In this article we will examine the Meet and Greet service offered by some Airport Parking companies and see if it really is always a VIP service and worth the VIP rates they charge.
If you have read my other article explaining Airport Parking services, you will notice I only mentioned the Meet and Greet service, as it is not my area of expertise. Here I will go into more detail.
The Meet and Greet service, as the name suggests is where you are met (usually at the airport). Your car is taken away and parked for you. Then on your return, you are met again with your car (probably after a you’ve confirmed your arrival on the phone) and you drive home.
Meet and Greet sounds Great.
This sounds great and it is considered a VIP service. It costs more than simply parking at an Airport parking carpark, whether that includes a bus to and from the airport or not. This is understandable as it seems like a very convenient service. It also involves someone meeting you at the airport, parking your car, and then meeting you again with your car.
Some Airport Parking companies also offer a valet cleaning service, where they also clean your car before you return from your holiday. Obviously this is another premium or VIP service which may be included, or an optional extra to the Meet and Greet service.
The Airport Parking industry is competitive and as you may see when you do an online search, there are lots of sponsored ads for Airport Parking. These airport parking companies are paying for this advertising, which is a way Google and the other search engines make their money. The amount they pay is determined by how much they are prepared to bid for the ad.
What is interesting is that the ads for the Meet and Greet service costs much more for than other airport parking advertising. This suggests it is a competitive and profitable service, and potentially lucrative.
Meet and Greet – Where is your car parked?
What you don’t know is where they take your car? Since you are charged a high price for the service, you would assume they are taking the car to a secure, well lit, insured professional car park. But do they? Unless the airport parking company provide photographs of where your car is or you have a tracker on your car, you simply do not know!
The best airport parking companies will almost certainly take your car to a professional, secure, insured carpark. But there are less than professional airport parking companies out there that may take your car and store it in a field or even worse on a street somewhere!
Meet and Greet – Is it Premium service?
If you are being charged for a premium VIP service, you should get one and that includes your car being parked in a professional secure, insured carpark. If an airport parking company is not using a professional carpark, it is incurring far less costs. Therefore they can make far more profit than those companies that are providing a genuine service. This may be where, in some cases, the Meet and Greet service may not be a VIP service, as it suggests.
If you are considering booking a Meet and Greet service I would suggest you thoroughly check the Google Maps and or the Trustpilot reviews on the company BEFORE booking. A good company would almost certainly take good care of your car, but a bad company will not care. I have even seen reviews where customers with a tracker on their car saw the car moving around! I have also seen reviews where customers were waiting a long time for their car returned to them at the airport.
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