Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Thu 10 Jul 2008 21:38
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - Robin
I am currently looking for a reasonably priced car park at Gatwick for when we go on our hols next month. There are a number of outfits who offer a meet and greet type service whereby they meet you at the airport and drive your car to their carpark and fetch it back to the airport when you return. Some of these guys are actualy cheaper than the more conventional minibus from the car-park type operators. This seems like a great idea to me: no having to haul luggage onto a bus, no having to find the car-park, no waiting for a minibus when you return etc etc. My wife on the other hand has other ideas: what if they nick your car (a bit unlikely since I drive an Avensis), what if they crash it en-route etc. I guess her suspicion derives from this being a novel idea to her.

Has anyone got any experiences, good or bad, of these type of operations?

Edited by Robin on 10/07/2008 at 21:40

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Fri 11 Jul 2008 10:21
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - Alanovich
I use a service like this every time I fly, it's an absolute Godsend with two small children. Admittedly I usually fly from Heathrow where I use Purple Parking Meet and Greet.

Used it about 6 times and it's brilliant. No worries at all.

I don't know how far you live from Gatwick, but also check out how much a local taxi firm will charge to to take you there and back, it can often be cheaper than the long term parking. I used to do this before we had children and kiddie car seats to worry about.

Edited by Alanovich on 11/07/2008 at 10:22

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Fri 11 Jul 2008 10:37
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - Alby Back
Surprisingly cheap to use short stay if you book well in advance online. Two minute covered walk to check in. I usually do this especially if flights depart or return at "Oh heck" O'clock.
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Fri 11 Jul 2008 12:01
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - pyruse
I've used one of these services twice at Gatwick (a year or so apart).
Excellent service - car is parked very close the the terminal (5 mins in the bus); much better (and cheaper) than the long stay. No problems at all. Would use them again.
The one I used was Park Plus.
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Fri 11 Jul 2008 12:08
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - bananastand
One must take care! There were stories a while back of these firms just taking the car and parking it in nearby suburban streets! No liability accepted naturally! Up in Manchester that would mean the biggest council estate in England...

Also, there were reports of people with "nice" cars seeing a substantial jump in the car's mileage when it was returned to them.
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Fri 11 Jul 2008 21:42
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - Kevin
I've used the meet & greet parking at Gatwick operated by Maple Manor Parking Services quite a few times usually as a hotel plus parking package at the Sofitel.

Your car is parked at their secured off-airport site and you have the option of open-air or covered parking (at extra cost). Never had any problems with them and they are are usually there to greet you about 15 minutes after letting them know you've cleared customs.

Much less hassle than dragging suitcases on and off minibuses especially if it's raining or you've got youngsters with you.

Kevin...
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Fri 11 Jul 2008 22:40
Gatwick - Meet and Greet Parking - Whisky
These meet and greets maybe conveniant, but everytime I fly my car keys are in my pocket and the car is safely parked in the long/short term spot by me and me alone. I'd rather pay £10-20 extra for piece of mind that its not parked on some industrial estate somewhere.
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