Have you taken care of your holiday plans yet.... Going on holiday can sometimes be quite stressful, getting everything together, have we got this did we remember that.. etc.. There are however some websites and services out there which can greatly help you. Most people will have heard about airport car parking, but how many fully know just what a hassle saving and money saving service it really is
Take for example our experience leaving from one of London’s busiest airports, Heathrow. For the past eight years or so my family and I have gone on holiday from Heathrow airport and left the job of arranging parking for our car to the very last minute, by this I mean we would organize all our other holiday things then drive off to the airport and organize our parking then, just before we departed. On a couple of occasions we have had near misses when we thought we would not be able to get into the car park we always used. The last time we traveled was in August 2005 and on that occasion we did NOT get into our usual car park, we could not believe it, we panicked, what are we going to do now, our flight leaves in 3 hours or so! The car park security officer directed us to another car park and thankfully we got parked, but we ended up paying a lot more than we usually did. Anyway after this ordeal I decided to see what we could do about this on our return.
Straight away I found www.uk-airport-car-parking.co.uk (ACP) , a small portal of sorts which arranges car parking, airport hotels, airport lounges and just about everything you might need when planning for a holiday. I could not believe what I was seeing, this site showed me all available car parks at Heathrow airport (and all other UK airports by the way) and compared the online price against the “drive on” rate, which we had been paying for about the last eight years!! Instead of paying the whole parking charge on airport, now I have the option of booking my parking bay and then parking my car at an unbelievable 45% less of what it used to cost us. I don’t even want to work out what this could have saved us over the years.
But that’s not the end of it, it’s not just about saving money, from this site I can see all security measures in place, I can also read previous customers feedback which is extremely important when trying to get a unbiased opinion and it also gives me peace of mind knowing that my car parking space is reserved.
For me personally security of an airport car park is one of the major requirements and from this site you can see all security measures in place such as security fences, barrier controls, manned and CCTV surveillance. In fact the car parks shown all had the AA/Police gold standard award for security.
I booked online for our holiday this year, I saved money, I definitely got my parking space and I know my car will be secure and well looked after. I also got my airport parking voucher instantly online and by email with full directions and a telephone number to call, what more could I ask for, an absolutely fantastic car parking service, why didn’t I do this before You’ll find car parks both ON and OFF the airport
Worthy of a mention also is the fact that you can book car parking in conjunction with an airport hotel. Again with an easy online booking system, you can reserve rooms within your budget and get parking packages. The beauty of booking airport hotels with parking is that you can arrive the day before your flight and start your holiday a day early, this is especially useful for people who have a long way to travel to the airport. I was also amazed at just how little extra a hotel room cost with a parking package as apposed to car parking alone. You can choose from 3 or 4 star hotels and as with airport parking you will receive instant directions and contact details by email.
Also this year we’ve opted to book into an airport lounge. I’d never thought of my family and I going into an airport VIP lounge before, but on the site it showed me all options of Executive lounges we could use. With a whole range of facilities like TV, complimentary bar, newspapers, magazines, snacks, phone and fax – the lounges are the best places to reclaim your peace of mind just before take-off.
No doubt about it this site has saved me a lot of money and in fact it has also increased the pleasure of our holiday by giving us a lot less hassle and worry. The fact that we will be using an airport lounge this year will add to the enjoyment of our holiday also, so a big thanks to ACP. |