LHR - long stay car park. A million options - how to choose?

[TheOrigRights]

Looking at long stay car parking for LHR - a search gives loads of results, all about the same cost.

Is there some inside knowledge as to which ones are good or bad or are they all similar?

I like on airport meet and greet best, we've only ever used this at Manchester, but I think Heathrow is the same company, so they might operate similarly.

Usually just a short walk across to the terminal and they take pictures of your car on the way in, so there's evidence if there are any damage dispute and it's so much easier than having to find a space in a massive car park, get on a bus to the terminal and remember where you left your car on the way back.

Can cost a few quid more than the cheapest option, but so worth it. I've always booked direct using Quidco, or through the Moneysaving Expert cheap airport parking link for the best price.

I always book official LHR long stay ( or short stay if there’s not much difference in price ) and use Topcashback. I go with price but the long stay isn’t far on the shuttle and the stop is just outside arrivals lounge.

There’s normally an official meet and greet option as PP says that my husband prefers as no chance of leaving keys on holiday and no shuttle bus.

I don’t do purple parking and all the rest of the offsite parking lot anymore. Couldn’t be bothered with the stress of not knowing what you’re getting every time.

Holiday Extras have options. You will find Heathrow is more expensive than elsewhere. We use meet and greet in the short stay. Other options are car parks and get a bus in. Holiday Extras gives the details and prices for each option. On site is always more! So look at how long you are prepared to be on a coach and if you are prepared to pay for meet and greet which is much quicker and convenient. We usually use Purple Parking but others are similar.

I always use Business Class long stay, it rarely costs much more than normal long stay if you book in advance, and there's always a minivan sitting there ready to take you straight to the terminal/back to the car park.

I usually go for the official LHR valet parking. It’s not that much more expensive and it means you can drop off right at the terminal and are met right at the arrivals on the way back.

Recently did it for 2 weeks and I think it was £50 or so more expensive than standard long stay, which is worth it for the ease for me.

Is there any reason why you can't leave your car at home and get the train? The trains to LHR are really good and take you right into the airport. Long stay is so expensive!

I would need to firstly get a bus from my village to the train station.
They run about every 2 hours.
The train then takes 2 hours.

Same in reverse.

About £100 for the tickets.

I'll have luggage and my son.

I'm happy to pay for the convenience of being able to throw my luggage in the boot, drive for 2 hours (give or take), and know my car is there when we get back.

I agree, trains can be very good but getting to the train isn't always easy.

Depending on what time you are going, it might be worth looking at Holiday Extras for Park and Stay options. It will be more expensive but sometimes you can get a good deal and it means you have less stress on the day. Effectively you park at the hotel, stay the night and then take a shuttle bus / taxi to the terminal in the morning. A taxi from the hotels are ca £20 and the shuttle bus is less (can't remember exactly how much).

Definitely meet and greet, so much easier.

We used Triangle Parking last month and they couldn't have been more helpful.

Thank you. It looks like Meet and Greet is a good option, or if I don't go for that, to look carefully at the shuttle bus service, and how far away from the terminal the carpark is.

I once hired a car from LAX. It was the cheapest firm. The shuttle to take me to their depot I swear took me to the middle of the desert, and this was after watching the shuttles for the proper rental firms (Avis, Hertz etc) do about 5 collection loops before Rent-a-wreck turned up! You get what you pay for!

Few of the car parks with buses are that far from Heathrow. 10 mins? However traffic jams might be an issue! Always allow 3 hours for any flight. Longer if you are getting a bus from the car park.

It's not just the time on the bus though. It's the time to find a space, wait for the next bus, travel to the terminal and then do it all in reverse on the way back.

We stopped using this type of car park after it took nearly an hour that we hadn't really allowed for from arriving at the car park to walking into the terminal, it was one of the cheaper operators that the OP wanted to avoid and while there were apparently spaces available, spaces weren't marked so it was literally half a space her and three quarters of a space there. In the end, we squeezed the car in somewhere and hoped for the best.

There was also the midnight row in the rain when we couldn't find the car on the way back.

You really think that's the case for everyone?

For us Heathrow is a 2 hour car journey. The train takes 4 hours, involves 3 changes and a tube ride across London, would require a taxi to the station in the first place and costs 250 per person if you can't guarantee to be on specific trains.

The shuttles are all really quick. We've had issues with cars being left on our roads which are supposed to be on off-site car parks by the various companies...I'm about 20 minutes from the terminal.

Well that's hardly a ringing endorsement. I'm sure their customers would think twice about using them if they knew the car they thought was being safely kept in a car park was being taken to a random road a few miles from the airport.

Just checked. Need to travel to LHR on Weds night after 9pm. Due to train strikes it’s a 7 hour journey. Compared to 2ish hours in the car. No brainier.

We use Maple Manor meet and greet - there are usually discount codes available. My days of coming out of a flight and waiting for a bus are long gone. Plus it's much easier to work out your timings if you know you're just going to drop your car and go. Always walk round the car with the guy to show there's no damage and take a photo of the mileage. Never ever had a problem.

I've had 2 poor car parking experiences recently. I've flown Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and stanstead. It's so expensive, even if you book months in advance, the choices are poor - some sort of purple parking in a place miles from the airport, for like £80!!

Purple Parking at Heathrow is expensive but they all are. You won’t get anything much for £80.

Also the underground goes to Heathrow. No mainline train. So do not feel bad. We always go by car as we don’t live in London. Elizabeth line might be of use but you still have to park somewhere!

It's probably worth pointing out that 'Purple Parking' is a booking platform that has a variety of options, on and off airport, official and third party.

Booking PP doesn't necessarily mean that you will have to find the single space between thousands of other cars in a muddy field or that your car will be left on a random person's driveway somewhere near the airport.

We often do airport parking and hotels (APH) https://www.aph.com/. which is overnight stay the night before your flight plus meet and greet parking. It often works out to be only less than £20 for the hotel room when you compare to meet & greet parking alone. Last time we used it in March, it was only £3 more than meet and greet parking alone to have an overnight stay. It really reduced stress as you never know when the M25 or other M roads might close down due to an accident or just stop oil protesters.

We use the one you take a bus to, the buses are frequent. Though lately we just use national express instead as from our house it's only about an hour longer than driving (hourly service)

I will never understand comments like this.

The overnight stay option will require a level of organisation I know I won't have i.e. being ready a day earlier.

That said, maybe if I have a look I could be enticed. It does sound appealing to start our holiday a little earlier.

I'm wondering if there are JustPark or YourParkingSpace options.

I am dim.
While thinking about the JustPark option I remembered that my sister lives 17 miles from Heathrow. I mean, I know she lives there and I know where Heathrow is, I just don't think about the 2 together IYKWIM.

I can leave my car outside her house and we can either get a taxi or (if she's available) she can drop us off.