Parking at the airport can be stressful, and that goes double for a busy hub like Heathrow. Help is at hand. Heathrow Airport Parking lets you secure a space in advance, often at a far lower rate than you'd pay on the day. To get cashback on your parking too, just use the offer links on this page.
Want to know more about earning cashback with Heathrow Airport Parking?
Let's start with a quick primer on the airport's parking options. Each terminal has its own short stay car park, which is right next to the terminal entrance (hence some of the very speedy transfer times you'll see below).
There are also long-stay car parks, some of which cover more than one terminal. They're a little further away and linked to the terminals by shuttle buses. On top of that, there's the Pod parking service at Terminal 5, which whisks you to the terminal in a driverless car.
Some car parks offer valet and meet-and-greet services on top of standard parking.
So Heathrow's on-site car parks offer masses of choice, and the official site is the best place to explore and book them. You can book up to 12 months in advance, and can even reserve lounge access and hotel rooms on the same website. Ready to hear more? Let's take a closer look.
Give yourself peace of mind when you leave for your next trip. Lugging your suitcases around on unpredictable public transport is nobody's idea of fun, and Heathrow can be tricky to reach if you don't want to shell out for the express rail service from Paddington – you're restricted to the tube or buses, neither of which are terribly luggage-friendly.
As for cabs, the cost quickly mounts up when you factor in the return journey too. When you go by car, there's more space for your luggage and you won't have to rely on anyone else's timetable. And with 24-7 security at all car parks, you can be confident your vehicle will be safe while you're away.
As we said above, the benefit of Heathrow's own car parks is that you get closer to your terminal. There are some great deals available with off-site providers, but on-site gives you the perfect balance of cost and convenience.
Pre-booking rates are lower than the ones you'd pay on the day, and if you book far enough in advance you might be able to find SuperSaver deals, which offer even bigger discounts (though you do lose a little flexibility around booking changes and cancellations).
You'll never pay booking or credit card fees, and as we'll see shortly it's easy to compare parking charges for different locations and service levels.
We had a whistle-stop tour of Heathrow's parking options earlier, so let's now take a closer look. The simplest option is short stay parking – you find your spot in a building beside the terminal and walk right in.
Then there's a long stay, which is further out but has cheaper rates. Business Parking is a middle ground, offering a site that's closer than a long stay but costs less than a short stay.
valet parking and meet and greet are services rather than specific car parks. When you book those, you drop your car in a designated area (right at the terminal doors if you choose valet), and someone parks it for you.
So yes, there's something for everyone – and the Heathrow Airport Parking site allows you to compare the service levels and cost of all those options at a glance, then instantly book the one that suits you best.
The key tool for comparing parking options – and the focus of the Heathrow Airport Parking site – is the quote generator. It's the first thing you'll see when you arrive on the homepage.
To use it, just select your arrival and departure times and the terminal you need (if you're not sure of that, use the Which Terminal? guide on the main Heathrow site).
You'll then get your options in information-packed cards, showing you the transfer time to your terminal, the key benefits of the parking package, a quote for your whole stay, and a link to detailed information on the car park or service.
You can also sort your options by price or transfer time if you want to get straight to the cheapest or quickest. It's also worth digging into the parking pages on the main Heathrow site – they go into even more detail on each car park, including height restrictions and electric vehicle charging points.
Once you've booked, you'll get a confirmation email with a reference number, which you'll need on the day of arrival. Then you're good to go. If you need to change anything or cancel, you can do so in the Manage My Booking section up to 24 hours before arrival.
That includes changing the registration number you've given for your vehicle, switching to another car park or service level, or changing your arrival or departure times.
You won't be charged for amendments – you'll just need to pay the difference if you switch to a more expensive package. Cancellations are also free. Note that you can't amend or cancel SuperSaver bookings.
We've thrown a lot of information at you there. If you're not sure where to start, here are some suggestions on what to do with our cashback offers…
The general rule of airport parking is that the closer to the terminal you are, the more it costs. Sometimes paying that extra is worth it.
You need to weigh the cost up against factors like luggage weight and volume, the size and mobility of your group, how stressed you get when you travel, and how much time you think you'll have at the airport.
Hey, it's even worth thinking about how smart you need to look when you arrive – shuttle bus transfers don't do much for a suit, particularly if it starts to rain. Heathrow Airport Parking's low pre-book rates and our cashback offers can help lighten the load of those short stay car park fees.
Choose valet or meet-and-greet parking and you won’t even need to worry about parking your car. Simply turn up at the drop-off zone and let staff take care of the rest. Again, it's a more expensive option, but it's as convenient as airport parking comes, particularly if you use the valet service. If you're going for meet and greet parking at Heathrow, it makes sense to do it through a cashback offer, and to shop around on the Heathrow Airport Parking site well before you travel.
If you're on a stress-busting mission, you've probably already decided on a short stay or meet-and-greet parking. Why not make your airport stay even easier with a lounge pass?
The Heathrow Airport Parking site also allows you to search for lounge passes at each terminal – and the prices might surprise you, particularly if you're just looking for an hour-long pit stop. Depending on your departure terminal and choice of the lounge you could have WiFi, showers, and food and drink included in the price.
Looking for Terminal 5 parking? If you're flying from there, you can use Heathrow's state-of-the-art Pod Parking facility, which uses driverless vehicles to transfer you to the terminal. They arrive on demand and get you there in around five minutes.
Like the business parking lots, it's a little way away from the terminal, so you pay a bit less than you would at a short stay – but the transfer is quicker, and the pods are zero-emission too. It's a good choice if you want to upgrade from a long stay or business.
Early flight? Even with the most convenient parking package, it can feel like a rush. But that changes if you add in a hotel stay the night before departure. The Heathrow Hotel and Parking search does just that – it'll show you deals that combine a night in a nearby hotel with standard Long Stay parking for the duration of your trip.
You can then upgrade to other parking options depending on availability and budget. Hotels available include big names like Radisson Blu, so you don't have to scrimp on comfort either.
Last but not least, we've got a few frequently asked questions we thought you might want to know the answer to. After this, you should be all set to get booking…
Yes! There are EV charging points in all four short-stay car parks. Short Stay 2 is your best bet, with 25 charging points at time of writing. The others all have two charging points.
You can pre-book and pre-pay for all Heathrow parking online. Heathrow Airport Parking accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Visa Debit, Maestro and Visa Electron cards.
Yes. The site uses industry-standard SSL encryption to protect your personal details and card number. Look for the padlock in your browser bar to confirm you're in a secure part of the site.
There's no simple answer to that! Costs vary according to where you park, what level of service you book, and when you book. The cheapest option is standard parking in a long stay car park; the most expensive is valet parking. To get the best deals, book well in advance and look for SuperSaver options.
It's a business car park with a difference, serving Terminal 5. It has high-tech driverless vehicles to take you to the terminal. The journey takes about five minutes.
In most cases, yes. You can cancel and amend bookings in the Manage My Bookings section. However, you can't cancel parking booked under a SuperSaver deal, and you can't cancel or amend any booking less than 24 hours before arrival.
It's part of BAA, the company that runs Heathrow Airport and its official on-site car parks. So when you book through the Heathrow Airport Parking website, you're booking direct and not with any third parties.
Want to shop around a bit more? Holiday Extras Airport Parking allows you to compare on-site and off-site car parks at airports around the country, as does Airparks Airport Parking and FHR Airport Hotels and Parking. Decided you'd rather get the train after all? Check out our deals with the super-fast Heathrow Express service.
Even though we do our best to keep the information on this page up-to-date, it may be out of date from time to time.