Is Your £30 Quote Actually £60?

The Truth About Hidden Parking Fees

EDUCATIONAL

1/14/20262 min read

It's hard not to be excited when the price is half of what others charge, and so I've been there myself, when booking a £30 service. Coming across the reality check, though, isn't pleasant, being hit with cash demands at the gate, or a checkout price that's far higher than the initial quote.

While building the ABC platform, I've discovered that some websites are set up to pull off this kind of move.

One of the most insidious tactics is the "Hidden Fee" trap.

1- The "Checkout Jump" or "Drip Pricing" is where a website lures you in with a very low "base rate" on search results, then piles on the costs at the checkout.

It works something like this, a £40 quote looks good until a £2.50 "Booking Fee" shows up, followed by a "Service Charge", turning £40 into £55. They count on your frustration to make you pay.

My advice is clear, if the price changes at all from search to checkout, without you adding any extras, close the tab. Reputable systems should show the full price upfront.

2- The "Gate Fee" Scam is possibly the most infuriating of all, it happens when you've already arrived at the airport.

How it works is that some websites bury a £20 airport access fee in their terms and conditions and then expect you to pay it in cash to the driver. Legitimate companies are transparent about such fees, they're not hiding them.

My recommendation is if a deal looks too good to be true, use "Control+F" on their T&Cs page to search for "Cash" or "Levy". If you see a requirement to pay the driver, it’s a trap.

3- The "Wait time" Good companies track flight times and adjust for delays, but unscrupulous ones use "Wait time" to hold your car hostage.

Well-known is the "late arrival" charge: if you land thirty minutes late the operator points to the fine print saying that you'll be charged £20 per hour, and refuses to hand over your keys unless you cough up.

Check the "Late Return" policy. A fair company will usually have a reasonable grace period.

At ABC Park and Ride, we've banned these practices completely and call our pricing transparent, meaning that what you see is what you get, and no cash demands.

We're not fans of drip pricing either, we verify the operators, so you don’t have to read through mounds of legal text just to park your car.

Safe travels.

The ABC Team