I lately wanted to go away the automobile at Gatwick for per week whereas we have been overseas. Our flights left early within the morning and returned late within the night, and we had heavy baggage and the youngsters with us.
So to minimise problem, I made a decision to make use of a ‘meet-and-greet’ service. It labored completely. Following the directions supplied, we referred to as the corporate after we have been 20 minutes from the airport and an amiable man was ready for us on the South Terminal’s drop-off zone. He famous down the scratches on the automobile and its mileage, then drove it off to the agency’s parking zone someplace close to Gatwick.
In line: With somewhat ahead pondering, you’ll be able to keep away from the airport queues this summer time
On our return, all the pieces went simply as easily. After we picked up our baggage, we referred to as the given quantity, headed over to an agreed pick-up level instantly outdoors the terminal, and after a five-minute wait a driver appeared in our automobile.
Had we parked the automobile ourselves, it could have concerned driving out to a parking lot – a few of Gatwick’s are miles from the airport – and hanging round for a shuttle bus to take us to the terminal, then sitting within the bus for as much as 20 minutes.
We might have confronted one other shuttle journey on our return, in fact.
Given all that, I reckon the meet-and-greet preparations saved us maybe two hours of faff.
You may think you need to pay a premium for meet-and-greet, however that is not essentially so. We booked on www.parkandgo.co.uk, and the RS09 Meet and Greet service we used value simply £4 greater than the most affordable self-parking in an ‘on airport’ automobile park.
However a phrase of warning. Although our automobile was returned to us in the identical (ropey) state that it was in after we handed over the keys, there’s a small danger {that a} meet-and-greet firm will not take care of your automobile correctly. So do verify phrases and circumstances, and take something useful out of the car.
See www.which.co.uk/airpark rights for extra recommendation.
Listed here are another methods to cut back problem at airports this summer time:
* If you happen to’ve an early-morning flight, keep in a single day at an airport lodge. Many supply stay-and-park offers costing not far more than parking by itself: see www.holidayextras.co.uk.
* Journey with hand baggage solely. Although you’ll be able to verify in on-line at house with most airways, with baggage to verify in you may nonetheless must queue on the airport – typically at a misnamed ‘quick bag drop’. With simply hand baggage, you may as well save as much as an hour ready on your baggage to seem on the carousel after your flight.
A flashy choice is to ship your baggage forward with a courier service, akin to First Baggage (www.firstluggage.com).
* To get by way of safety, take into account paying for the quick observe choice, the place out there. Usually, it prices £3 to £4 a head, however at Leeds Bradford Airport it is free for as much as 4 passengers whenever you park within the short-stay or enterprise automobile parks.
* Take pleasure in a pay-to-enter airport lounge. Entry sometimes prices £15 to £20 a head, however you often get limitless complimentary drinks and snacks. See www.loungepass.com.
* Choosing up a rent automobile typically takes an age, with a slow-moving line of individuals ready on the airport’s rental desks. Ship the named driver forward to kind out the paperwork whereas the remainder of your get together waits for luggage to seem.
* Lengthy immigration queues at Heathrow are typically proving to be an issue this 12 months. At Heathrow and 9 different UK airports, it needs to be faster to undergo the automated ‘e-passport’ gates. These can be utilized by these with a biometric passport (they’ve a gold rectangle with a circle and line inside on the entrance cowl) and, until indicators say in any other case, you want to be 18 or over.
At any airport, you may as well assist velocity the method by way of passport management by sitting on the entrance of the plane so that you may be among the many first to disembark.
