Looking for Gatwick Parking

Always on impasse when we want to book our airport parking, especially if you fly from Gatwick Airport.


Booking your Gatwick Parking can be very ‘trying’ for your nerves. If you don’t have friends or relatives to recommend you a reputable and reliable car park you’ve got to go through the tedious search online.

Not the search itself is what gets you but how do you chose the right Gatwick Parking ,the one that offers you the peace of mind that your car is safe and to be good value for money as well.

A lot of companies just flourished overnight at Gatwick. If you browse the internet for Gatwick Parking you get a lot of companies who offer you ‘the best deal’ then others.

A lot of them will enchant you with their well structured website, to the point content and REALY good prices. But in this day and age almost anyone could make a good website but what lies behind the ‘SO GOOD WEBSITE’ will make you wonder.

We tend to take at face value all that is said to us, either over the phone or online when we make a booking, but who checks all this car parks at Gatwick to assure you that they are true to their word?!


Airport Valet Parking Contractors Association will do that for you. AVPCA is an Association of valet parking contractors that have come together to protect their industry from the increasing number of rogue operators and bad practices.

In particular, the Association has been formed as a result of the increase in professional looking web sites, offering discounted services but regretfully lacking in solid investment into premises, insurance, staff training or have little call for Customer Relations.

Their aim - Protecting customers against rogue airport parking firms and bad practices in airport parking.


Planning Permission
To ensure that all their members have principal places of business that has the correct planning permissions for the operation of airport parking.

Arbitration Services
If a dispute does arise all the members have signed up to their arbitration and dispute resolution charter giving a complete peace of mind.

VAT Registered Businesses
Making sure that all members are correctly registered for VAT ensuring that you receive correct bills & invoices, assisting you in your accounting processes.

Land Line Telephone Number
It is a requirement that all members have registered telephone landlines. They don't accept those operators who only use mobile phones.

Registered Business Offices
As part of their due diligences to protect you, the customer, they check that all their members have registered offices at companies’ house and they visit those offices.

Up-To-Date Financial Accounts
To ensure you are not dealing with a "fly by night" firm all members are required to supply audited financial accounts showing they are solvent.

Certified Accountants
In addition to checking the solvency of their members they also check out their accountants to ensure that accounts are provided by reputable companies.


Criminal Records Bureau
To protect consumers AVPCA runs checks on all our members to ensure that they are in turn checking the CRB records of all of their staff.

Interaction With Local Police
In order to best protect our customers, their members interact with Local & Airport Police wherever possible. History shows that Rogue Traders cannot afford to embrace the Local Police and use the help and advice available to protect our customers.

Full Liability Insurance
In the event of an accident you need to know that all our members have the required amount of insurance cover. They run these checks an all their members for your peace of mind.

Airport Car Park

Do you need it?

Even if you do it the right way, airport parking can be expensive. The longer you're away the pricier it gets, so quickly weigh up the alternatives. Aside from bribing a relative into dropping you off with promises of duty-free bounty, it's usually cheaper to:

Use non-specialist train services

Whilst dedicated 'Airport Express' train services are costly, the same lines are often also used by normal rail services, so you can travel the same route much more cheaply, though it's likely there will be extra stops.

Consider a pre-booked taxi

Local taxis can be a cheap option if you've heavy luggage. Don't rely on getting taxis at the airport for the return leg, as most airports give a monopoly to one firm, which bumps prices up as there's no competition.

Arrange with your local firm in advance to be collected, giving your flight number so it can vary pick-up time accordingly, and it's usually MUCH cheaper.

Get a coach

Dedicated airport coaches are often cheapest for getting to the airport, but there's a trade-off, since they usually take the longest.

Leaving your car at home can be costly

While alternative transport methods are cheaper, watch out if you usually park on the street using a residents' parking permit or equivalent. Outrageously, if the parking bay your car is in is suspended, councils don't usually accept the excuse that you were on holiday and didn't check.

An obvious alternative is to give a trusted neighbour a key so they can keep an eye out and move the car for you. It's worth considering the insurance position of this though. It's likely it'll be covered by your insurance's 'third party emergency' driver's cover, though it's debatable whether avoiding a parking fine is an emergency.

If not and they have fully comprehensive insurance then often, although not always, it includes what’s called driving other cars cover. This provides them with third party cover in case there's an accident.

Park in a council's special car park

Some councils operate special car parks where for around £5-£10 a day you can leave your car when you're on holiday to guarantee no fine. This is an ill-disguised money-making scheme that boosts council funds due to the fear of parking penalties, but it may be a necessary evil for some.

Best buys:

Cheap airport parking

For some, airport parking works out as an economical and hassle-free route, yet without a little prior thought you can end up paying substantially over the odds. There's a simple rule:

The earlier you book your airport parking, the more you're likely to save

Book well in advance and you could cut the cost by up to 50%, though the exact saving depends on the time of the year. However, even if you've forgotten do to this:

Don't just turn up at the airport - booking first, even on the day of your flight, can save you money.

The most expensive prices are almost always for those people who just drive in, park and pay. If you get on the web and pre-book first, even if it's just before you head out (or your partner does it from a smart phone in the car) you'll usually save.

Step 1: Use car parking compare websites

The easiest way to find cheap parking is by using one of the special car parking comparison websites, that search the web to find you the best deals. There are a number of these, but most of them tend to turn up similar results. However, due to commercial relationships some share with certain parking operators, it's possible to shave a few percent of the cost here and there.

Step 2: Check hotel-with-parking deals

Many airport hotels offer room packages that include parking for the length of your trip. This is great if you live a long way from the airport, or have a super-early flight. Better still, they often only cost a little more than the parking alone and occasionally have even been cheaper in the past - so you could view this as parking with a hotel room thrown in.

Do check how transfers to the terminal are arranged; while many hotels offer a 24-hour complimentary service, some charge separately for the journey. It's also worth looking at the more general Cheap Hotel Deals guide to see if you can beat the price.