Abysmal parking service!
Though the parking is relatively cheap and the website and booking service are easy to follow and deal with, there are a number of issues with this service, the first one being the lack of signage.
Despite the service being offered by BIA, there are no signs on the main road to indicate where you might find this service. I actually ended up at the long-stay car park because I was that confused as to where else it might be - and managed to drive past the entrance twice because it was dark (7 in the morning in November) and there are zero reflective signs or information to tell you where to go. It was only on my third try that I was able to see the sign on the opposite side of the road on a fence. Maybe it's less of an issue in the day time but I would imagine that the vast majority of visitors to the car park who are leaving earlier than I was in the morning would appreciate decent signage to reduce stress before even entering the airport.
Secondly, there is no sense to the car park itself - no signs to tell you where there are spaces, no zones, no signage, no lines on the ground - you basically drive wherever you want and abandon your car wherever you want. I ended up parking a 5 minute walk away from the bus shelter before I realised I could have parked much closer had there been information available to tell me so.
Thirdly, we have the issue of the car park itself, with particular regard to safety. The car park is essentially a hole in the road. there are parts which are surfaced with gravel, others that have been surfaced with concrete, others with tarmac, and others a mix of all three, with plenty of potholes. Not only is this risky in terms of driving a car around, but it made it extremely difficult to get from my car to the shelter with a wheeled suitcase. As there is no lighting asides from before you enter the car park and any light that is coming in from the surrounding external car parking facilities (minimal), you are at risk of tripping over yourself at any given time. I am able bodied and have good eyesight, but I shudder to think of the lack of accessibility and risk to an individual in a wheelchair, elderly customer, or someone with any kind of impairment.
Finally, I must remark on the shuttle service. Falsely advertised as only 2 minutes away from the terminal, you will in all likelihood find yourself waiting for at least 10-15 minutes for a bus before it arrives, never mind gets to the terminal. When I arrived into the car park, I drove past two individuals at the shelter, and by the time I had parked and manhandled my bag to the shelter they were still standing there, in peri-freezing temperatures. I waited with them at least 10 minutes before ringing the number posted on the shelter to ask whether there was a bus coming or whether I would be better to walk only to be snapped at and told it was 'on it's way' - which evidently, had I not rang, it would not have been. After a further 5 minute wait, a mini-van arrived and the lady driving it helped to load our bags into the back.
However, on the return service, the perfectly able bodied driver stood with a sour face on him, refused to open both of the back doors and watched everyone struggle to get their bags in through the narrow entrance in the pitch dark. This process was repeated repeated at the drop off point in the car park. The customer in front of me hit his head particularly hard off the door trying to remove his bag, to which the driver simply scoffed and continued to stand there with his arms crossed.
I have never felt so compelled to write a horrible review for a service, particularly a car parking one, but having felt absolute shock at the lack of service and the state of what there was I couldn't avoid it. If you can avoid using this parking service, do so. Pay more for Long-Stay or contact Cosmo or McCausland's for a quote - or even get a taxi or bus. Anything would be worth it for the opportunity not to stay in this dangerous, unpleasant, difficult to find hole in the road. read more