Easy way to get your holiday off to a flying start

FOR most of us, getting through an airport is not a particularly pleasant experience, especially during peak travel periods. But there are a number of ways to reduce the stress and hassle… MEET-AND-GREET PARKING MUCH less faff than parking the car yourself and taking a shuttle bus between the car park and terminal is meet-andgreet (or valet) parking. Just drive to a drop-off zone or shortstay car park, and hand over your keys to an employee who takes the vehicle away. On your return to Britain, the car is waiting for you at the terminal.

I’d advise sticking to airports’ own official meet-and-greet services, or an operator covered by the police-assessed Park Mark scheme (parkmark.co.uk).

Worth it? Yes, if travelling with lots of luggage and/or young children. For a fortnight’s parking in mid-August for Gatwick’s South Terminal, the airport’s website quoted me £12 less to use its Valet Parking South service compared with the on-site long-stay car park. STAY AT AN AIRPORT HOTEL WITH an early flight, staying in an airport hotel the night before you fly can make your departure much more civilised. Ideally, stay in a hotel connected to, or a short walk from, the airport terminal.

Worth it? A one-night stay can be pretty cheap, particularly if you stick to the budget chains. For example, Premier Inn (premierinn.com) has rooms this month at its well-run Gatwick Airport hotel near the North Terminal from £60 for a family of four.

You can often find keenly priced packages combining a night’s stay and parking too. With Holiday Extras (holidayextras.co.uk) it was only £15 more to add a week’s parking rather than just book a one-night stay at Stansted’s Radisson Blu in August. CHECK IN AHEAD PRINT your boarding card or get it sent to your smartphone. You can do this up to 30 days in advance with easyJet.

Worth it? Yes. It can save you money with a few airlines (airport check-in costs £45 with Ryanair, and from £12 with Jet2.com) – and time. I had to queue for 45 minutes recently at Prague to be issued with a boarding card for a BA flight. TRAVEL LIGHT EVEN if you’ve checked in online you’ll still need to queue at the bag-drop area if you’re putting luggage in the hold. By taking hand luggage only, you can also save up to an hour waiting for your bags to appear on the carousel at your destination.

Worth it? As well as saving time, you’ll avoid the steep charges imposed by many airlines for checking in bags. SPEED THROUGH SECURITY SOME airports let you use the fast-track lane through security for a fee. At Stansted it costs £5.

Worth it? Only if it’s looking like you’ll miss your flight: prices are per person so quickly mount up. LOUNGE AROUND MOST major airports have calm and comfortable executive lounges that anyone can access – for a fee.

Worth it? Up to three hours in a UK airport lounge costs between £17 and £35 a head if pre-booked through loungepass. com or holidayextras.co.uk. The fee usually covers unlimited drinks and snacks, newspapers and wi-fi – bought in the main departure lounge, these might cost between £10 and £15.

Executive lounges come into their own if you’re delayed. No1 Traveller lounges at Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham and Edinburgh allow you to pay at the door.