Once you've sorted your flights and accommodation, you might think that the only cost to worry about ahead of a holiday is your spending money.
However, there are plenty of extra costs that can get out of hand if you don't watch them carefully - travel insurance, pre-flight snacks, and getting to the airport itself. And that final one can become even more expensive if you're taking your own car.
Though there are plenty of cheap car parks around airports, they're not always in the most convenient locations - and sometimes you might be tempted to pay a little more to save the stress of a trek to the terminal. This week, the team at Car Lease Special Officers released a list of the cheapest UK airport car parks, based on a number of factors including short stay, long stay and pre-booked weekend parking.
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And it's good news for anyone travelling from Newcastle International Airport, which came out eighth in the rankings. It was one of only two airports in the top 10 to offer a free pick up and drop off area for those staying 15 minutes or less.
Newcastle also fared well in parking available on the day, with only Belfast being cheaper for one week long stay parking (Newcastle charged £74, while Belfast charged £65). It was second cheapest for a day's parking at £29, just £1 more than the joint cheapest of Southampton and Aberdeen International.
However, it dropped points on its hourly rate of £12, which was joint most expensive of all airports in the top 10 along with Leeds Bradford and Edinburgh. Newcastle also scored poorly on pre-booked parking, with parking over the weekend at £52.99 and for a week at £57.99.
Most of the UK's busiest airports, including London Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester didn't make it into the top 10. The overall winner was Belfast International Airport, as you can see in the list below.
UK's top 10 cheapest airport car parks
- Belfast International Airport
- Cardiff Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Southampton Airport
- Aberdeen Airport
- Doncaster Sheffield Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Newcastle Airport
- Liverpool Airport
- Leeds Bradford Airport
Of course, if you want to avoid parking fees altogether, you could always ask a friend or family member to drop you off at the airport. Remember, it's free for up to 15 minutes at Short Stay car park 2 - this is not the express drop off area right by the terminal, which has a fee of £4 for 10 mins and £6 for 30.
Alternatively, if you live close to a Metro Station you can easily get directly to the Airport - though you may need to change line at some point in your journey! For the full list of the top 20 UK Airports to park at, click here.
To find out more about car parking at Newcastle Airport, click here.
How do you prefer to get to Newcastle Airport? Let us know in the comments below!
