London Hotels

Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and even Southend - nobody can ever say that London isn’t accessible from an international perspective. However, one thing that people certainly can claim is that it can cost an arm and a leg, particularly if you are looking to take your own vehicle.

Turn up on the day and you’ll be hit with a complete and utter shock to the system. Chances are, the cost of parking at the airport will trounce the whole cost of your ticket out of the country. It means that the budget holiday that you thought you’d made a killer saving on, has just been blown out of the water.

Fortunately, there are ways around the rigours of London airport parking prices. If you’re looking to save a small fortune, read on and look into some of the best methods to achieve it.

Method #1 – “The Driveway”

It sounds a bit of a cowboy method, but you’d be surprised at just how many households are renting out their driveway nowadays. In fact, there are even third party broker sites that will help to arrange this for you – with many of the drive owners then acting as a taxi and ferrying you to the airport.

Naturally, the savings can be terrific. We’re not going to dabble in specifics, but some sources suggest that you can slash your parking bill by up to 70%. You might have to set off an hour or so earlier, but how many more sticks of rock can you bring back for that price?

Method #2 – “The Value Taxi”

We’ve called it the value taxi, as it’s basically the complete opposite to your standard airport taxi. Flag down one of those cabs waiting outside on the terminal on the day and we won’t even speculate how much you’ll pay. Basically, your spending money has just been gulped down in one fell swoop.

However, take to the pre-book option and you’ll be amazed at the savings. Simply calling up a few days in advance can slash your taxi fares and fortunately, there’s no shortage of companies offering such a service. Out of the ones we looked at, Alpha AirPort Taxi Service seemed to be one of the more competitive and was ideal for those travellers who were coming from further afield to take advantage of the London airports.

Method #3 – “Car Park Z”

If you are intent on taking your vehicle, but still looking to save the pennies, you may just have to compromise that little bit more. Most airports now offer a tiered car parking system, with the premium spaces situated right next to the terminal building, while the cheaper ones could be as far as a forty minute shuttle bus away.

It’s again going to cost you more than some of the other options we’ve discussed, but for some people taking a vehicle is an absolute necessity for whatever reason. Out of all of the suggestions this is probably our least favourite as the process of getting a bus is hardly a pleasant one, but again, needs must for some travellers.

Method #4 – “Friends”

If all else fails, it might be an idea to simply tap into that wide circle of friends you have. It’s the cheapest solution by far and while a lot of airports are doing their upmost to limit the amount of waiting zones around the terminal, you’ll probably only pay a quid and have the opportunity to stop for ten minutes or so.

Again, this isn’t a solution that’s available for everyone. When it comes to airport transportation, particularly around the London airports, you’ll need all the help you can muster in a bid to beat the hiked prices though.