take cheap flights....
Bet a shepherds hut in the cotswold costs more than a week in Albufiera drop off or not
You also need to remember the actual value of the land. a car parking space is worth a suprising amount - average value of land in or near cities is probably worth as a rental £1000 = 2000 a year. I have seen an offroad parking space in Edinburgh for sale for £10 000
Its just you are used to cheap parking
The area around Manchester airport isn't really comparable with the centre of Edinburgh 😀
Yes the costs have noticeably rocketed in the last few years, beyond inflation it feels like. I just used an offsite car park near Bristol airport for 12 days for a decent saving over the official onsite ones. Car storage was down the road from the actual drop off locatation, so it was a hand over the keys job. That is initially a bit disconcerting and hopefully they have the right insurance in place if there's any damage. They do advertise/take bookings through a variety of channels and have been around with good reviews for a number of years too.
Struggle to see how these arrangements lead to cars being used nefariously as suggested above though? - so many cars now have apps or trackers - I was able to check both the car's location and any journeys done whilst the key was not in my possession. Anything untoward and I'd have been able to go straight to the police with proof.
I'd pay the money to be closer to Manchester we parked on one of the far away self park and it was quite a way away. Real pain was the return where it was a scrum to get on the bus, we had 4 bike bags and half the drivers wouldn't take us even with no impaired users. It was a 'mare.
The area around Manchester airport isn't really comparable with the centre of Edinburgh 😀
Probably more expensive 😉