Save bundles of time with meet and greet parking

I know meet and greet parking is convenient, in fact, it's probably the most convenient type of airport parking there is.

I guess I've always known it saves time, but I, like many, probably don't really think about the parking in terms of how much time I save.

It's more about avoiding the hassle of jumping on a shuttle bus between the car park and the airport, however, even I've been surprised by the of the amount of time it can save.

Gatwick meet and greet parking company Help Me Park recently conducted research into the amount of time required for the different parking options at Gatwick.

Take a look, I'm sure you'll be surprised and maybe consider time as well as price next time you book your parking:

	Meet and Greet	Park and Ride	Long Stay
Transfer time from car park to airport	None – car collected from outside the terminal	Transfer time 10 – 15 minutes Transfers operate every 20 minutes	5 minutes Transfers operate every 10 minutes
Transfer time from airport to car park	None – car returned to outside the terminal	Transfer time 10 – 15 minutes Transfers operate every 20 minutes	5 minutes Transfers operate every 10 minutes
Maximum time spent on transfers	None	1 hour – 1 hour 10 minutes	30 minutes

Help Me Park is one of only eight Gatwick Approved Operators - the only meet and greet parking companies permitted to collect and return cars to the airport’s forecourts.

EPS Gatwick fined for false claims

A Gatwick valet parking company has hit headlines this week after it was found guilty of false claims about its business, including claiming it was a Gatwick Approved Operator and was a member of West Sussex County Council’s Buy with Confidence scheme.

EPS Parking was found guilty of breaching the Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008 last Friday, 16 May, and fined £10,000 plus costs of £2,683, which were awarded to West Sussex County Council.

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services with responsibility for Trading Standards, said: “I hope this sends a clear message that we will always act against people who claim to be part of the Buy With Confidence scheme who aren’t.

“The scheme exists precisely to protect people against this sort of underhand action and I am pleased that the magistrates on Friday saw fit to issue such a large fine.

“We would always encourage people to check the Buy With Confidence scheme to source reputable traders in the knowledge they have already been checked and vetted by us.”

A list of Gatwick Approved Operators 

Gatwick parking companies holding ParkMark status

BBC Watchdog and why you need Gatwick Approved Operators for your meet and greet

If every you needed a reminder to use a Gatwick Approved Operator for meet and greet parking at Gatwick Airport, it's this programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z38r2

BBC's Watchdog programme highlights problems with non-approved Gold Parking at Gatwick. Problems include 1,500 miles extra on the clock, parking fines and a stolen Mercedes - stolen from the company's "secure" car park!

Watchdog conducted three test parking bookings, none of the cars used were parked in a secure car park, in fact, only one was parked in a car park, and this was far from secure.

Take a look at the programme here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z38r2

Man accused of almost £500,000 Gatwick parking theft

A former employee of APCOA has appeared in court accused of stealing almost £500,000 from his employer.

The alleged theft took place between August 2010 and November 2012 from the APCOA Administration Building at Gatwick Airport.

Ghazala Ashraf appeared at Crawley Magistrates' Court last Wednesday and entered no plea to the charges of theft by employee and concealing and transferring criminal property.

A preliminary hearing will take place on 2 May at Lewes Crown Court.

ASA raps Holiday Extras for parking discount claims

The most expensive way to book airport parking is to just turn up on the day of your flight and pay the gate price. It’s something most of us are aware of, but now Holiday Extras has had a rap on the knuckles for letting customers know about it.

Holiday Extras, which sells holiday add-ons, has been slammed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for discount claims made in an email, Travelmole reports.

The email claims customers can save up to 60% on the gate price, however, the ASA said at five airports where parking prices could be compared, no customer had saved 60%, although it did acknowledge that, taken as a whole, 17% of customers had saved 60% or more in the period covered.

Could airport parking wholesalers be held liable for selling unauthorised parking?

There's an interesting article on the AVPCA website examining whether a meet and greet parking wholesaler could be held responsible for damages if it sells parking with a company that turns out to be unauthorised and something goes wrong.

The article questions whether the reseller could be held liable if it didn't carry out proper checks to ensure that the company whose parking it was selling was using licensed car parks and had adequate insurance etc.

It's an interesting angle that probably poses as many questions as it answers, but also raises a lot of questions for meet and greet parking wholesalers.

Definitely worth a read here: AVPCA - Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Actions

3 Ways to find a reputable meet and greet parking company

Meet and greet parking is probably the most convenient type of airport parking so it's hardly surprising that it has seen a significant increase in popularity over recent years.

This increase in demand has meant that there are more and more companies offering the service. Unfortunately, not all these companies are operating legitimately from licensed car parks, some, as we've seen in TV programmes, use unlicensed car parks, residential streets, supermarket car parks or just at the side of the road.

It can be difficult finding reputable companies when all you have to judge a company on is a fancy website.

Here are three ways to help you sort the good guys from the bad:

1. One way to find a legitimate, reputable company is to look for an Approved Operator scheme, such as the one operating at Gatwick
2. Another is to look for the Safer Parking ParkMark award - a police initiative
3. Or look for Trading Standards Buy With Confidence accreditation.

Cashless parking trial

While this is not airport parking, it's definitely worth a mention.

Tamworth Council is trialling a new cashless parking scheme which will allow drivers to pay with their mobile phones.

The trial, which will last 18 months, will be cover all the council's nine car parks.

In order to pay by phone, motorists will be able to pay for their parking in advance and will receive a text confirmation that their parking is booked, and also a reminder when their paid-for parking time is about to expire.

Don't panic if your phone isn't set up to pay for parking, you'll still be able to use the pay and display machines.

If the trial is successful, it could become a permanent feature.

What do you think about paying in advance for your parking by mobile phone, would you do it, and could you see its use being extended to airport parking?

For more information check out the Tamworth Herald

Heathrow top for airport parking charges

It costs more to park your car for one to two hours in the short stay car park at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4 than it does at any other airport in the World.

A two-hour stay during peak morning and evening periods costs £12 - £8.35 more than at New York's JFK.

A one to two-hour stay, off peak, still costs a hefty £10, while a 24-hour stay will set you back £53.90 - more than the cost of some budget flights!

The astronomical prices were highlighted by a recent investigation by the Sunday Mirror

Mobile phone app to park your car

It may seem a bit far-fetched but Bosch is developing a mobile phone app that could soon be parking your car!

Well, I guess, there's a phone app for most things these days so why not one to park your car?

It's not just a phone app, you would need to add parking sensors to your car too.

According to Bosch, the technology won't be available until 2015:

I'm not sure I would trust a mobile phone app to park my car and I'd be worried about cars being parked next to mine using the app too.

How about you? Would you trust a mobile phone app to park your car?