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12th August 2008 - by Joseph Cozens
  
Is It Really Cheaper To Drive Yourself To The Airport These Days?

So you have worked really hard all year, you have put up with the office politics, and the little irritations that seem to be part and parcel of your job. The kids are over excited about the holiday and have been talking about it for the past couple of months, you have promised the family a holiday to remember and have spent hours searching out the best deals online. Finally you have found a deal that you are happy with, you have booked it and in just 2 weeks time you will be jetting off.
  
There is just one thing left to decide, do you drive yourself to the airport and try to save a tiny bit of extra cash to spend while you are away, or do you start the holiday early and book an airport transfer to collect you from home and drop you off at the airport?

To park at London Heathrow Airport can even cost over £300 for just 1 week depending on which car park you use, but what if you are going on holiday for 2 weeks? The cost of just parking could even be similar to the cost of bring another person with you on your holiday.

Looking at it from this point of view, to hire a chauffeur to transfer you to the airport makes perfect sense from just about every point of view, economically it may likely actually be cheaper to hire an airport transfer service.

With cost of fuel soaring towards the moon suddenly what once would have once cost just £25 or so in fuel say for a journey from Southend in Essex to a London airport, could now cost 2 or 3 times that depending on what you drive, especially when you consider that the more weight the car is carrying the more fuel it will take to get you where you are going, and you still have to pay to park when you get there!

Then you have to factor in the additional stress of driving yourself to the airport. You have packed the suitcases, and lugged them downstairs, then you spend the next 20 minutes trying to get everything in the boot or on the roof rack. You have double checked that your wife has the travel documents, the tickets and everyone's passports.

The kids will of course need the toilet as you try to get them in to the car, all the while you are getting increasingly stressed as you keep an eye on the time. If you had left when you intended to you would have had plenty of time, but as things are going you will have to put your foot down now. What if you hit traffic? Your stress levels are going to go through the roof and you haven't even arrived at the airport yet!

What people often tend to forget too is that even if you do drive to the airport and then park, you still have to unload all the suitcases and bags and drag them across the car park, often down several stairways, over a road crossing an then eventually you will arrive at the airport front entrance. Where you would have been dropped off by your chauffeur, probably much sooner, and helped to unload your luggage, simply to walk straight in to check in as refreshed and relaxed as someone who started their holiday an hour or two earlier.

All in all, next time you need to get to the airport, why not take the stress out of the journey and let someone else worry about getting you there on time, while you relax and enjoy thoughts of the beach that is beckoning you from afar, in leather interior, air conditioned luxury. 

Article Source: http://www.uksmartguide.com

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