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Holiday Extras top tips for travellers


On Thursday September 1, 2011, the BBC’s Watchdog programme ran a feature about a “rogue” airport parking service at London Heathrow. Watchdog’s segment about Secure Park Heathrow Ltd quoted users of the service who were dissatisfied with the care that had been taken with their car while it was parked. Watchdog then installed a number of secret cameras in cars to film what happened to the cars while the were in the company’s care.

We are always very concerned to hear about bad experiences people have had with airport parking - even if the bad experiences are with companies such as Secure park Heathrow Ltd that we’ve never done business with ourselves.

At Holiday Extras we provide car parking for over two million airport travellers a year - And we've been helping people get a good start to their holiday with airport parking and other extras for twenty eight years.

We want everyone who uses an airport parking service to be happy that their car was looked after properly. You should expect a parking service to look after your car as carefully as you would yourself.

About Holiday Extras’ Heathrow Meet and Greet parking service

Holiday Extras is proud to offer a high standard of Meet and Greet parking services at Heathrow Airport, and we take every care to make sure our customers can trust that their cars will be safe with us and our carefully selected suppliers. How do we do that? - We check that:

  • Every car is driven straight from the collection point to a fully secured car park and driven straight back to its owner at the end of their holiday
  • Every driver is insured, competent, courteous and qualified. They will be willing and able to present ID as representatives of the parking service
  • The car park we use is secured, illuminated and not left open at night

At Heathrow Airport we only use the airport owner BAA’s own Meet and Greet service and the Meet and Greet provided by car-park owner NCP, so we are very confident that cars entrusted to us are going to a reputable, secured car park owned and managed by our partners.

About other Heathrow parking services from Holiday Extras

As well as our Meet and Greet service, Holiday Extras offers a number of secured car parks on and around Heathrow airport where you can park your car yourself, safe in the knowledge that it will be properly looked after.

At Heathrow airport itself we offer car parks provided by airport owner BAA at each of the terminals, and we also offer off-site parking from carefully chosen partners such as Quality Airport Parking. Each of these car parks has been awarded the Park Mark security accreditation by the Association of Chief Police Officers, reflecting the security of the site. Each car park is manned 24 hours a day and is protected by CCTV, a fence and frequent patrols by high profile security vehicles. Each Park Mark accredited site is also regularly re-inspected by the police to ensure it maintains its standards of security.

Best price guarantee

Best Price Guarantee Finally, if you’re looking for a safe place to leave your car when you go on holiday, remember that you won’t find it anywhere cheaper. Holiday Extras checks over 100 prices each week to bring you some great deals and if you find the same airport parking, port parking, airport hotel, port hotel or airport lounge product or package of products for less within 24 hours of making and paying for your booking with Holiday Extras then tell us, and we will give it to you FREE (Terms and conditions apply).

A few tips to avoid getting caught out by rogue airport parking operators

When you visit a website that you haven't booked with before, always research the company. A reputable company will have an About Us page or pages and will clearly show their contact details.

If a website doesn't have a secured online payment system in place, avoid booking with them.

There are several reputable companies that are members of IAPRA - Independent Airport Park and Ride Association. Among them are APH, Purple Parking and Airparks. For other reliable airport parking providers at Heathrow take a look at our booking page.


Archive

The BBC Watchdog programme ran a feature on Tuesday February 27, 2007 investigating a parking company that were offering a far from satisfactory meet and greet service at Gatwick. The Watchdog programme also pointed out that this company have now ceased trading at Gatwick.

Bad publicity regarding airport parking is always a concern - particularly when there are many very reputable parking operators at UK airports providing an excellent service for their customers. For example, at Gatwick Airport Holiday Extras offers 'Meet and Greet' services with Airparks and Maple Manor.

Wherever Holiday Extras offer Meet and Greet services, we ensure that these services are provided to a high standard with cars being stored in secured compounds and the cars only being driven by fully insured drivers. The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) have reported a sharp rise in complaints from holidaymakers who used alternative services in a bid to avoid the costs of airport parking. We would advise you to book through us to avoid being caught out.

Gatwick Airport Meet and Greet

Maple Manor are full members of the British Parking Association. Cars parked with Maple Manor will be stored in a secured compound close to Gatwick Airport, NOT on the road. All Maple Manor's drivers are uniformed and carry full photographic ID and are fully insured to drive customers vehicles. Maple Manor's airport car parks carry full planning permission for airport parking and storage.