Five airport parking mistakes that could ruin your holiday (and how to avoid them)

A fine of hundreds of pounds or a damaged car will quickly sour your return home from a holiday. With official airport meet-and-greet options costing up to £300 for four days of parking, UK travellers are turning to unofficial long-stay car parks and cheap but poorly rated meet-and-greet services at airports. Hundreds of passengers flying from Stansted have used a car park known as New Farm, in the Essex village of Elsenham. Among them, they have experienced damage to their cars, chaotic transport between the airport and the car park, and long waits to collect their vehicles. The local council has issued an enforcement notice for the site to be shut down. New Farm may seem like an outlier. In less than a year, the site changed from agricultural land to a car park for more than a thousand vehicles, according to the BBC. Yet passengers at airports across the UK, and with both unauthorised and legitimate meet-and-greet services, have reported poor service. This service has resulted in fines from airport car parks in which vehicles were parked by meet-and-greet services, without customers’ knowledge, loss and damage to property, and families waiting hours to be picked up from terminals. Shorts Here’s how to have the best chance of avoiding poor service while also parking for less. Using an unauthorised car park Rogue parking firms lure customers with low prices. A spot search shows online comparison tools that list several meet-and-greet and parking services with dozens of negative reviews on Trustpilot. They advertise rates for a week’s parking near Stansted for as little as £63. Cars may be parked on unsecured farmland or streets, damaged or driven long distances by rogue companies. Avoid it: Check accreditation Isaac Occhipinti, of the British Parking Association (a not-for-profit trade association for parking and traffic management professionals), says: “A good first step is to check whether the operator is a member of an accredited trade association, such as the British Parking Association, which provides important safeguards and a clear route for escalation if something goes wrong.” Another accreditation to look out for is the Safer Parking Meet and Greet scheme. It says its members have undergone rigorous assessments to prove their commitment to security. Not checking reviews Cost comparison and third-party websites may pull in lots of companies, and those that appear highest in search listings are not necessarily the best. On a search tool called Free2move, the top result for parking near Heathrow is a company that has three stars on Trustpilot. Several reviewers mention the company causing damage to their cars and employing rude staff. Avoid it: Do your research Chelsea Dickenson, a travel blogger and podcaster known as the Holiday Expert, says: “Look out for clusters of five-star reviews that use repeated language or very similar phrases, as this could be a sign that they are not genuine. “Remember, comparison and third-party websites may work with a variety of parking companies, so find out the name of the operator that will be looking after your car and carry out your checks on them directly. “I also like to search the company name on platforms such as Reddit and TikTok, where you can often find more detailed, first-hand experiences from previous customers.” Leaving your car in a hurry Some customers of seemingly reputable meet-and-greet firms report valuables being taken from their vehicles. Hundreds of online reviews report damage to vehicles or petrol tanks being emptied by the time a car is returned to its owner, as well as suspicious increases in vehicles’ mileage. Avoid it: Take photos and notes, and check your insurance policy Photographing the inside and outside of your car and noting down your mileage and how much petrol you have before you leave your car will offer peace of mind. While a meet-and-greet company may not agree with your records or offer compensation, your diligence may help when making a complaint to an organisation such as Trading Standards (to which reports must be made via Citizens Advice). If you have contents insurance for your car, check whether parking in an airport car park or using an airport meet-and-greet service could affect your policy. Paying on the day Holiday Extras, a travel company through which travellers can pre-book services, found a price difference of up to £330 between pre-booked parking and parking booked at the airport. In 2025, its research found that passengers who booked their parking in advance saved an average of £202 compared with those who booked on arrival. Avoid it: Seek out the best-value, well-rated options Rod Dennis, senior policy officer at RAC, the motoring services and roadside assistance organisation, says: “For longer-stay parking, booking as far in advance is essential – especially if you’re going away over peak periods – as prices can go up sharply the closer you are to your departure date. Signing up to your local airport’s e-newsletter can also be worthwhile as these can include online discount codes.” Booking an airport hotel and parking separately, without checking the cost If you book an airport hotel without checking whether it offers long-stay parking, you could be missing out on a substantial saving. Avoid it: Check legitimate price comparison sites and hotel websites You can look at several options at once on sites such as Holiday Extras and Airport Parking and Hotels. Check with the hotels directly, too. At Manchester Airport, for instance, Holiday Extras lists several airport hotels that are five minutes from airport terminals and offer a night’s stay and a week of parking for under £100, when booked well in advance.