Booking airport parking can be an expensive part of a holiday or business trip, especially at one of the London airports. LutonAirportParking.com - a price comparison website - has launched an update ahead of the busy Easter and Summer travel periods to help travellers find the cheapest places to park.

Travellers often pay more to leave a car at Luton airport than it costs to fly from what is the home of low-cost airline easyJet and a popular holiday and business flights hub. This does not have to be the case; those who plan ahead can save a lot of money, and even enjoy a night in an airport hotel, and still make big savings compared to the drive up price at the on airport car parks.

LutonAirportParking.com did some research to find the prices for seven days of parking (from 19 March to 26 March) at Luton Airport in order to illustrate the options available and the savings travellers can make with a little forward planning. The drive up price (or gate price) for the long stay car park is currently £121.60, but travellers can pre-book the same car park for as little as £49.49 via the airport website - a saving of almost 60%.

Using a specialist price comparison website such as LutonAirportParking.com allows passengers to compare the cost of on airport car parks with long-stay off-airport parking. For the dates above this can be obtained for £30.99, a saving of almost 75% on drive up price and almost 40% on the pre-book price of the on airport car park.

For that same period, travellers can pay just £53 to enjoy an overnight stay at the airport Ibis hotel, which is the second closest hotel to the terminal, according to website Airport-Hotels-Guide.co.uk . This includes parking at an off airport car park for the period above; is 56% cheaper than the drive up price and just 7% more expensive than the pre-book price for the on airport car park for parking including a free a night in a hotel.

Obviously these sample prices will not apply for all travellers flying from Luton in the near future, so LutonAirportParking.com offers tips so that anyone flying from the popular airport can search and buy the cheapest rates no matter when they are travelling.

One of the best tips is to pre-book parking. Rates can be less than half the price travellers pay when they drive up and park without pre-booking. Planning ahead of time can save some serious money - 60% for the on airport car park in the period detailed above.

The ‘official’ airport car parks - called ‘on-airport’ car parks - tend to charge a price premium over unofficial or 'off airport' car parks, which can be further from the terminal but offer significant savings (almost 40% for the dates above). When picking an off airport car park it is important to ensure that the car will be in a secure compound with patrols and 24-hour security cameras. LutonAirportParking.com also suggest checking the insurance situation where travellers have to hand over the keys of the car for it to be parked for them.

Those using car parks that make it mandatory to leave car keys should also make a note of the mileage reading when they drop off their car, so that they will be able to tell later how far the car has been driven.

Check the car park cancellation policy. On some of the best 'supersaver' deals travellers’ cannot be amended or refunded should plans change. Some companies will make a refund for a cancellation with more than 24 hours’ notice, but may charge a cancellation fee.

Don't write off meet and greet (or valet) parking or an airport hotel with free parking. While both are normally more expensive than on airport parking for shorter stays, these options are often heavily discounted for late bookers and can be cheaper than on airport parking for stays of a week or more.

Lastly, Travellers should also double check the times and frequency of transfers to and from the terminal from the car park. Factor this in not just to the travel time but also to the booking decision and price comparison. It may be worth paying a few extra pounds in order to avoid a long round trip to / from an off airport car park, especially after a long journey or flight.

Biography:

Handling parking and finding a great hotel can be one of the most stressful aspects of traveling. LutonAirportParking.com has a bunch of information and resources for travellers. Visit them online at LutonAirprtParking.com.

Media Contact:
Lynn Rosario
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Headstone Lane,
HA3 6NY Harrow
0208 143 7207
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http://www.lutonairportparking.com/