by Andy W » 15 Nov 2010, 16:02
One thing that's worth watching out for is the hours of operation of shuttle buses. I've had to miss out on otherwise promising car parking or hotel+park deals in the past because I had a very early morning check-in or very late return back and the bus just didn't run when I needed it to. It's also worth looking at the frequency the bus runs at, especially if the car park is off-airport. It's not much fun getting back late at night on a chilly UK evening, and having to wait 20 minutes for the bus to get back from the far end of the route. Quite often they say "phone us from baggage reclaim when you've got your luggage back". Well that means that the bus may be anywhere on its route, including having just left the airport to take another load of people to the car park. Sure, they'll tell the driver you're waiting, but that doesn't prevent you standing there for ages. Some of the Gatwick off-airport car parks also serve both North and South terminals with the same bus, which adds to your journey time in one direction or the other. You bet they'll advertise the shortest of the possible times.