How to Manage Airport Parking Issues and Delays in your Travel Schedule?

by Nancy Rogers Marketing

The biggest problem that passengers have to face at any airport is to manage everything on schedule. Since there are so many things that can take more time to get done then you expected, you just may have a scheduling snafu at your hand. These problems are generally due to miscalculated arrival and parking timings. So, here is some suggestion on how to prevent these airport parking problems and what to do if you get stuck with one.

Time Management

Every passenger at the airport is on a timetable trying to make it within a reasonable time but there are so many factors that contribute towards deciding whether they will succeed or not. In order to succeed in this regard, you have to plan in advance and account for certain unforeseen problem to ensure that despite hiccups you will be able to make it in time. But there is Gatwick airport cheap parking that you need to take care of before you can check-in at the terminal. This is where the pre-planned timing goes awry for most people.

Since there are two different types of parking operations working at every airport, here is how you can tackle scheduling problems at the airport:

Official Airport Parking

Official parking is conducted on a first come first serve basis and you have to drive up to the long term parking plaza which is a multistory building that you have to get in line to enter. Once you get in then you have to circle the floors in order to find a vacant spot because the first floor is almost always full due to its close proximity to the exit. Once you find a suitable spot for parking then you have to drag your luggage from this plaza to the terminal and get checked in. All of these will take time and there is no way to predict correctly how long it will take you to do all this adjusting for traffic, waiting in lines, weather and parking. You can take your best guess and then try to follow a schedule but giving a wide berth here should be the default if you don’t want to be rushed to make it to the terminal on time.

Off-Airport Parking

This is an unofficial parking facility. Here your vehicle is collected from you at the terminal or the short term parking plaza and then driven to the secure compounds maintained by independent parking vendors. These compounds are located close to the airport but operate outside its authority hence called independent parking or off-site parking. Though a lot of care and consideration goes into booking for off-site airport parking deals, the generally accepted practice is to compare Gatwick parking before you book. Booking is easy enough but the operations have to be timed perfectly.

When you airport parking Gatwick a parking agent is appointed against your booking to collect your car. As soon as you inform your vendor about your arrival, this driver is dispatched to the meetup spot to collect your car. The handover process takes about 5 minutes and then you are free to head to check-in while your driver takes your car to the off-site compound to park it. Now the meetup spot may have certain rule or limitation regarding how long you can stay there for free to manage drop-off for passengers or the vehicle. If this timing exceeds, you may have to pay an extra amount for additional time at the airport or exit the area and then re-enter to complete the process. At the certain airport, you may get fined for parking longer than the indicated limit, which is really not worth it. Their rules are implemented by airport authorities and all fines and fees goes to them.

Passengers looking to avoid these problems have to simply inquire about these rules and regulations while booking meet and greet at Gatwick and be prepared for it in advance. This way they can get an approximate idea of how long it will take them to conduct vehicle drop off and get to the terminal to check-in. But you have to account for traffic delays, weather restrictions, arrival timing or the parking agent to collect your car etc. All things considered, there is much less of a risk of parking problems unless you are late to arrive at the airport.

Late Arrival for Parking (Delays)

If you are late or get delayed for any reason and cannot make it to the meetup spot on time that you specified at the time of booking then have to face 2 of the following scenarios:

Call your Vendor

you call your Gatwick airport cheap parking operator at the emergency contact provided in the booking confirmation email and inform your vendor that you are late for your vehicle drop off, they might guide you about an alternate route or give you a grace period to make it to the meetup spot. If you fail to arrive at the airport during the grace period then your booking may get cancelled or the vendor may refuse to cater to you at all. This is because your late arrival timing may be pushing into some other passengers on-time arrival. Under such circumstances, they have to provision them first. But some vendors that offer cheap park and ride Gatwick parking too may ask you to come the off-site compound directly to park your car. If such an offer is extended to you take it because any other alter at this time will take either too much time or be very costly or both.

Re-Book Parking

you have been denied service or your booking for airport parking Gatwick has been cancelled, then you have two choices now to wither go for official parking, which may be too expensive for some travellers. Or you could re-book off-site cheap airport parking for urgent services. Keep in mind that you will be charged for the urgent provision of services and get a reservation this late may be challenging but it will not cost you as much as official parking.