At Glasgow Airport parking
is easy - here's why...

If so, simply drive up to the terminal forecourt (ie. in front of the main terminal), but please note that parking there is strictly forbidden.

Alternatively, if you're planning a lingering farewell to your loved ones, you know, hanky in hand as you run alongside the plane (!), you'll need to park your car in one of the short stay car parks.

More importantly, I'd suggest not doing what Ted Striker did in Airplane, one of my all-time favourite movies, when he leaves his taxi waiting for him at the airport, meter running, as he eventually boards a plane & flies off!

Yeah, best not to do that.

So anyway, Glasgow Airport has three short stay car parks, all operated by NCP (which I think stands for National Car Parks, or something).

Each of the short stay Glasgow Airport parking options is within walking distance of the terminal buildings. Car park 2 is the most convenient as it provides a special Fast Track facility.

You'll have to pay a premium for this, but it's a small amount to cut down on hassle.

One tip to remember here - There's no payment machines in the car parks themselves, so you should settle up before returning to your car. This can be done at the entrance to level 2 and on the ground floor.

If you don't know the options available to you, it's easy to lose cash booking longer stay Glasgow Airport parking.

To be honest, you can leave your car in the short stay car parks for as long as you like, but if you're going to be longer than three or four hours at the airport, it begins to make financial sense to look at long stay parking.

To cut a long story short, you should be able to find a parking space for less than £5.00 a day (the figure drops considerably if you book in advance - more on this below), so if you see a deal for anything higher, shop elsewhere.

You'll see below that I've given you a great option for long stay Glasgow Airport parking, and my trick is not to just accept the NCP on-site charges just for the sake of convenience.

As of January 2006, a new car park has opened at Abbotsfinch which has pretty reasonable charges. It's on the A726 just along from the Airport and has short as well as long stay options.

Most of the cheaper car parks are located further away from the airport, which means that you'll have to catch a shuttle bus for the last leg.

That said, whilst you'd think this might create a little hassle, in Glasgow I've found that provided you choose the best service, the extra 10 minutes will be hassle-free & will save you a packet by not parking at the airport.

Any time I look for Glasgow Airport parking, the best service & price always seems to be with Airlink .

Their car park is about 3 minutes away, maybe a little longer if the traffic's bad.

As you'll see on their website, Airlink offer a 24hr secure service for Glasgow Airport parking. When you park your car they take you to the Airport in a comfortable coach, & when you're coming back, they'll pick you up and show you to your car, boot open & ready for the off!

Not bad for an off-airport service given the amount of money I've saved in using them. As I say elsewhere on the site, you really are better staying away from the airport when it comes to parking or car hire.

I've read a few horror stories about airport parking in general.

With Glasgow Airport parking however, you should find that the services available are upfront about what secure parking measures they've put in place.

That's because of the obvious security risk in leaving your car anywhere for a long period of time, so the services want to convince you that leaving your car with them will decrease the chance of something happening to it when you're away.

So for secure parking at Glasgow Airport, first of all I'd normally entrust my car to a reputable company like Airlink . I'd then remember to ensure that no valuables were left on display in the car & that my car alarm was in good order.

I'd check that all doors and windows were properly closed and locked. If you had a removable car radio (thankfully I don't), I'd suggest removing this & storing it out of sight.

Also, I'd make sure that I didn't leave on any lights (which I seem to do all the time!) or anything to drain the car battery while I was away. That said, if you booked your Glasgow Airport parking with Airlink or any other reputable company, you should find that the car park staff would be able to help with any battery or starting problems with your car.

As always though, better to be safe than sorry!

On each occasion I've booked Glasgow Airport parking, I've noticed that I've saved some money in doing so early.

Pre-booking anything these days sounds like a common sense idea, but you'd be surprised at the number of folks out there who leave it until the last minute, or who turn up in their car at the airport, wondering where to park.

So it's worth looking even a few weeks in advance for deals on Glasgow Airport parking. If you're flying during the height of the holiday season though, you'd be better booking a little farther in advance.

If you're reading this now before travelling via Glasgow Airport, therefore, then you're on the right track. Just go from this page & book a car park space before you forget.

As above, this might seem like I'm hammering home the obvious. You're reading this online, so surely you'd be thinking of booking online for Glasgow Airport parking.

Ehmm, well not really - I still see a great number of adverts in the Glasgow newspapers & elsewhere for parking at the airport. There's a whole market out there which still prefers to deal with someone on the other end of a phone rather than with some booking form online.

Trouble is, I like to shop around, and I've realised that from the quotes I get all the time for Glasgow Airport car parking, you can actually save up to 60% online.

So I'd suggest storing up your opinions, forgetting about all this 'Oh but it's better to know that someone on the phone's dealing with my request' rubbish, and to save your cash for some more fake tan!

Obviously, living in Glasgow I can use the services of a family or friend - I've found it's much cheaper!

The reason I've included this in my little guide though, is that I don't think I'm the only one who's in the same boat.

Having researched Glasgow Airport parking a lot for this page, I've noticed that loads of folks from Scotland book airport parking. So it's just a thought - have you considered being nice to a friend or relative for a while, & then asking them to look after your car in their drive?

If you manage to convince them, either brass-neck it & ask them to give you a ride to the airport & back (might be a long shot!), or simply take the local bus.

Another hassle & money saving tip if you can bribe your way into it!

Boy do I know this rule?!!

If you've booked your Glasgow Airport parking space offsite, please remember to factor in the time it'll take to find the parking place, park your car, fill out any forms if necessary, & then get taken to the airport.

Normally you'll find that the earlier flights in the morning are more on time, the later ones being delayed more throughout the day, but stick to what your flight ticket tells you, add some time & you should be fine.

Your flight ain't going to wait, so plan all this in advance so that you don't find yourself at the parking place watching your plane fly off without you.

Gulp!

Again, this might seem like an uplift from the Book of Obvious, but if you're booking Glasgow Airport parking in advance, it's probably best to take your receipt or other acknowledgement documents with you when you go to park or pick up your car.

They'll normally be able to trace you if they've got a decent filing system, but why wait around & put your flight in jeapordy or add hassle to your day?

Pack them with your other travel documents & have them handy so that it'll be a quick process.

Another time-saving tip is to look at a map so that you know how to get to your Glasgow Airport parking place, particularly if it's offsite.

For example, Airlink has a map & written instructions on how to find them. This is useful given that whilst extremely close to the Airport, you'll be travelling into the town of Paisley so could easily get lost without directions.

If you'll be parking onsite, just have a look at the Airport Terminal Maps and you'll soon find your way there.

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And that's it for my parking at Glasgow Airport Guide.

If you've any further thoughts or queries, just let me know and I'll be glad to help where I can.

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