Extortionate Parking rates at Manchester Airport

[PaulSB]

I wasn't flying I was parking at no point did my feet leave the ground until I go back in the car

You know full well why you were at the airport, you told us in the opening post, to pick up two relatives as a part of their journey. This is two people who can afford to buy plane tickets and possibly holiday overseas, I don't know the nature of the journeys. If they can't afford the tickets someone who can clearly funded the trip.

There are plenty of people in the northwest who can't afford to get on a bus let alone worry about £20 parking charges. If you object to paying for parking I suggest you ask your relatives to reimburse your expenses.

There are plenty of ways you can avoid a charge altogether. It requires a bit of organisation but take someone with you to meet the relatives, drop him/her at the station then leave the airport and park up somewhere. The person doing the meeting can then contact you etc. perhaps assist the relatives to the station for free pick up there. There's a moving floor almost the full length.

Parking is part of the cost of travel. People who don't want to pay should stay at home.

 

[fossyant]

Were you forced to live so close to a major airport? It sounds similar to the people who buy a house across from a pub, then complain about the noise.

As for your theory that making driving (in this case to the airport) more expensive will somehow reduce traffic; how has that worked since the near doubling of the price of petrol? No, I haven't noticed much difference either.

The issue for those living near is many of the park and ride companies are a bunch of cowboys, and dump their clients cars outside smeone's house nearby, rather than in a dedicated car park.

 

[matticus]

Different possibly for the OP with two 80 year olds, but doesn't Manchester have a free bus service to the park and ride place, meaning you can get picked up for nothing. Not as convenient I know, but that's the deal.

By the sound of it this family have been regular flyers since long before these charges became exorbitant. And in that time they've done enormous harm to the environment, which is paid for by everyone who never drives to an airport.

 

[cougie uk]

Manchester is an awful airport. Too busy and badly trained staff. I much prefer Liverpool and it's even better if you can travel light and get the train and bus in.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Yeah, I get it that it's unavoidable for the OP.

Equally, I can't avoid his car and also the many thousands of others for whom it's entirely avoidable, and pricing the privilege of ruining the environment for everyone else doesn't seem unreasonable. Especially when every other aspect of their flights is subsidised by the rest of us: state funded infrastructure, tax breaks on shopping(!), tax free fuel etc etc.

I agree. I've flown from Manchester on purpose before as it's got the good transport links. To me it's what an interconnected airport should be like as even if you can't get a train there directly I think both the central manchester stations have rail/metrolink to the airport.

My nearest airport (Leeds Bradford) has a bus service which I'd never use as Leeds busses are famously unreliable. Various attempts to get a connected railine to it keep failing. I have driven there but always as a car-full of people and always used the official car parks.

Yes I agree in someways, I used to travel from Worksop, to Sheffield then to Piccadilly then to the airport, but problem with that is I found it very stressful as you never knew if the trains would be running on time & if they weren't you risked missing your flight.

That's a meandering journey, and even without strikes I think that line can be unreliable at times. Ironically the only time I've been involved with a missed flight (I made it, some friends didn't) I got a taxi and they drove. No trains involved.

I think if I was flying at the moment I'd try to get an early flight, and travel the day before and stay overnight near the airport to be on the safe side.

 

[GuyBoden]

I prefer Liverpool Airport, which has a free drop off/pick up car park a 2min walk away.

 

[wiggydiggy]

The issue for those living near is many of the park and ride companies are a bunch of cowboys, and dump their clients cars outside smeone's house nearby, rather than in a dedicated car park.

Leeds couple baffled as car 'caught speeding in Manchester' while they holiday 1,500 miles away in Spain

No idea whose at fault here and if it's even the same car - Manchester Airport say it's not but we only know they definately couldn't have been driving it.

 

[DaveReading]

Cloned plates would be one obvious answer.

Obviously I'm not about to suggest that Manchester Airport are being economical with the truth.

 

[Bazzer]

They are useful, but only up to a point - specifically the point at which the aircraft comes to a halt at the gate.

From then on, as noted by other posters, it's very difficult to predict how long one's passenger(s) will take to get through the terminal to your chosen pick-up point.

My most recent experience was when daughter 2 recently returned from Turkey at the beginning of this month. Although we were not picking her up, she was to be fed and was staying at ours overnight before going home.
Mrs B had something on her phone which told when the flight luggage was at reclaim. Combined with what we were told about immigration queue, this helped us, as we knew then roughly how long it would be before she arrived at our house.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

You know full well why you were at the airport, you told us in the opening post, to pick up two relatives as a part of their journey. This is two people who can afford to buy plane tickets and possibly holiday overseas, I don't know the nature of the journeys. If they can't afford the tickets someone who can clearly funded the trip.

There are plenty of people in the northwest who can't afford to get on a bus let alone worry about £20 parking charges. If you object to paying for parking I suggest you ask your relatives to reimburse your expenses.

There are plenty of ways you can avoid a charge altogether. It requires a bit of organisation but take someone with you to meet the relatives, drop him/her at the station then leave the airport and park up somewhere. The person doing the meeting can then contact you etc. perhaps assist the relatives to the station for free pick up there. There's a moving floor almost the full length.

Parking is part of the cost of travel. People who don't want to pay should stay at home.

And the most condescending post of the month award goes to ..................................

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Unless you're going to the airport to plane-spot.

I may have been going in to buy a Gregg's sausage roll, or chicken slice, I was surprised not to see a Starchucks or a Crusty coffee in there.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I may have been going in to buy a Gregg's sausage roll, or chicken slice, I was surprised not to see a Starchucks or a Crusty coffee in there.

Manchester Airport I picked up someone a few years back and was surprised at how barren it was in Arrivals, hardly any shops, cafes etc. They obviously don't want you hanging around which seems contrdictory to their parking charges!

 

[steverob]

For me, Luton Airport have always been the worst (best?) at finding ways to ensure they get as much money out of you as possible. They usually seem to be the first to come up with a new charge (or elevate an existing one to a higher level) and then later the other airports look at if it was successful and decide whether to copy it or not!

They were certainly the first airport I saw with the £5 drop-off charge, years before any others dared to try (they actually took a chunk out of their short-stay car park in order to build a specific section for it near the terminal) and I remember when the rules about not having more than 100ml of liquids in your hand luggage were first introduced, they immediately started charging £2 for a single clear plastic bag, when they were free at Heathrow and Gatwick (don't know if they still are) or you could get a roll of 50 identical sandwich bags for £1 at a supermarket - pure profit!

Anyway, one time coming out of Luton waiting for the bus to arrive to take us to the long stay car park, I saw some people dash out of the terminal with their suitcases and rush to a nearby car which was parked up on the approach to a roundabout just outside the terminal building (the road layout has changed since I believe), clearly to try and get round the drop-off fee. Another guy was waiting at the bus shelter next to us and he just laughed and pointed out to us the two APNR cameras set up at the roundabout as well as all the warning signs about not stopping to pick up passengers. He said that Luton Airport were so desperate to ensure people paid the fee at the car park that they would fine anyone who tried to evade it - chances are it was one of those "fines" that was not legally enforceable, but enough people would panic and pay it that it actually made them as much money if not more overall. So if your local airport isn't already doing this, be prepared because it's probably coming soon as it's now been successfully trialled in Bedfordshire!

 

[DaveReading]

Obviously I'm not about to suggest that Manchester Airport are being economical with the truth.

Having said that, the more you think about it, the more fishy it sounds.

The couple only became aware of the speeding NIP once they had returned home, at which time the airport would presumably have been unaware of it.

The airport, when subsequently informed about it, maintained that "the car in the speed camera photo is different to the couple's vehicle".

How does the airport know it's a different vehicle? It looks the same in both the photos. Do they take detailed photos of every vehicle using the "meet and greet" service on the off-chance that a speed camera might catch an apparently not-quite-identical vehicle with the same reg while the real one is apparently in their care?

It's a pity the couple's car doesn't seem to have had a tracker.

 

[Alex321]

Having said that, the more you think about it, the more fishy it sounds.

The couple only became aware of the speeding NIP once they had returned home, at which time the airport would presumably have been unaware of it.

The airport, when subsequently informed about it, maintained that "the car in the speed camera photo is different to the couple's vehicle".

How does the airport know it's a different vehicle? It looks the same in both the photos. Do they take detailed photos of every vehicle using the "meet and greet" service on the off-chance that a speed camera might catch an apparently not-quite-identical vehicle with the same reg while the real one is apparently in their care?

It's a pity the couple's car doesn't seem to have had a tracker.

I would imagine they take reasonably detailed photos of every vehicle at pickup, so that they can't be accused of creating any dents or scratches that were already there.