Gatwick Parking park and stay packages

Staying at a hotel the night before you fly off to some exotic destination has become increasingly popular over the last ten years. Gatwick Airport has added another 1000 rooms to the existing Hilton and Sofitel hotels within the airport perimeter over recent years. This tells you that a lot of people want to put their head down with the peace of mind they have no problem when it comes to catching their plane.

This is an age of disruption coming from a number of causes which includes of late, volcanic dust, floods and powerful winds.

Hotels and guest houses have improved too with the help no doubt of the review web sites and on-line forums. Tea/coffee, wireless internet access and en-suite bathrooms are all considered standard these days in a very competitive market place.

With sleep and fly packages abound offering discounted rates from the big comparison companies like Trivago and Booking.com it is still worth while calling the hotel direct to see if they are offering last minute discounts.

Most hotels offer a bus service to the terminals although this comes at a small charge. With other hotels you drive to the car park in the morning and transfer to a shuttle into the airport terminal.

Some hotels only offer a taxi service into the airport which may cost upwards of another £20 to the cost of your room.

However, there are a limited number of hotels that offer a meet and greet parking service at Gatwick Airport included in the price. You are transferred to the terminal in their courtesy car and on your return from holiday your car is delivered to you on the terminal forecourt.

All these services are designed to bring more comfort and less stress to the travelling public at a time when the public are demanding more value for money.

Gatwick meet and greet parking

This is a small article to advise holidaymakers to check very carefully the small print when booking Gatwick meet and greet parking.

Trading Standards have received a number of complaints from Customers who have suffered thefts from their cars, damage to their vehicles and excessive mileage added to their cars’ odometers while in the care of some companies.

The advice given when booking Gatwick Parking is:

• Check the company websites and make sure you know who you are dealing with. Legally, companies need to provide their name, address and company number on websites. If contact address details are missing, be extra cautious and consider booking with a different provider.
• If the cost of the booking is more than £100, consider paying with a credit card as this will give you extra protection should things go wrong.
• Most reputable companies will complete paperwork highlighting any damage to the vehicle at the time you drop it off. Trading Standards advises customers to take pictures of all 4 sides of their vehicle when they drop it off to help avoid any disputes regarding damage to your vehicle when you return from holiday. 
• The majority of meet and greet companies will have parking facilities which are relatively close to the airport. Make a note of the mileage reading on your car when you drop it off, that way you will know whether or not it has been driven further than you expected. 
• Lastly, do not leave any valuables or money in your vehicle whilst you are on your travels.

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services with responsibility for trading standards said: “It’s important to say that the majority of people suffer a stress free experience when dealing with official and regulated meet and greet firms.

“There are so many things to arrange when you are going on holiday that it is easy to look at car parking online and concentrate on price or availability rather than reading the small print.

“If you look closely some companies offering ‘meet and greet’ services do not have full contact details on their websites so you have no way of making contact if you have a complaint.

“In some cases claims of secure parking can actually mean a field or a street near to the airport.

“We advice people to use a secure ‘meet and greet’ service provided by our ‘Buy With Confidence’ trading standards approved business and Approved Operator by Gatwick Airport”

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