We are collecting our daughter from Stansted Airport on Monday, before going on to deepest rural Kent for a family funeral.
She is only carrying a take-on bag, as she's returning to Belfast the next day.
Looking at pick-up and drop-off options it seems there is no free car access to the airport at all. We are thinking of parking in the mid-stay car park which is free for one hour and is off airport, but served by a free shuttle bus, running every 10 minutes.
Is there anywhere handy we can park up before going to the mid term parking just before the flight lands? We want to minimise our stopping time there in case her flight (EZY) is delayed!
On returning to Stansted, on Tuesday, we will use the "Pay" option to drop her off close to the terminal.
Advice appreciated.
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Try the M11 Birchanger services at the junction of the M11 and A120 road to the airport.
Beware though, 2 hours max parking and NO RETURN within several hours (not sure how many).
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate II on Sat 3 Jun 17 at 15:39
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When I used to meet Mrs ONs broomstick at Edinburgh on a regular basis I would monitor the airport's online arrivals, turn up in time to see her bounce off the runway and about 10 minutes later pick her up at a pre arranged spot near the terminal.
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If you are a member of the NT how about stopping off at Hatfield Forrest and waiting until she gives you a call to make the 5 or so miles journey to the airport and meet at the free car park near the airport.
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Most if not all airports police drop off areas rigorously, for purposes of charging, security or both. Been to Stansted and Manchester and Gatwick recently off to Heathrow in a couple of weeks to see Mrs B off to Prague. Those flouting the loading rules are 'snapped' and will get a ticket in the post.
Belmer Road, which passes along the NW boundary of the airfield (other side from treminal), has space for roadside parking. Paths through the hedge give access to an grassed area by the boundary fence with a good view of runway and much used by spotters. If you've got FR24 on your phone you should be able to i/d the flight as it lands and proceed to pick up at minimal cost.
As well as delay there's another hazard with locos. If the plane is full luggage exceeds cabin space and passengers have to handover luggage at gate then it goes (free) in the hold. But you're then left waiting at the carousel. Cost me about a tenner meeting The Lad off a Ryanair flight for that reason.
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At Gatwick it's still perfectly possible to pick-up without paying by simply waiting for them to call you and then meeting at the departures level, as drop-off is still free. McDonalds car park at the petrol station was the obvious place to wait, but they put a barrier up last year. Still, a coffee is only 99p ;)
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You've got SatNav? look up Stansted Audi, its by the airport and there's room to stop on that little estate. Nowhere to leave your car unattended, but you can stop there.
There may well be better places, but that's where I normally stop.
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It's free for an hour and £1.50 for two hours. Surely you can scrape that together. :-)
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"It's free for an hour"
Is that the 'pick-up' area within short-stay? If so, it's changed again since I last used Stansted.
In case of delays to flight, I would lurk at Birchhanger and wait for a phone call.
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Yes, Mid Term is the answer for pick up, but exciting it is not, sitting in a car park!
Thanks for all replies!
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I was once summoned to meet SWMBO off a flight at Stansted. Hung around at the services on the M11 for a while and then called mobile.
Her colleague admitted someone's mobile rang in the overhead on the finals.....................................................
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We successfully used the mid-stay, 1 hour free option, to pick up our daughter and the similarly located free set down service on our returning her for her flight home.
I must say that the system worked well, with the free bus service to the terminal buildings running very frequently.
Painless.
On the other hand - we used the Dartford Crossing, quite expecting to pay a modest toll, but I was underwhelmed to find that for practical purposes it's only easily payable on line (and within a short time limit).
After a struggle, I managed it on my phone, using Firefox, after many failed attempts (plus associated bad language) with Chrome which refused to show a "Pay" button after my entry of card details.
To those without internet access - there must still be some, or who struggle with the concept of internet payments, this is pretty inconvenient. I gather there is a pay by telephone call option - but how would one know it without access to the internet? It sure was not prominent in the charge notices displayed on approach to the crossing.
No doubt regular users and local inhabitants are familiar with the procedures, but as a casual user, I find the arrogance behind such arrangements to be less than acceptable!
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"We successfully used the mid-stay, 1 hour free option,..........."
Thank you for reporting back on the procedure, Roger; these things tend to change periodically, so it's handy to know the latest situation.
Am I correct in inferring that the best (free) method for dropping a passenger off is to deliver them to the mid-stay car-park, and let them use the bus service?
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>> Am I correct in inferring that the best (free) method for dropping a passenger off
>> is to deliver them to the mid-stay car-park, and let them use the bus service?
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It worked fine for us.
There is a dedicated area in the mid-stay car park for free set down. (Signposted).
There is/are bus shelters (thankfully, as the weather yesterday was vile). There was enough space for us to wait with our car until the bus arrived, as I wanted to make sure she was safely on her way to the terminal. They seem to run alternate "set down only" buses with "Terminal" buses, every few minutes: odd as they all seemed to use the same circular-tour route around the mid-term complex!
The only fly in the journey ointment was that her EasyJet flight to Belfast International was delayed by a couple of hours.
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Loitering! - Dulwich Estate II
