Keep An Eye On Those Parking Charges

This recent news story will interest those of you who have used the parking facilities at Bristol Airport in the past. Many people know that you can pre-book your parking space at Bristol Airport in advance and save a lot of money by doing so… but you should be especially careful if you are planning on staying for just a short time. Let’s say an hour or so, for example.

You wouldn’t pre-book parking if you were only dropping someone off, would you? Of course not - but you should be aware of the charges that are in operation for short term parking so you don’t come unstuck.

Bristol Airport is kinder than some other airports in the UK, since you can park completely free of charge for ten minutes. That isn’t very much, but it will be long enough to let your passenger out with their luggage and wave them off before driving back home again.

But woe betide you if you should go over your allotted ten minute time slot. The charge you will have to pay for just sixty minutes worth of parking is a whopping £4.50. When you compare that to the fact that long term parking can cost you less than £3 per DAY, you’ll see just how expensive this is.

So is this high charge justified?

There is obviously a plus side and a negative side to this situation. The advantage is that some people will no longer want to use the parking facilities. This would leave more people having to use the long stay car parking facilities by driving themselves to the airport instead of asking a friend or relative to do it for them. This obviously generates more money and more business for the owners of those car parks.

But if you have ever been to Bristol Airport (or indeed any other airport in the UK) you will know that it isn’t always easy to find a parking space when you visit the airport simply to drop someone off. Perhaps these higher charges are intended purely to discourage some people from using the car park facility altogether? If this was the case it would be certain that for those who did want to use it, there would be more spaces available.

Certainly a comment from someone speaking on behalf of Bristol Airport seemed to indicate that this was indeed the case. The idea was that if parking in these areas was less attractive, people would use them for the shortest time possible to keep things flowing. There is no doubt that some people do abuse the parking facilities at airports, and if there is a steep charge in place as there is at Bristol, then they are far less likely to subject them to this same abuse.

So while some people are certainly up in arms about the situation, it is also the case that nothing is likely to change. Just be aware that you might be stung quite expensively if you go over those first precious ten minutes.