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It gets worse every year....
Just when you think the Brits can't get ripped off no more, you see this.
I was paying $8 (5 quid) per 24hrs a couple of weeks ago when i was flying recently
The making people pay to drop people off by a terminal is insane!
You have to pay to drop people off at airports? Rip off!
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
- Posts: 29817
- Joined: 21 Nov 2009, 03:27
Not commenting on the long-stay, but the £2 drop-off fee is just a result of the something-for-nothing attitude of the British Public. Quite a simple set of steps got us to this point:
1. Before Ryanair and Easyjet airports tended to be price-setters, charging BA and other traditional airlines landing fees that were profitable to the airport owner. BA then charged the customer, flying was more expensive.
2. Easyjet and Ryanair came along, get popular and expand and before too long and people demanded to be able to fly from anywhere to anywhere for £10 + taxes with no concept.
3. The negative impact has been twofold - i) Airlines like SAS have reduced the quality and standard of their new cheap offer to rival Budget Airlines, and increased the price of their standard offer, leaving some people stuck between risking it in the economy seats or forking out more for the standard offer. ii) Airports in tin-pot dives like Luton and their continental counterparts competed to get budget airlines during the mass growth of that market, and as a result are price-takers, with the airlines being price-setters. I suspect Easyjet/Rynair and whoever else flies from Luton, have been lowering and lowering the amount they say they will pay in landing fees, with the threat of 'moving elsewhere'. As a result of being dominated by these airlines, the shops who are prepared to pay to rent space at the airport are lower-end and will pay-less rent, lowering that income as well. So, when Luton sees it's airlines making looaadsaa money at their expense, and customers getting cheap deals at their expense, the last straw to try and reclaim some income and profit is to charge the £2 levy, and you can't blame them in my view.
My message to anyone is: fly with a proper airline from a proper airport, or, stop complaining about an extra £2 and stump up - you can't have your cake and eat it both ways.
Simple economics, and just like Tesco taking over the food-chain until they can merrily get away with passing off horse as beef, it gets my goat when the British public cheer-on and eagerly participate in the race-to-the-bottom of society, and then complain like hell when it gets there. Hypocrisy at it's finest.
1. Before Ryanair and Easyjet airports tended to be price-setters, charging BA and other traditional airlines landing fees that were profitable to the airport owner. BA then charged the customer, flying was more expensive.
2. Easyjet and Ryanair came along, get popular and expand and before too long and people demanded to be able to fly from anywhere to anywhere for £10 + taxes with no concept.
3. The negative impact has been twofold - i) Airlines like SAS have reduced the quality and standard of their new cheap offer to rival Budget Airlines, and increased the price of their standard offer, leaving some people stuck between risking it in the economy seats or forking out more for the standard offer. ii) Airports in tin-pot dives like Luton and their continental counterparts competed to get budget airlines during the mass growth of that market, and as a result are price-takers, with the airlines being price-setters. I suspect Easyjet/Rynair and whoever else flies from Luton, have been lowering and lowering the amount they say they will pay in landing fees, with the threat of 'moving elsewhere'. As a result of being dominated by these airlines, the shops who are prepared to pay to rent space at the airport are lower-end and will pay-less rent, lowering that income as well. So, when Luton sees it's airlines making looaadsaa money at their expense, and customers getting cheap deals at their expense, the last straw to try and reclaim some income and profit is to charge the £2 levy, and you can't blame them in my view.
My message to anyone is: fly with a proper airline from a proper airport, or, stop complaining about an extra £2 and stump up - you can't have your cake and eat it both ways.
Simple economics, and just like Tesco taking over the food-chain until they can merrily get away with passing off horse as beef, it gets my goat when the British public cheer-on and eagerly participate in the race-to-the-bottom of society, and then complain like hell when it gets there. Hypocrisy at it's finest.
Funny you mention this.
Last night I went to Gatwick to pick up my gf's folks.
We went to the "short stay" car park. As we went through the barrier we saw them, they came running over luggage in the boot jumped in the car and off we went.
Got the the barrier and it said we owed £3!!
We hadn't even been there 5 minutes and we were charged £3 for going past the airport door!!
Absolute lunacy!!
Last night I went to Gatwick to pick up my gf's folks.
We went to the "short stay" car park. As we went through the barrier we saw them, they came running over luggage in the boot jumped in the car and off we went.
Got the the barrier and it said we owed £3!!
We hadn't even been there 5 minutes and we were charged £3 for going past the airport door!!
Absolute lunacy!!
It is ridiculous pricing. At Brum airport it's the same to park in the medium stay car park for several hours as it is for 21 minutes in the short stay. Both of which are overpriced. When you're picking someone up you don't know how long they're going to take to get through customs and getting their bags, so you could end up paying treble in the short stay car park for just 40-odd minutes. I know there are "reasons", but it doesn't make it right.
Sod's law, when I was there a couple of months ago I went in the medium stay and only took 15 minutes so paid more than I needed to
Sod's law, when I was there a couple of months ago I went in the medium stay and only took 15 minutes so paid more than I needed to
Pie wrote:Funny you mention this.
Last night I went to Gatwick to pick up my gf's folks.
We went to the "short stay" car park. As we went through the barrier we saw them, they came running over luggage in the boot jumped in the car and off we went.
Got the the barrier and it said we owed £3!!
We hadn't even been there 5 minutes and we were charged £3 for going past the airport door!!
Absolute lunacy!!
My point exactly..
Couldn't believe what i was reading..
Its money grabbing gone mad.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
- Posts: 29817
- Joined: 21 Nov 2009, 03:27
Worst money grabbing was the last time I ever flew Ryanair a young toddler had special medicine for some ear trouble to help relieve the pain of the change in air pressure. Had to be mixed in a cup with warm water - the cabin saleschav said the only thing they could provide warm water in was an empty branded tea-cup, but with the bag taken out - but to do that they had to rip the foil off and it would therefore count as a sale, so whilst the toddler was crying with pain and confusion the saleschav was taking £2.50 off their desperate parents.
Parking is way down the list on money grabbing at small airports that have most of their trade from budget airlines.
Parking is way down the list on money grabbing at small airports that have most of their trade from budget airlines.
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RTT
That is not just airports, most car parks/ meters charge by the hour or part of, so if you park for one hour and one minute you are charged for two hours.Pie wrote:Funny you mention this.
Last night I went to Gatwick to pick up my gf's folks.
We went to the "short stay" car park. As we went through the barrier we saw them, they came running over luggage in the boot jumped in the car and off we went.
Got the the barrier and it said we owed £3!!
We hadn't even been there 5 minutes and we were charged £3 for going past the airport door!!
Absolute lunacy!!
I could understand paying £1 or £1.50 but most car packs let you have 15 minutes free.
However £3 to drive in the short stay car park, pick 2 passengers up and drive out - we didn't actually park in a space, literally drove in, picked them up, drove to barrier. Less than 5 minutes.
However £3 to drive in the short stay car park, pick 2 passengers up and drive out - we didn't actually park in a space, literally drove in, picked them up, drove to barrier. Less than 5 minutes.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
- Posts: 29817
- Joined: 21 Nov 2009, 03:27
As the post said - the ticket machine cares not if you go in for 5 mins or the whole allotted time. If I were you, I would have read the information sign upon entering and parked up, stretched my leg, had a coffee and a pee, just to get better VfM.Pie wrote:I could understand paying £1 or £1.50 but most car packs let you have 15 minutes free.
However £3 to drive in the short stay car park, pick 2 passengers up and drive out - we didn't actually park in a space, literally drove in, picked them up, drove to barrier. Less than 5 minutes.
Do what we do:
Whoever is picking up, park up away from the Airport for a while and when the plane lands and the arrivals are awaiting luggage, someone in the arriving party sends a text message to the driver for them to then make their way to pick up. That way then, you are not there longer than needs be. It is also possible to time it that the person picking up doesnt need to go in the arrivals car park - take a little walk down the road and get them to pick you up there...
Whoever is picking up, park up away from the Airport for a while and when the plane lands and the arrivals are awaiting luggage, someone in the arriving party sends a text message to the driver for them to then make their way to pick up. That way then, you are not there longer than needs be. It is also possible to time it that the person picking up doesnt need to go in the arrivals car park - take a little walk down the road and get them to pick you up there...
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cheltenhamforever
- Posts: 16
- Joined: 02 Dec 2009, 18:05
At Tampa airport (Florida), as long as your stay is less than an hour it is free. I think the second hour then costs $1, or about 65p. We are ripped off in the UK at every chance. Why don't parking machines give change, why don't they give you pro rata extra time if you overpay?
I don't think there is public transport from Birmingham Airport to Cheltenham at 1, 2 or 3am? And the cost of a hotel room until morning would be even more than the parking!Hubert Parry wrote:This is why I like public transport.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
- Posts: 29817
- Joined: 21 Nov 2009, 03:27
I always believed people chose to fly at those times due to cheaper flights, which are cheaper as both decent sleep and transport access is restricted, so thus get what they pay for. Cake and eating it etc.Shade wrote:I don't think there is public transport from Birmingham Airport to Cheltenham at 1, 2 or 3am? And the cost of a hotel room until morning would be even more than the parking!Hubert Parry wrote:This is why I like public transport.
And just springing into my head, at least by having to pay to park when flying at night internalises some of the externality of noise pollution faced by flight-path residents - an inadvertent polluter-pays-principle policy!
Some destinations don't have many flights, some of which only come in at that time of the morning.
And if they're messing up their sleep, etc, they're not having their cake and eating it, really. And getting what they pay for...that's the whole point - they're not as they'll have to pay more!
And if they're messing up their sleep, etc, they're not having their cake and eating it, really. And getting what they pay for...that's the whole point - they're not as they'll have to pay more!