Cheaper alternatives to airport parking and taxis for a nine-night holiday

[CareBearClaire]

Hello! I’m looking for suggestions. Going on holiday and airport parking is coming in around £200 for 9 nights away. Taxis to and from would be £160. We don’t have anyone who can take us. Anyone have any suggestions for cheaper alternatives?

The train? A Coach? Walk? Hitchhike?

It depends on the transport links to the airport.

What about parking somewhere nearby ish and getting a train or the bus from there to the airport? You might be able to find a long stay car park or rent someone's drive?

Which airport?

We are getting a coach to Manchester airport next week. £15 each way for two.

You can pay for airport parking with Tesco vouchers, if you have any!

Alternatively, you can rent people’s driveways much cheaper than airport parking. A friend of mine who lives near the airport rents his out for £5 a day. I’m
sure if you google, sites you can do this will come up.

I did the rent a driveway thing at Newcastle Airport, saved about 75% on the cost of airport parking for a 10 minute walk

Try Holiday Extras through Moneysavingexpert.com as that's usually the cheapest for me. I'd expect 9 nights parking to be about £120, so £200 does sound expensive.

Which airport? Most of them have loads of public transport options.

£200 seems pretty reasonable to me - particularly versus having to catch a bus/train on the return journey.

Is there no public transport where you live?

I had the exact same problem, going to Manchester Airport. The parking price has gone up substantially from last year and I couldn’t justify the cost. We looked at the train and that wouldn’t work either because of the line upgrade and engineering work. So we went with National Express, I was a bit dubious I will be honest but they were really good and got us where we needed to be on time. And it cost £32 return for 2 people.

Coach, bus, train, rent a driveway.

Train

So many other options: train, coach or one of the off-site parking options where they drive you to the airport from their base.

There isn't for many. The buses that go to my nearest airport don't get there in time for the early morning flights, which most are, and I'd still need to get a taxi for a few miles to meet the bus. Or leave my car in a random place near a bus stop.

The buses also finish before the latest flights so id need a taxi home. The taxi costs around £45 each way, we did use it once for reasons I won't go into.

I can drive and park for about £70 pw so I do that, as its the cheapest practical and convenient method.

This isn't out in the sticks or a complex journey, just about 12 miles from one side of a large city to the other.

You really need to say which airport it is. I used to park in a suburban area of Bristol several miles from the airport, but round the corner from the airport bus stop.

Then I realised that from where I live, it's actually cheaper and more convenient to go on holiday by train, leaving from one of several stations 5-8 miles away that have ample free onstreet parking. People often say it's cheaper to fly, but haven't factored in parking/luggage/ travel to and from airports both ends etc etc.

I live near an airport and quite a few people rent out their spare driveway space.