Purple parking makes me see red

[MadAdey]

Well that's a bad start to the day. Sat nav said 2 1/2 hours so I set off at 5 for an 08:30 check in at Heathrow. Well after it took me 2 hours to get from the M25/M1 junction I find the purple parking place and park my car up. They said please allow up to 30 mins from arrival to get to the terminal on their website. I got there at 9:00 so was running very late anyway thanks to the traffic. By the time the bus turned up and got me to Terminal 5 it was now 10:00 so I missed my check in by 5 mins, so much for the 30 mins they said about.

Fortunately British Airways managed to put me on another flight at a cost of £100 to myself, but not too bad as it was leaving only 90 mins later than my original flight.

So just to warn others if using Purple Parking at Heathrow, make sure you leave enough time for them to mess and take twice as long as advertised.

 

[CMAC]

and what was the reason purple parking gave?

It's probably a bus leaving every 30 mins to airport so arriving after 9am would mean the 9.30am transport arriving at 10am

 

[MadAdey]

and what was the reason purple parking gave?

It's probably a bus leaving every 30 mins to airport so arriving after 9am would mean the 9.30am transport arriving at 10am

That's not what it said on my booking. I'm just rather annoyed at missing my flight.

Before anyone says I should have left earlier thus wasps how I planned my drive.

2 1/2 hours on the sat nav so set off at 5 to get to the parking by 7:30, gets me there 1 hour before check in. I actually arrived there at 9:00. So if they did stick with the time frame they said I would have still got there in plenty if time. Instead I miss it by 5 mins

 

[Rooter]

What time was your flight?

 

[Hacker Khan]

I've used their service at Heathrow where I drop my car off at their depot and then they bring my car to the airport and I pick it up there a few times. And to be honest I have never had a problem with them. Longest I have ever waited to be taken to the airport from their depot is about 10 mins, plus the 15 to 20 trip to terminal 5. Having said that I am obsessively early for most things, so I always leave loads of time and have been lucky in that I've never been held up that much.

Possibly the frequency of their runs from the depot has decreased, I'm using them in 3 weeks so I'll bear that in mind. On my confirmation email it states 'Please arrive at least 30 minutes before your airport check-in time' so we'll see

 

[MadAdey]

What time was your flight?

10:30 so in theory I had 5 hours to get to the parking and get to the terminal and check in. I only had to do a 2 1/2 hour drive with a maximum 30 minute transfer from the car park.

 

[MadAdey]

I've used their service at Heathrow where I drop my car off at their depot and then they bring my car to the airport and I pick it up there a few times. And to be honest I have never had a problem with them. Longest I have ever waited to be taken to the airport from their depot is about 10 mins, plus the 15 to 20 trip to terminal 5. Having said that I am obsessively early for most things, so I always leave loads of time and have been lucky in that I've never been held up that much.

Possibly the frequency of their runs from the depot has decreased, I'm using them in 3 weeks so I'll bear that in mind. On my confirmation email it states 'Please arrive at least 30 minutes before your airport check-in time' so we'll see

I had planned my trip to be at the parking 30 mins before check in. But they say that it is 15 min transfer with buses leaving every 15 mins so that adds up to 30 min max to me. Standing there for 30 mins while the driver used the toilet had a coffee and cigarette is rather annoying.

Anyway i I just needed to vent my frustration and let others know that you could be messing around for a long time at the car park, so beware.

 

[ADB]

The culprit is the M25! On morning journey I always add another hour to sat nav calculations if I have to go via the M25...which I do a lot

Dread to think how many useless hours I have spent on that circular car park :angry:

 

[MadAdey]

The culprit is the M25! On morning journey I always add another hour to sat nav calculations if I have to go via the M25...which I do a lot

Dread to think how many useless hours I have spent on that circular car park :angry:

i agree, but I only missed it by a few minutes. I never use the M25 at these times of the day as I am from up oop north. I did calculate some extra time for delays but 2 hours to get from the M1 junction round to heathrow is a bit ridiculous.

 

[SaintHacker]

2 hours to get from the M1 junction round to heathrow is a bit ridiculous.

Ridiculous yes, but common! I drive to heathrow from the south coast on a regular basis, the bit of M25 between the M3 junction and the heathrow turn off is only about 5 miles, but I've known it to take 30 mins, in both directions.

 

[Blue in Munich]

As a road you just can't rely on it. I stayed over for the Woburn meet, should have been easy to do in 90 minutes from home in the morning but you can't risk it.

As regards the parking it's often worth trying the official websites. Last trip from Gatwick we got an offer on the short stay opposite the terminal. Slightly more than the off-site but paid for itself big time as it was the morning of the storm and we encountered a few stray trees on the way, 5 minutes after locking the car we were at the desk.

 

[Golfmmad]

[QUOTE

As regards the parking it's often worth trying the official websites. Last trip from Gatwick we got an offer on the short stay opposite the terminal. Slightly more than the off-site but paid for itself big time as it was the morning of the storm and we encountered a few stray trees on the way, 5 minutes after locking the car we were at the desk.[/QUOTE]

This is by far the best way ^^

Car park opposite the terminal - more secure and just a short walk across to the flight departures. Yes it's more expensive but worth it by a mile.

The one and only time that I've used off site parking was an absolute nightmare. Getting all your luggage out of car, wait for bus, with crowds of other people and loading on to bus. Get it off the bus with - with lots of people!

Even worse on return journey - you've had a delayed flight - tired and unhappy at ending a great holiday - to face the same again to get bus, hump luggage in crowds..........you know what I mean.

Oh, and I work with a guy who used to work for one of the airport parking companies - you wouldn't believe what they get up to, driving your car to and from the airport!