Heathrow valet parking
Discussion
Yep, another vote for Purple Parking. If you join them online they very often have a 15% discount offer.
I've been using them for years but never used the Valet service, however, their regular service is very good indeed. If you decide not to go for the Valet service, I recommend the "Purple Parking for business" which is closer to LHR and easier to find than the other one. There's a Premier Inn next door as well. Regular buses ferry you to and from your Terminals.
hope that helps.
I've been using them for years but never used the Valet service, however, their regular service is very good indeed. If you decide not to go for the Valet service, I recommend the "Purple Parking for business" which is closer to LHR and easier to find than the other one. There's a Premier Inn next door as well. Regular buses ferry you to and from your Terminals.
hope that helps.
Purple parking again - cheaper than the official valet parking even with discounts.
The business valet parking is about £110 a week whereas Purple Valet meet and greet is about £90 or £80 if you register as a member on their site.
If thats too steep its about £55 for Purple business parking which is the multistory on the Bath Road just a few minutes from T3.
The business valet parking is about £110 a week whereas Purple Valet meet and greet is about £90 or £80 if you register as a member on their site.
If thats too steep its about £55 for Purple business parking which is the multistory on the Bath Road just a few minutes from T3.
I wouldn't touch the company mentioned above with a barge pole.
We used the valet parking last year. Dropped the car off at Heathrow and went on holiday. Came back and made the short walk to the pick up point. Car wasn't there. I asked the clueless man where it was. He didn't know. He said there may have been a problem. My heart started to sink at this point. I asked who I should contact. He didn't know and suggested I Google the company's website. I asked how I get to the company's base. You guessed it, he didn't know.
I eventually got through to the office and the first thing said to me was 'ah, this is the car that got recovered off the M4'. Now massive alarm bells started ringing because the paring area is only a few miles from the airport and nowhere near the motorway. I queried this and got put through to someone else. They said it had 'broken down on the M4'. I started to ask questions at this point and got put through to the manager. He immediately started back peddling and said it had been 'recovered', but not off the motorway and I needed to get to the parking base to get the car.
We were left to our own devices and offered no assistance at all. We eventually found and got on one of their shuttle buses. Explaining why we needed to get a lift, the driver said that he wasn't surprised as they now only use agency drivers and they have had (and I quote) "loads of accidents".
Got to the car park and they just washed their hands of it. I had two young children who had spent 20 hours travelling and they really couldn't give a toss. Denied anybody had ever mentioned recovery from the M4 and said the newish, fully serviced car that had driven 150 faultless miles to Heathrow 'wouldn't start'. The only response I got from them was "it's parked over there and it's nothing to do with us. You can sit there all day for all I care" (That's another direct quote).
Had to get the car recovered and parts in the engine bay were loose and the throttle body damaged. Not what you'd call a 'normal' breakdown. No explanation was ever offered why the car was on the M4 and no help was ever offered. Use at your peril.
We used the valet parking last year. Dropped the car off at Heathrow and went on holiday. Came back and made the short walk to the pick up point. Car wasn't there. I asked the clueless man where it was. He didn't know. He said there may have been a problem. My heart started to sink at this point. I asked who I should contact. He didn't know and suggested I Google the company's website. I asked how I get to the company's base. You guessed it, he didn't know.
I eventually got through to the office and the first thing said to me was 'ah, this is the car that got recovered off the M4'. Now massive alarm bells started ringing because the paring area is only a few miles from the airport and nowhere near the motorway. I queried this and got put through to someone else. They said it had 'broken down on the M4'. I started to ask questions at this point and got put through to the manager. He immediately started back peddling and said it had been 'recovered', but not off the motorway and I needed to get to the parking base to get the car.
We were left to our own devices and offered no assistance at all. We eventually found and got on one of their shuttle buses. Explaining why we needed to get a lift, the driver said that he wasn't surprised as they now only use agency drivers and they have had (and I quote) "loads of accidents".
Got to the car park and they just washed their hands of it. I had two young children who had spent 20 hours travelling and they really couldn't give a toss. Denied anybody had ever mentioned recovery from the M4 and said the newish, fully serviced car that had driven 150 faultless miles to Heathrow 'wouldn't start'. The only response I got from them was "it's parked over there and it's nothing to do with us. You can sit there all day for all I care" (That's another direct quote).
Had to get the car recovered and parts in the engine bay were loose and the throttle body damaged. Not what you'd call a 'normal' breakdown. No explanation was ever offered why the car was on the M4 and no help was ever offered. Use at your peril.
That sounds like a horror story but has helped confirm my position of never using a parking company where I have to hand over my keys. I don't want that kind of rubbish to deal with or worry about when I'm on holiday, especially when it can be avoided with a short bus ride to the car park.
ETA For Terminal 3 I always use the NCP which is just off the roundabout with the Emirates A380, very close to the airport and normally very good value.
ETA For Terminal 3 I always use the NCP which is just off the roundabout with the Emirates A380, very close to the airport and normally very good value.
Elroy Blue said:
I wouldn't touch the company mentioned above with a barge pole.
We used the valet parking last year. Dropped the car off at Heathrow and went on holiday. Came back and made the short walk to the pick up point. Car wasn't there. I asked the clueless man where it was. He didn't know. He said there may have been a problem. My heart started to sink at this point. I asked who I should contact. He didn't know and suggested I Google the company's website. I asked how I get to the company's base. You guessed it, he didn't know.
I eventually got through to the office and the first thing said to me was 'ah, this is the car that got recovered off the M4'. Now massive alarm bells started ringing because the paring area is only a few miles from the airport and nowhere near the motorway. I queried this and got put through to someone else. They said it had 'broken down on the M4'. I started to ask questions at this point and got put through to the manager. He immediately started back peddling and said it had been 'recovered', but not off the motorway and I needed to get to the parking base to get the car.
We were left to our own devices and offered no assistance at all. We eventually found and got on one of their shuttle buses. Explaining why we needed to get a lift, the driver said that he wasn't surprised as they now only use agency drivers and they have had (and I quote) "loads of accidents".
Got to the car park and they just washed their hands of it. I had two young children who had spent 20 hours travelling and they really couldn't give a toss. Denied anybody had ever mentioned recovery from the M4 and said the newish, fully serviced car that had driven 150 faultless miles to Heathrow 'wouldn't start'. The only response I got from them was "it's parked over there and it's nothing to do with us. You can sit there all day for all I care" (That's another direct quote).
Had to get the car recovered and parts in the engine bay were loose and the throttle body damaged. Not what you'd call a 'normal' breakdown. No explanation was ever offered why the car was on the M4 and no help was ever offered. Use at your peril.
The M4 does make sense. You have to drive down the M4 one junction, to get from their normal base to the Heathrow M4 spur road.We used the valet parking last year. Dropped the car off at Heathrow and went on holiday. Came back and made the short walk to the pick up point. Car wasn't there. I asked the clueless man where it was. He didn't know. He said there may have been a problem. My heart started to sink at this point. I asked who I should contact. He didn't know and suggested I Google the company's website. I asked how I get to the company's base. You guessed it, he didn't know.
I eventually got through to the office and the first thing said to me was 'ah, this is the car that got recovered off the M4'. Now massive alarm bells started ringing because the paring area is only a few miles from the airport and nowhere near the motorway. I queried this and got put through to someone else. They said it had 'broken down on the M4'. I started to ask questions at this point and got put through to the manager. He immediately started back peddling and said it had been 'recovered', but not off the motorway and I needed to get to the parking base to get the car.
We were left to our own devices and offered no assistance at all. We eventually found and got on one of their shuttle buses. Explaining why we needed to get a lift, the driver said that he wasn't surprised as they now only use agency drivers and they have had (and I quote) "loads of accidents".
Got to the car park and they just washed their hands of it. I had two young children who had spent 20 hours travelling and they really couldn't give a toss. Denied anybody had ever mentioned recovery from the M4 and said the newish, fully serviced car that had driven 150 faultless miles to Heathrow 'wouldn't start'. The only response I got from them was "it's parked over there and it's nothing to do with us. You can sit there all day for all I care" (That's another direct quote).
Had to get the car recovered and parts in the engine bay were loose and the throttle body damaged. Not what you'd call a 'normal' breakdown. No explanation was ever offered why the car was on the M4 and no help was ever offered. Use at your peril.
http://goo.gl/maps/plZ9Q
The rest of the story is pretty bad though. I never use the valet parking for those sorts of reasons. Always use their standard parking with the shuttle bus.
I may have said this before, but if you are ever considering using an airport valet parking service, where you hand over the keys, just try to find the parking location and watch them parking them for a little while, then decide what parking arrangements you want to use.
The one I saw some years ago, at LGW, the cars were parked nose to tail with the handbrakes off and the parking method was to nose the latest car up against the back of the next car in line and then push so that every inch of space was used and the cars were left in contact with each other. I guess they schedule them according to declared return times, and just take the cars off the front of the line and return them to the Arrivals gate as required.
I hate the transfer bus but it became a much more palatable option after watching that display. They weren't shy about it either.
The one I saw some years ago, at LGW, the cars were parked nose to tail with the handbrakes off and the parking method was to nose the latest car up against the back of the next car in line and then push so that every inch of space was used and the cars were left in contact with each other. I guess they schedule them according to declared return times, and just take the cars off the front of the line and return them to the Arrivals gate as required.
I hate the transfer bus but it became a much more palatable option after watching that display. They weren't shy about it either.
Munter said:
The M4 does make sense. You have to drive down the M4 one junction, to get from their normal base to the Heathrow M4 spur road.
http://goo.gl/maps/plZ9Q
The rest of the story is pretty bad though. I never use the valet parking for those sorts of reasons. Always use their standard parking with the shuttle bus.
The shuttle bus didn't use the M4 and he said the drivers don't either (or shouldn't)http://goo.gl/maps/plZ9Q
The rest of the story is pretty bad though. I never use the valet parking for those sorts of reasons. Always use their standard parking with the shuttle bus.
I've used Fastpark twice, and the only way the service could have been any better would have been complimentary lapdancers.
Highly recommended.
www.fastparkheathrow.co.uk
David
Highly recommended.
www.fastparkheathrow.co.uk
David
to put some perspective... I've used BA (T1) and Purple Parking valet services at least 100 times I'd guess over the last 10 years. I've had to wait 10-20 mins for my car to arrive about 5 times I think out of that (so c.5% of the time).
The car has never been damaged or had excessive mileage (the car park they use is 5-10 miles each way from the airport, and will spend a lot of time idling stationary so don't leave the car with little fuel left). I'd suggest your car has pretty much the same chance of being damaged when parked up in normal airpot parkign as when using valet service.
My biggest gripe is that they seem to insist on turning the auto-climate off, moving the vents, changing the temp settings and pretty much every other setting they can fiddle with.
The car has never been damaged or had excessive mileage (the car park they use is 5-10 miles each way from the airport, and will spend a lot of time idling stationary so don't leave the car with little fuel left). I'd suggest your car has pretty much the same chance of being damaged when parked up in normal airpot parkign as when using valet service.
My biggest gripe is that they seem to insist on turning the auto-climate off, moving the vents, changing the temp settings and pretty much every other setting they can fiddle with.
c7xlg said:
to put some perspective... I've used BA (T1) and Purple Parking valet services at least 100 times I'd guess over the last 10 years. I've had to wait 10-20 mins for my car to arrive about 5 times I think out of that (so c.5% of the time).
The car has never been damaged or had excessive mileage (the car park they use is 5-10 miles each way from the airport, and will spend a lot of time idling stationary so don't leave the car with little fuel left). I'd suggest your car has pretty much the same chance of being damaged when parked up in normal airpot parkign as when using valet service.
My biggest gripe is that they seem to insist on turning the auto-climate off, moving the vents, changing the temp settings and pretty much every other setting they can fiddle with.
This certainly mirrors my experience. The thing that Gatwick does (don't know about Heathrow) is a deal to park in the Short Stay for less than the cost of valet parking, which is, if anything, even more convenientThe car has never been damaged or had excessive mileage (the car park they use is 5-10 miles each way from the airport, and will spend a lot of time idling stationary so don't leave the car with little fuel left). I'd suggest your car has pretty much the same chance of being damaged when parked up in normal airpot parkign as when using valet service.
My biggest gripe is that they seem to insist on turning the auto-climate off, moving the vents, changing the temp settings and pretty much every other setting they can fiddle with.
"reliable valet parking firm"
ox·y·mo·ron [ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr-]
noun, plural ox·y·mo·ra [ok-si-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh] Show IPA , ox·y·mor·ons. Rhetoric .
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “"reliable valet parking firm"
ox·y·mo·ron [ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr-]
noun, plural ox·y·mo·ra [ok-si-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh] Show IPA , ox·y·mor·ons. Rhetoric .
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “"reliable valet parking firm"
Elroy Blue said:
I wouldn't touch the company mentioned above with a barge pole.
We used the valet parking last year. Dropped the car off at Heathrow and went on holiday. Came back and made the short walk to the pick up point. Car wasn't there. I asked the clueless man where it was. He didn't know. He said there may have been a problem. My heart started to sink at this point. I asked who I should contact. He didn't know and suggested I Google the company's website. I asked how I get to the company's base. You guessed it, he didn't know.
I eventually got through to the office and the first thing said to me was 'ah, this is the car that got recovered off the M4'. Now massive alarm bells started ringing because the paring area is only a few miles from the airport and nowhere near the motorway. I queried this and got put through to someone else. They said it had 'broken down on the M4'. I started to ask questions at this point and got put through to the manager. He immediately started back peddling and said it had been 'recovered', but not off the motorway and I needed to get to the parking base to get the car.
We were left to our own devices and offered no assistance at all. We eventually found and got on one of their shuttle buses. Explaining why we needed to get a lift, the driver said that he wasn't surprised as they now only use agency drivers and they have had (and I quote) "loads of accidents".
Got to the car park and they just washed their hands of it. I had two young children who had spent 20 hours travelling and they really couldn't give a toss. Denied anybody had ever mentioned recovery from the M4 and said the newish, fully serviced car that had driven 150 faultless miles to Heathrow 'wouldn't start'. The only response I got from them was "it's parked over there and it's nothing to do with us. You can sit there all day for all I care" (That's another direct quote).
Had to get the car recovered and parts in the engine bay were loose and the throttle body damaged. Not what you'd call a 'normal' breakdown. No explanation was ever offered why the car was on the M4 and no help was ever offered. Use at your peril.
Purple parking are in Southall, so it is quite feasible that they'd drive it down the M4 one junction. The rest of the story is pretty shocking, though.We used the valet parking last year. Dropped the car off at Heathrow and went on holiday. Came back and made the short walk to the pick up point. Car wasn't there. I asked the clueless man where it was. He didn't know. He said there may have been a problem. My heart started to sink at this point. I asked who I should contact. He didn't know and suggested I Google the company's website. I asked how I get to the company's base. You guessed it, he didn't know.
I eventually got through to the office and the first thing said to me was 'ah, this is the car that got recovered off the M4'. Now massive alarm bells started ringing because the paring area is only a few miles from the airport and nowhere near the motorway. I queried this and got put through to someone else. They said it had 'broken down on the M4'. I started to ask questions at this point and got put through to the manager. He immediately started back peddling and said it had been 'recovered', but not off the motorway and I needed to get to the parking base to get the car.
We were left to our own devices and offered no assistance at all. We eventually found and got on one of their shuttle buses. Explaining why we needed to get a lift, the driver said that he wasn't surprised as they now only use agency drivers and they have had (and I quote) "loads of accidents".
Got to the car park and they just washed their hands of it. I had two young children who had spent 20 hours travelling and they really couldn't give a toss. Denied anybody had ever mentioned recovery from the M4 and said the newish, fully serviced car that had driven 150 faultless miles to Heathrow 'wouldn't start'. The only response I got from them was "it's parked over there and it's nothing to do with us. You can sit there all day for all I care" (That's another direct quote).
Had to get the car recovered and parts in the engine bay were loose and the throttle body damaged. Not what you'd call a 'normal' breakdown. No explanation was ever offered why the car was on the M4 and no help was ever offered. Use at your peril.
Check out the terms of valet parking companies. I gave a nearly new Merc to Purple Parking once and it came back bumped. They said because it happened when it was parked so it was not their responsibility, quoting their first T&C. They didn't say where they parked it and the bump could easily have occurred when parking, but they denied this. Cost me several hundred £'s to fix. Beware. Never again!
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