Parking at Heathrow airport advice

[Yourownpersonaljesus]

My mum is taking my adult DD to Heathrow in a few days and wants to park there for about 3 hours. What are her options? Have looked online but wanted advice from those who park there often. She flies from terminal 5. It doesn't necessarily have to be the cheapest option.

The short term car park at the terminal then, or are you looking for alternatives? It's not worth an off airport car park for 3 hours.

The short term car park at T5 is great. Very £££ but so convenient that it makes up for it.

Hatton Cross Tube station is £8 all day at weekends and £13 weekdays and usually cheaper than official car parks. There are then free buses, 482 and 490 go to terminal 5. You can get the tube too but that's the usual fare. If you are a plane spotter it's great as well!

We often park here for a day out in London.

Thanks for the replies. The prices I found are £19.50 or £24.70 - does that sound about right?

Both for the short term car par.

www.heathrow.com/transport-and-directions/heathrow-parking/heathrow-short-stay-parking?utm_medium=local&utm_source=Google&utm_content=ss-t5

£20-25 is probably about right. Even stopping at an airport for a few minutes costs a few quid these days and I fly for the day from Manchester quite often and the least I've ever paid for 8-10 hours parking is about £33, and that's the cheapest on airport option, booking in advance.

Once you've tripped over 2 hours, you've probably gone from 'drop off' to 'short stay' pricing and hence more expensive.

But why will she want to be there for three hours? If she's not flying anywhere, she can't go through security and DD will need to start that pretty quickly so she doesn't miss her flight, which she's at risk of if she hangs around landside too long.

Thank you. They are getting there really early (about 4hours) so they can have something to eat together before DD goes through.

How does it work when you book online in advance? Can DD book it on her phone even though she obviously won't be there when my mum leaves the car park. Is it number pate recognition or do you have to scan something on your phone hen leaving the car park?

Yes it's number plate recognition so no problem DD booking it.

It says on the Heathrow that you need to print out the booking confirmation. She is going tomorrow and we don't have a printer. Is this actually necessary?

That should be Heathrow website.

Maybe just make a note of the booking reference and phone number if there is one in case of any problems.

It should work on number plate recognition, but you should have proof of how you paid in case of any issues.

Thanks pinkkk.

Ok thanks BarbaraofSeville will do that.

Another question: I'm going to book it so was wondering if I put my details or my mums. Obviously would be her registration number but what about address etc. It's my card that I'll be using.

I've parked at Heathrow dozens of times and never printed the confirmation. It always goes like clockwork. I would do everything in your mum's name and just use your card to pay. That should work fine.

Thanks very much. All booked now.

Great! Let us know how it goes, I'll be wondering

Will do.

Well DD is just on her way to the gate. All went well with the parking though they did get lost on the way! Thanks everyone for your help.