Save money, book your airport parking in advance

I want to say thanks to Mary for highlighting the problems faced by disabled drivers who don’t book their airport parking in advance in her blog post http://cheapairtravel.ieee-icc007.org/2009/01/28/disabled-traveler-encounters-problem-with-airport-parking/

She also shows how expensive airport parking is if you don’t book in advance and pay the gate price. In fact you could end up paying as much as 30% more for not bothering.

Would you want to pay more? Plus, would you also want to face the uncertainty of not knowing whether you’ll find a space when you arrive?

For peace of mind and to save money, always book your airport parking in advance. There are many online booking engines when you can compare prices and book airport parking online.

For disabled drivers, those travelling with children or large sports equipment, I’d recommend meet and greet parking as a very convenient service – one that you don’t have to worry about negotiating your way on and off a shuttle bus with a wheelchair, kids or your sports equipment.

Temporary changes to East Midlands Airport parking

Improvement works at East Midlands is having a temporary affect on East Midlands Airport parking.

From today, 22 January, the car park bus stops will be moved to the Coach park next to the Arrivals Hall.

Car Park 7 is temporarily unavailable and customers with existing bookings will be directed to Car Park 6.

Two weeks parking at Manchester Airport - £900

Imagine paying nearly £900 to park your car for two weeks. One poor holidaymaker did just that when he jetted off for a fortnight in the sun.

The Blackpool Gazette reports that Daniel Carr paid £51 upfront to park at Manchester Airport, however, when he returned he discovered that the airport had claimed an extra £842 from his bank account.

Manchester airport told the paper that: "Due to a one-off system error, Mr Carr's car parking charge was calculated incorrectly and consequently we will refund the overcharge.

"We would like to offer him our sincere apologies and as gesture of goodwill we will also waive the original car park charge."

For an online Manchester airport parking price checker and to book your airport parking click on the link.

London City Airport parking prices increased

Watch out, parking charges for London City Airport parking have increased.

The new charges came in to effect on 1 January 2009. For more details click here.

Air Southwest offers free parking at Newquay Airport

Air Southwest has teamed up with Newquay Cornwall Airport to offer free airport parking for passengers until the end of January.

The New Year offer is open to any Air Southwest customer already booked or planning to book a flight from Newquay during January, and applies from January 6 to 31.

For a five-day trip this adds up to a saving of £30.

Air Southwest offers eight year-round destinations from Newquay including four flights a day, seven days a week to London Gatwick. To check prices and book Gatwick meet and greet parking click on the link.

Changes to Leeds Airport parking

Redevelopment work is about to start on Leeds Airport's short stay 1 car park, which will be closed from 24 December until Easter 2009.

The rapid pick up and drop off area will still be accessible, as will a limited number of parking spaces for blue badge holders.

Passengers requiring Leeds Airport parking for short stays of up to 24 hours should use the short stay 2 car park.

New car park at Liverpool Airport

Liverpool airport parking is set to become easier and more convenient when a brand new car park opens in January 2009.

The new multi-storey car park is situated directly opposite the terminal building.

Compare and book Liverpool airport parking with this instant online airport parking price checker.

Leeds airport parking

In the week that has seen Alistair Darling reduce VAT by 2.5%, Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA) has made its own credit crunching reductions of up to 20%* when you pre-book on-site, long-stay car parking online.

The airport has just re-launched its online pre-book Leeds airport parking system, and to celebrate its introduction, LBIA is not only offering its customers more products to choose from but it has also reduced its online pre-book, long-stay prices by up to 20%*.

LBIA’s Commercial & Aviation Director, Tony Hallwood said of the new system: “In the current economic climate and as the consumer’s champion, we are giving something back to our customers by making these significant reductions to our pre-book, online car parking charges.

We now offer two great long stay products for passengers booking online who want the peace of mind and convenience of parking onsite at Leeds Bradford International Airport. A fully flexible package which allows you to make amendments to your booking, or a non flexible package that saves you even more.”

Eton Air update

Eton Air, the Heathrow corporate airport parking supplier, has ceased trading.

The corporate airport parking business of Eton Air Ltd was closed after around 13 years of successful trading. The company director regrettably could not continue to trade and was left with little option other than to cease trading due to difficult trading conditions. Leading industry competitor, www.help-me-park.co.uk, has stepped into the void as a front runner in taking up the customers of the Eton Air Car Relay business.

Help-me-park commented, "It is a real shame to see a business such as Eton Air be forced to cease trading. It is clear they were built on the same principals that have seen Help-me-park grow so rapidly in the same market – those of customer satisfaction and a dedication to doing the job right. We hope that Help-me-park can be a suitable replacement for the service previously supplied by Eton Air Ltd, and will do our best to help those customers wherever possible."

Help-me-park can be contacted on 0870 300 600 9 or by email on salesteam@help-me-park.co.uk

Free parking at Blackpool Airport

Blackpool airport is set to offer free Blackpool airport parking.

The announcement came as development plans were unveiled to ensure the continuing operation and long term growth of the airport.

The development plan includes:

• A fresh new marketing campaign to raise the profile of the airport in the North West
• A £2m investment programme to develop and upgrade the runways, taxi-ways and apron in order to improve customer facilities and passenger capacity
• From Monday 5th January 2009, the introduction of a £10 Airport Development Fee (ADF) payable at the airport for all departing passengers aged 16 years and over which will assist the funding of development
• FREE passenger airport parking at Blackpool for up to 15 days introduced from 5th January 2009
  

Passengers using the free car parking offer will need to validate their car parking tickets in the Arrivals Hall on their return.