To reserve airport parking at the best rate, book it online before you travel and compare every car park's all-in price for your exact dates. The cheapest eight days we can reserve at any UK airport right now is £47.94 at Glasgow Airport (checked 21 October 2026). Turn up at Manchester Airport without a booking and the same eight days cost £507.20 at the barrier.
How do I reserve airport parking?
Reserving takes a couple of minutes on Park4Travels:
- Put in your airport and the date and time you will drop the car off and pick it up.
- Compare every car park for those dates side by side. Each price is the full amount for your stay, including our flat £1.95 booking fee, and each listing shows that car park's own cancellation and amendment terms before you pay.
- Choose a car park and enter your details: name, email, phone number, car registration, make and colour, and your outbound flight number.
- Pay by card. Your confirmation email arrives straight away with your booking reference and the car park's arrival and return instructions.
We compare 152 car parks across 13 UK airports, so one search shows on-airport car parks, park and ride and meet and greet together.
How do I reserve airport parking at the best rates?
Book before you travel, compare the all-in price rather than the daily rate, and look beyond the car parks next to the terminal. In our latest check, the median park and ride across the UK cost £76.95 for eight days, against £100.43 for on-airport parking and £114.44 for meet and greet.
Three habits that cost money: paying at the barrier, choosing by the "per day" figure instead of the total for your dates, and booking a terminal car park for a long trip when it is priced for short stays.
Reserving ahead against paying at the barrier, airport by airport
Reserving ahead is the cheaper route, and the airports say so themselves: Stansted says booking ahead saves up to 80%, Manchester and Edinburgh up to 77%, East Midlands up to 76%, Luton up to 65%, and Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool and Newcastle up to 60%. Here is eight days at each airport's cheapest car park for drivers who turn up without a booking, against the cheapest eight days we can reserve for you today:
| Airport | Turn up, 8 days at the barrier | Reserve ahead, cheapest 8 days |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester | £507.20 (Multi Storey) | £54.30 |
| East Midlands | £472 (Short Stay 1) | £57.44 |
| London Stansted | £384 (Mid Stay) | £81.94 |
| Birmingham | £359 (Car Park 7) | £69.43 |
| Newcastle | £320 (Long Stay) | £119.43 |
| London Heathrow | £308.60 (Terminal 5 Park & Ride) | £55.94 |
| London Luton | £280 (Long Stay) | £88.93 |
| Bristol | £275 (Silver Zone) | £73.95 |
| London Gatwick | £262 (Long Stay) | £57.70 |
| Cardiff | £217 (Car Park 1) | £87.43 |
| Edinburgh | £185 (Plane Parking) | £56.43 |
| Leeds Bradford | £183 (Long Stay) | £84.44 |
| Liverpool | £170 (Long Stay) | £88.34 |
| Glasgow | £155 (Long Stay) | £47.94 |
Barrier prices are the airports' own published turn-up tariffs. Reserve-ahead prices are live, include our £1.95 booking fee, and update automatically.
Do you have to reserve airport parking in advance?
At many car parks, yes. Manchester Airport sells JetParks, Mid Stay, Drop & Go and Meet & Greet on a pre-book basis only, so its Multi Storey is the only car park there that takes drivers without a booking. East Midlands does the same with Long Stay, JetParks and Meet & Greet, and Stansted with Long Stay, JetParks, Meet & Greet and Valet. Independent park and ride and meet and greet operators work on reservations too. Turning up usually limits you to the airport's dearest spaces.
What do you need to reserve airport parking?
Your drop-off and pick-up dates and times, your car's registration, make and colour, your outbound flight number, and a phone number and email address for the confirmation. At airports with more than one terminal you also choose your terminal, which matters most for meet and greet, where the driver meets you there.
Where can I reserve airport parking at every UK airport in one place?
On Park4Travels, which compares 152 car parks across 13 UK airports at live prices, with one flat £1.95 booking fee already in every price. Where an airport adds its own charge at the barrier, the listing tells you the amount before you book. The cheapest eight days at each airport today:
| Airport | Cheapest for 8 days | Per day | Car parks compared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow | £47.94 | £5.99 | 7 |
| Manchester | £54.30 | £6.79 | 28 |
| Aberdeen | £54.43 | £6.80 | 1 |
| London Heathrow | £55.94 | £6.99 | 27 |
| Edinburgh | £56.43 | £7.05 | 12 |
| East Midlands | £57.44 | £7.18 | 12 |
| London Gatwick | £57.70 | £7.21 | 20 |
| Birmingham | £69.43 | £8.68 | 6 |
| Bristol | £73.95 | £9.24 | 7 |
| London Stansted | £81.94 | £10.24 | 19 |
| Leeds Bradford | £84.44 | £10.55 | 1 |
| Liverpool | £88.34 | £11.04 | 5 |
| London Luton | £91.94 | £11.49 | 2 |
For prices, charges and the cheapest airport by region, see our UK airport parking price guide.
Can I change or cancel a reserved airport parking booking?
That depends on the car park, which is why we show each operator's own cancellation and amendment terms on the listing before you book. Flexible and non-flexible versions of the same car park are often sold side by side, so you can choose whether to pay a little more to keep your options open.
When is the best time to reserve airport parking?
Any time before you set off beats the barrier, so book as soon as your dates are fixed. Prices move like airline fares rather than staying fixed, and the cheapest car parks at busy airports can fill up in school holidays. Our guide to when to book airport parking shows how prices change through the booking window.