It would appear that airports are always coming up with novel ways to part you from your money. Our Travel assists you to avoid getting stung before you fly
Avoid Airport Expense
If you want to make your money go further at the airport, whether you’re flying for business or for pleasure, a little bit of forethought goes a long way in today’s world and can make a huge difference. Read on to learn helpful information on anything from exchanging currency to parking your vehicle to bringing food through security, and do so in order to ensure that you will never pay an excessive amount again.
1. Refrain from changing currency at the airport.
It is not a good idea to pick up your vacation money at the airport at the last minute because the conversion rates are bad there. If you’ve left things this late, banks and money changers at the airport will consider you fair game and will penalise you accordingly; therefore, it is in your best interest to prepare ahead wherever possible. If you want to obtain the greatest value possible on foreign currency, it is recommended that you acquire it online rather than hunting for the best rate on the high street.
2. Make sure you have your transfer reserved in advance.
It costs more than 37 pounds to purchase a return ticket on the Gatwick Express from London Victoria if you pay for it at the station; however, if you book it online in advance, it is 10 percent cheaper, and there are other options. This route is also serviced by Southern trains, and despite the fact that the trip takes approximately five to ten minutes longer (depending on stops), we were able to find return tickets booked online in advance starting at £24. Still more affordable are the Thameslink trains from St. Pancras and Blackfriars, which depart for as little as £21.10 and take approximately an hour. There are several methods available for cutting costs when taking the pricey Heathrow Express. The price of a round-trip ticket purchased from their website is £74 for two people traveling together. If you enter the never-before-publicized term “duosaver” into the promotion code field, however, you can get the price reduced to £55.50. And if you’re very good at planning ahead, you can save even more money: a one-way ticket purchased 90 days in advance that can be used on weekends or bank holidays costs £5.50 per person, but it only costs £8.80 if you book it at least 30 days in advance of your trip.
3. Make sure you always book your parking spot in advance online.
If you book your parking spot at the airport in advance using the airport’s website, rather than just turning up, you will be able to take advantage of significantly lower rates. It is possible that reserving a longer-stay parking spot for several days, even if you only intend to use it for a single day, will be less expensive than reserving a spot for 24 hours in a short-stay parking lot if you only expect to stay for a single day. Therefore, there is no reason why you cannot remove your vehicle from the longer-stay parking lot after only one day has passed. And if you have an early flight and want to remain near the airport, check to see if a local hotel has a “stay and park” option where you can sleep the night and then leave the car in their parking lot. This will allow you to be near the airport without having to worry about driving.
4. Determine whether or not the “offers” really are a better value.
Airport stores frequently provide names that are exclusive to the airport as well as atypical sizes in an effort to confuse customers who are looking to compare prices while tax-free shopping. But the fact of the matter is that with the rise of online shopping and sales at grocery stores, buying at airports isn’t quite as much of a deal as it used to be. Occasionally, certain airports will post “click and collect” discounts on their websites. These deals will include additional perks, such as a free ticket to use in the expedited security line or a voucher that can be redeemed for a free beverage at a café.
5. Stay away from drop off fees.
There is typically a way to get around airports’ policies that require you to pay a fee even if all you are doing is dropping off a passenger at the terminal. If you want to drop someone off at Manchester Airport, for instance, you can do so at the Jet Parks One car park, from where there is a free shuttle. It works the same way in Edinburgh, where you can drop someone off in the Long Stay car park, from which they can then get a free transfer to wherever they need to go. At the time of this writing, a drop-off fee is not levied at Heathrow, Gatwick, or Cardiff, to name a few of the airports that fall into this category. But before you go, you should either give the airport a call or look at its website to find out how to avoid them at airports that have them. And make sure you don’t get caught by staying too long in the area where people drop off their packages… If you overstay your welcome in Manchester, for instance, the charge will increase by more than six times in just one minute.
6. Dine for less
It is not always easy to remain current on the most recent restrictions regarding the types of food that may and cannot be brought through airport security. To summarise, you can save money by bringing your own food, such as sandwiches and fruit, rather of eating at one of the expensive eateries in the airport. Bring a water bottle with you that you may empty before going through security. Filling stations are appearing at an ever-increasing number of airports. The airports in Cardiff, Newquay, and Belfast all informed us that any of their food vendors will fill up water bottles for free if they were requested to do so.
