Is your car safely stored at the airport or collecting fines elsewhere?

With thoughts of summer on my mind, I’m planning to use the long weekend to book a much-anticipated holiday to Barcelona with a friend.

We’re taking steps to avoid any accommodation nightmares and flights are straightforward enough. But, I’m concerned for my friend’s car.

While I can get the Tube or train to whichever London airport we depart from in June, she’s planning to drive down from the Midlands and leave her car at one of the airport car parks.

But with fresh reports that cars handed in to some airport parking firms aren’t actually being parked in secure parking facilities, I’ve urged her to check that any company she uses will ensure that hers really is.

This week, it emerged that holidaymakers paid up to £150 a week for a meet-and-greet car parking service at Heathrow over the Easter weekend. They left their keys with the parking firm and fully expected their cars to then be driven to a secure facility.

Problem was, they were actually taken to a council car park 15 minutes away, where they were then issued with multiple parking fine tickets.

Similarly, last year, car owners using a meet-and-greet firm at Manchester Airport discovered that their cars had been left in a pub car park for the duration of their holiday.

How to appeal

So what can you do if you find yourself unfairly issued with a council parking ticket when you believed your car had been left in a secure airport car park?

Well, the good news is, you do have the right to appeal – and our free parking ticket appeal tool can help you challenge it.

Personally, I’m hoping my friend decides to get the train down. I think we’ll rest a lot easier knowing that her car is safely parked at her home.

Have you ever experienced any issues with an airport car parking firm? Or do you prefer to leave your car at home when you go on holiday?