Airport Parking Options at London Heathrow

I am now a bit of a seasoned traveller when it comes to passing through Heathrow for blogging events, girly weekends away and family holidays. But one thing any Heathrow excursion has in common is that I always use airport parking whenever I fly as, for me, it’s the easiest way to get to the airport and so convenient when I return too. So here are some Heathrow parking options for you to consider next time you’re jetting off anywhere:

Short Stay Parking

Heathrow’s short stay parking is located next to each of the airport terminals, making it the perfect place to park when picking someone up if you’re going into arrivals and not just driving by to pick them up.

Long Stay Parking

Each Heathrow terminal has it’s own long stay parking which can be easily booked online before you travel. With this option you drive into a large open air car park, park your car and then wait for a bus to come along to transport you to the relevant terminal.

The buses arrive every ten minutes and take anything from three minutes up to 18 minutes to get to the terminal – depending on how busy it is when you’re travelling. When you arrive home you just wait at the appropriate bus stop and a bus will come along, usually after just a short wait.

Heathrow also has a business long stay parking option which is more expensive but located closer to the terminal, with more frequent buses and a shorter journey time.

Meet and Greet Parking

With meet and greet parking at Heathrow you follow signs to the special area in the short stay car park where you park, hand over your keys to a member of staff and walk straight into the airport terminal next door. When you arrive home your car is there ready and waiting for you.

This couldn’t be easier and is such a great service but it does cost more than long stay parking – but often less than business parking so definitely an option to consider if you’re travelling for business – or pleasure.

POD Parking

The last time I travelled through Heathrow I used the POD parking service. Only available at Terminal 5, the POD parking starts off the same as the long stay option – parking in a large open air car park. But from there, you hop into a little driver-less pod which takes you to the terminal in just four minutes. The pods arrive every minute – literally – and carry six people and luggage although six people would be quite a squeeze, unless you were a family travelling together.

This was such a great way to get to the airport and, for the weekend I was away, cost just a couple of pounds more than standard long stay parking but saved me so much time in bus transfers.

There are also Valet Parking and Meet and Greet parking options at Heathrow that we haven’t had experience of yet. It would be great to hear about your own experiences.

Hotel Parking

Many hotels near Heathrow offer stay, park and fly packages so you can stay over the night before and then fly off on holiday after a short transfer from the hotel – usually included in the package. This is definitely worth considering if you live far from the airport or are travelling at unsociable hours.

It goes without saying that Heathrow is also incredibly accessible by public transport – so always think if you can save yourself money, and do your bit for the environment too – and leave your car at home. If you’re travelling soon – have a safe journey and I hope you have an amazing time – happy holidays!

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