Secrets you need to know to avoid airport drop-off fees

The fees airports charge for drop-off have gone up again – at many airports by an inflation-busting 20% as prices rose from £5 to £6. No-one wants to pay to not even park at the airport, so we looked into how you could avoid the fees – and warn you about the handful of airports where you probably can’t.

There are three main ways people get stung for dropping off and picking up at the airport:

• Not planning ahead: It’s possible to drop off for free at (almost) every airport if you’re able to walk to the terminals or work the system, but if you just drive up on the day and pay the gate rate you’ll pay whatever the airport wants you to pay.
• Picking up: Dropping off is usually straightforward and there are dedicated zones for it. Picking up is more complicated – you have to wait for your passengers to clear arrivals while you’re clocking up by-the-minute fees in short-stay parking.
• Fines: Many airports are rigorous in pursuing people who drop-off without handing over the fee. East Midlands is especially infamous for roaming camera vans and fining people who get dropped off while their driver is buying petrol at the garage in the airport grounds.