Gatwick Airport is one of the premiere airports in the United Kingdom. In size and number of passengers handled it is only second to Heathrow, not just in London but the entire UK. With size there comes pluses and minuses. However, as it concerns Gatwick Airport car hire needs, there are plenty more plusses than there are minuses with this airport.

The Gatwick Airport car hire companies that are onsite at the airport are large companies. However, this can be a very good thing as the big companies will have the best cars in newest and best condition. They will also have very good reservation systems to assure a car is waiting for one who made their booking before arriving. Their large fleets could assure a vehicle could be found for a walk-up customer. These are also the companies that will have luxury autos if that is one’s need or desire.

Companies providing the Gatwick Airport car hire are Alamo, Avis, Dollar, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz, National, and Thrifty. The size and number of locations of these cars also means loyalty programs. That is free cars can be earned for traveling with these companies. A very nice perk when coupled with airlines miles and hotel stay programs. They all add up to free vacations.

Of course, one is not limited to onsite Gatwick Airport car hire services. There are pre-booking services that can have a car waiting for an arriving passenger. One can also check offsite upon arrival for a fair car hire deal.

Flying into London via the Gatwick Airport places one close to the southern part of the city and the entire South End of England. To facilitate travel, there are a number of major car hire agencies that have booking desks right at the airport in both terminals. The South Terminal car rental building is open 24 hours a day with the North Terminal car hire building opening between 6:00 in the morning and 10:00 at night. Both are available 7 days a week. You can hire both self driven automobiles or commission a chauffeur driven car, depending on your desires and budget allowance.

Budget Rent-a-car is located onsite at the airport and provides specialty car rental solutions. For the frequent flying businessperson they have the Fastbreak system for speedy transfer of corporate frequent flyers from plane to car. For the smaller businessperson, the Business Connections program is better suited as it is an on demand service rather than requiring a contract.

If you prebook your car hire from Avis, you can quickly pick up your vehicle at the Perimeter Road directly adjacent to the terminal building. Being located right on the A23, you are set to travel either to London or outward across the South End. Avis also provides a preferred Customer program. Out of Hours car return, and breakdown assistance. Online booking allows extra rental discounts.

If you need to haul any freight, you will find both full-sized vans and mini-vans available for hire from Thrifty Car & Van Rental on the lower level of the South Terminal. Open 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. 7 days a week, they can provide that extra bit more than just getting passengers around.

Imagine not being able to get yourself around a city like London! When people want to start afresh they travel to London because it is so easy to get lost and be forgotten. You can go to London and completely change, your life can take a new turn and nobody from your old life would know because they will never be able to find you. What chance do any of us have when have just arrived in a country that seems very strange on the outset and that is very confusing to navigate around. Unless you are a seasoned Londoner then you will find it incredibly difficult to know which train to catch or which bus to get on or where you are trying to get to; it is simply impossible to be able to accomplish this task. Only a fool would get off the plane for their first time in London and think that they do not need any sort of transport; a map will not suffice and you will regret your decision as soon as you realise that the hotel isn’t where you thought it was.

Instead, it is a good idea to hire a car as soon as you arrive at the airport. Not only do you have the benefit of being able to ask the staff where you are trying to go, many of the vehicles are also fitted with satellite navigation to make it very easy for you to get around. This, of course, comes at a slightly higher cost with a higher security deposit but it is certainly worth it; you will have no chance of getting lost!

Car parking is plentiful at Gatwick airport, and there are indeed a vast number of car parks to choose from. These range from short stay to long stay, and regular parking to more ‘luxurious’ valet parking. If you decided to park in the long stay then you will have 4 choices for parking. If you have decided to travel via the north terminal then you are limited to one parking area and this is Gatwick NCP Flightpath, located just north of the North Terminal. However for those travelling via the South Terminal, there is a choice between Long Stay South Terminal, Long Stay Plus Gatwick and Summer Special Parking Gatwick. Whilst all the car parks are the same in terms of security, Long Stay South Terminal is the regular, and thus most popular choice, for those wishing to park long stay near the South Terminal. Long Stay Plus has a valet service which is described as being family friendly as it allows you to leave your car to be parked by airport staff whilst you get on with your holiday. Finally Summer Stay, despite its name, is a long stay car park designed for those going on holiday for a week or perhaps even more. The car park is very large and is located quite a distance away from the South Terminal; a free coach service picks up from the car park every 20 minutes and takes 10 minutes to reach the buildings. Short stay is a much less complicated affair with only regular car parks for each terminal, with the optional extra of valet parking.

However you decide to park, be sure to check out Gatwick Airport’s website for their excellent parking tool. This will allow you to book spaces in advance and can save you a real fortune on your parking bill.

There are many flights that go out of the South Terminal every day. Even in these recent weeks where the ash cloud has played havoc with so many flights, there have still been hundreds of planes flying out from the terminal every week, flying people to a whole assortment of destinations. Of course, with each flight carrying upwards of 150 people you soon begin to realise that the main issue involved in the flight is ensuring that people are able to park close to the airport. It is all very well and good telling people to use public transport but this makes everything much more difficult and merely serves to increase the hassle that you feel when you are trying to catch your flight. The last thing you want is to be stood on a platform that is miles away from the airport with only a few hours left before your flight; it will increase stress levels dramatically which is the last thing you want when you are flying out on holiday to escape all the stresses of everyday life!

Because of this, Gatwick airport has one of the most modern car park systems in the country. No more messing around in queues trying to get the right change for the machine; it can all be sorted on line way before your trip leaving you with the reassuring fact that you have a car parking space paid for and reserved for when you arrive – a much better way to start your holiday!

You know what people are like when it comes to cars. We can put up with living for a bit in a hotel as opposed to our own home and we can even put up with wearing clothes that we don’t particularly want yet when it comes to cars we have our definite preferences and are reluctant to change our choice. This is understandable, cars are much more of a status symbol and no one in their right mind would choose a car that doesn’t reflect a part of themselves; it is a human compunction that pushes us only to choose a vehicle that we feel truly represents our personality.

Another way in which we choose our car is through basic needs. If you have a family of 5 that needs ferrying around the place then it make no sense at all to go for a 2 seater convertible – why on earth would you choose that when you can’t fit everyone in it? In the same way, a person hiring a car on their own is not going to choose a people carrier; as far as they are concerned, the extra seats could be removed and replaced by extra power! Nonetheless, whatever the car that you need is, you can rest assured that Gatwick airport will be able to facilitate your needs. With a wide variety of models that range from fords to Toyotas you will be able to choose the car that makes you feel comfortable all the time.

Both long stay and short stay car parks are available at the north terminal. If you want to go short stay, you will pay £1 for the first fifteen minutes, but after that prices reduce – if you are staying there for 24 hours you pay £22.20; less than a pound an hour! If you are in a rush, say you need to get to a business meeting, you should consider using short stay fast track parking. This is a parking service where you can park very close to the north terminal so you can get straight to the airport to catch your flight. This does cost a little extra though at £27.80 per 24 hours.

Long stay parking is also available at the north terminal and is best for those travellers going away on holiday for a week or more. Security is top notch with regular patrols 24 hours a day. If you are going away on holiday in the summer there is a parking deal called the

Car parking at airports used to be expensive, and by expensive one means ridiculously expensive; you would have been looking at the price of your holiday again to park your car at an airport for the duration of your stay. However with new technologies such as the internet (although not that recent) and robotic car parking systems, charges have seriously dropped. The internet has meant a rise in car parking websites, such as those for Gatwick airport, so spaces can be booked and paid for online reducing labour needed by companies, and car parking attendants have been reduced with the introduction of robotic ticket readers. These reduce the costs to the provider of the car parking services and they reduce the overall cost to you. The charges vary depending on date and time, length of stay, and how far in advance you book. However it is possible to pay for your car to be parked for a pound an hour, or even less on some stays.

Even with such low fees, there is no compromise on security – your car will be very safe as there are regular patrols, day and night, by highly trained staff that will be on the lookout for suspicious activity, and deal with it efficiently. This means you won’t have to worry about your car getting damaged or stolen (much like how it would be if it were parked at your home) when you’re on holiday, allowing you to relax just that little bit extra as you should be allowed to do on holiday!

It is often the prices of car rental that puts people off. However, it is often the case that people expect it to be costly and do not actually look at the prices. It is therefore important to consider the options and the costs before you make up your mind.

If you are travelling in to Gatwick there are obviously public transport and car hire options. However, it is worth thinking beyond the initial day and about the transport you will be using for the whole of your trip. If you are exploring London or further afield then you will need to be using some sort of vehicle, whether it be a bus, train, taxi, hire car or whatever. The costs of each of these will add up and it is worth trying to calculate how much each of these will be. There are also other factors such as flexibility, comfort, route and time which should also be considered as part of your decision making. Cost may seem to be the most important but if the cheapest option cannot take you where you want to go then it is not worth the saving. Space and comfort are worth thinking about as well as the speed, as having to keep stopping on buses and trains and the routes that they take, may make journeys slow. Write it all out and think it through and you will know you have made the right decision once you have considered all of the pros and cons.