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The amount I was charged for parking when I went to see Peter Kay Live at the O2 in London earlier this month was no laughing matter.
The car park charged me £40, more than the £35 for a basic ticket.
These sky-high rates are becoming common practice: venues seem to cynically exploit a captive audience who often haven’t planned ahead and have nowhere to go. We uncovered some key criminals and revealed FIVE great ways to bypass their fees.
Toby Walne was charged £40, more than the £35 basic ticket, for parking when he saw Peter Kay at the O2.
The worst criminals
Silverstone in Northamptonshire has one of the most expensive car parks – £60 for its official car park 1 for the Formula 1 Grand Prix on July 7. Another is the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset with a ‘commitment to reducing carbon emissions’ charging £55 for a car pass between June 26-30. The Wimbledon tennis championships in London between July 1 and 14 ask for £40 for a day slot – the same as the O2 – while the Co-op Live venue in Manchester which opened in May asks for £25. Research by holiday property provider Last Minute Cottages has found that theme parks are also increasingly keen to cash in on customers who feel they have no choice but to pay, even though prices are lower. Alton Towers in Staffordshire charges £20 for its pre-booked ‘express parking’ next to the entrance, while Thorpe Park in Surrey and Legoland in Berkshire require a £10 fee. Legoland parking was free until 14 years ago.
Silverstone has one of the most expensive car parks, at £60 for its official car park 1 for the Formula 1 Grand Prix on July 7.
Book in advance
Book one day in advance with the O2 to get £10 off and pay £30. Discounts are not available on the day in a bid to prevent people from trying to save money by booking online on the way to the venue. Legoland offers a £2 discount charging £8 if you book in advance. Venues like Wimbledon are only available if you book in advance, so book early to get just one undiscounted space.
Walk from another parking lot
Leave home half an hour early and you will not only give yourself time for delays such as traffic jams, but you will also have the opportunity to park further away for less money.
Silverstone School Car Park donates profits to the local Silverstone Primary School and local village charities. You pay £27 to park in a grass car park in the village (plus a £2.70 booking fee). Then you walk 25 minutes to reach the Formula One Grand Prix paddock.
For Glastonbury the main option is to park on site, but just a 15 minute walk away is Ashcombe Park which asks £50. The main attraction is that it allows a quick getaway.
The O2 wants people to use its official car park 1 for events, but other official locations nearby, car parks 2, 3 and 4, allow pay and display for up to four hours at a cost of £11 and cost just ten minutes. minutes walk from the stadium. Alton Towers offers cheaper off-site parking for £10, although you should factor in a 25-minute walk to the venue.
park and ride
Silverstone offers a free shuttle service from car park 2 which costs £40. You can also pay £16 for a return shuttle from Milton Keynes, Northampton or Banbury train stations which takes 25 minutes. Parking at Milton Keynes station costs £5.70 per day.
Visitors to the O2 can park in the Stratford Multi-Storey car park, paying £10.20 for four hours, and then take a 15-minute tube journey to North Greenwich, five minutes from the venue. The journey costs £1.80 in low season each way. The newly opened Co-op Live in Manchester has a ten-minute tram service from the city center to the venue which runs every six minutes and costs £3.80 each way. You can park at Q-Park Deansgate North in Manchester city center for a four-hour stay which costs £9.
There is also a park and shuttle service to Legoland from Legoland Windsor complex and Windsor town which costs £2 each way and takes 15 minutes.
Reserve a private space
By entering a postcode, apps like JustPark reveal parking locations on a map.
Smartphone apps like JustPark and YourParkingSpace allow you to find houses near a location that have rented parking spaces.
Entering a zip code reveals parking locations on a map, along with the prices charged. You pay in advance online through the app and never have to see the owner. The apps work best in places with many houses nearby. You can park a 20-minute walk from the O2 on Tunnel Avenue for £6 using JustPark. A 20-minute walk from Co-op Live on Dysart Street costs £11 on the same app. You can park on Queens Road for £10.88 and walk 20 minutes to Wimbledon tennis courts by booking through YourParkingSpace. For £5 you can pay for a place at Corderoy Place which is a 15 minute walk from Thorpe Park. That £5 is also enough to pay for a place at Perrycroft, a ten-minute walk from Legoland. Both options were found on YourParkingSpace.