How to choose the cheapest Glasgow Airport Parking?

Used to just rocking up to the official Glasgow Airport site on the day and paying as you enter? Perfectly understandable as you just want to relax and enjoy your holiday; however, by using Airport Parking Shop and a tiny bit of planning, you can save money and perhaps find an option better suited to you.

A comparison: Just turning up at Glasgow Airport Official Long Stay is listed at £50 for the 1st day, £80 for 3 days, and £15 per day thereafter. Our lowest price last week was £39.30 for a 7 day stay.

Tempted? Then, whether it is the nearest car park or the cheapest, we give you the answers below in just five bite-sized chunks.

1 – Understand Your Parking Type Options (and what's usually cheapest)

Quick Insights

Park & Ride is usually the cheapest (you park further away and take a bus), while Short Stay, situated next to the terminal is the most expensive.

A Deeper Dive

(but don't worry you will be back to the surface in no time)

The four main types of parking are Short Stay, Long Stay, Meet & Greet and Valet Parking options:

• Short Stay (or multi-storey) — usually very near to the terminal and just a few minutes' walk to departures.
• Long Stay (or Park & Ride) — a bus ride or at least a 10-minute walk away (depending on the airport).
• Meet & Greet — you leave your car and keys in an agreed part of the airport, and it is taken to a secure car park off-site.
• Valet Parking — like Meet & Greet but with the added bonus that a driver will meet you at the terminal drop off point, saving you the trouble of even having to go to the agreed space.

If you're travelling with the family, you may find the Meet & Greet service is best suited to you, if you're not carrying huge amounts of luggage then a cheaper off-airport car park may be the best option for you.

Glasgow Airport Car Park Specifics

Short Stay — Glasgow’s main short-stay option is Terminal Multi-Storey (Car Park 2), a short, covered walk from the terminal; note the 2.2m height limit.

Meet & Greet — Meet & Greet is available via third-party services such as Stress Free Meet & Greet (your car is parked off-site) and similar VIP meet/assist providers. Glasgow also offers an official Valet Parking product.

Park & Ride — There is a wide selection of options: Direct Parking, Skyport, Park ‘N’ Fly, ParkSafe, and Flying Scot (typical transfers range from ~2–10 minutes depending on provider).

Long Stay (official) — Treated as Park & Ride at Glasgow: free electric shuttle bus ~5 minutes, typically every 10–15 minutes; you can also walk in less than 8 minutes if you prefer.

Mid Stay — Glasgow has a Mid Stay surface car park on Sanderling Road, about a 5-minute covered walk to the terminal.

Drop & Go — There isn’t a named “Drop & Go” product at Glasgow like some airports; the official Valet service is the closest equivalent (drop near the terminal and hand over keys).

Which parking type is cheapest?

Expect to pay more for convenience. Short Stay is usually the most expensive option as your car stays in the closest car park to the airport and your keys stay in your pocket, allowing you a quick walk back to your car. Even though you will drop your car very close to the airport, Valet and Meet & Greet can still be cheaper than Long Stay (Park & Ride) - Meet & Greet providers take your car off airport to cheaper locations, so they can be very competitive. You also have to arrange dropping off and picking up times and leave your keys.

Glasgow Airport Parking - Short Stay, Meet & Greet and Park & Ride Comparison

The table above shows that over the six months from the 1st April to 31st September 2025 the average price of a day in Short Stay booked two weeks in advance was £17.05 compared to Park & Ride which was £12.25. That is a saving of almost £5 a day.

Note: The above is for guidance on price differences not an estimate of your price. It includes quotes for 1 day's parking up to 14+ days and you will pay a much lower price if you book for more days. In addition, it includes all providers in that category - for example, Park & Ride - and some will be more expensive. You can see a list of the cheapest providers over the last week above or simply do a search to compare latest prices across all the leading comparison sites. We don’t own any car parks, we are only interested in getting you the cheapest price.

Using Airport Parking Shop

Tip: By default, Airport Parking Shop lists prices from low to high irrespective of the parking type, which you can see in the blue box. If you are sure what kind of parking type you want, simply hit the Filter Results option above the results and then select for just what you want under Parking Options on the left.

2 – Plan to Book in Advance

Quick Insight

Start looking at least two weeks in advance.

(The Quick Dive-Down Part)

The most expensive way to park is to turn up on the day and pay as you enter.

Not only will it cost more but they might not have spaces, leaving you with a lot more stress than having to remember to book!

On the official Glasgow Airport parking site Long Stay is listed at £50 for the 1st day, £80 for 3 days, and £15 per day thereafter – and Short Stay (Terminal Multi-Storey) £60 for the 1st day and then £55 per day.

You can save more money by booking in advance, with the amount you save depending on how far in advance you book: aim for at least two weeks.

Glasgow Airport - Advance Pricing Comparison

As you can see from the table above, the average price of one day’s Short Stay parking fell from £25.53 to £15.73 when booked one month in advance, compared to one day ahead. In addition, the one day ahead figure is still much cheaper than the turn up price shown above.

Tip: Prices go up due to availability (or lack of) so at busier times of the year, like school and national holidays, you may want to start looking at prices even earlier.

3 - Don't Rely Just on Glasgow Official Carparks

Quick Insight

While third-party car parks are usually cheaper than Official airport carparks, Glasgow has an official option that is comparable in price.

A Deeper Dive

(It is only snorkelling)

Glasgow, like most airports, has its own car parks which cover Short Stay, Long Stay, and Valet, among others. And, like most airports, it has third party operators providing parking options. You may have read about rogue parking operators at airports and understandably that can be off putting but the reality is that lots of trusted, established providers – APH, NCP, Purple Parking, FHR and so many others - run car parks all across the UK.

Glasgow official car parks - At Glasgow the official car parks include Terminal Multi-Storey (Car Park 2), Mid Stay Parking and Long Stay, plus Valet Parking. The rest, as you have no doubt guessed, are third-party.

Why no third-party Short Stay? – By virtue of short stay needing to offer a short walk and therefore be near the terminal and on the airport grounds, it is usually the preserve of the official airport parking – with third party operators focused on Park & Ride and Meet & Greet.

Is official or third-party the cheapest?

Comparing like-for-like, for example, Meet & Greet or Park & Ride (Long Stay), official operators are often more expensive than third-party; however, this is not always the case and at Glasgow Airport the official Long Stay and Mid Stay can be extremely competitively priced at times, compared to third-party options. Sorry, I would like to put a definitive number here, like others do, but pricing is dynamic – and it doesn't work like that – so do a search and confirm.

(Sorry, a quick rant – pricing is dynamic, so we try not to litter our pages with teaser cheapest prices based on a point in the future when we know nobody is flying. We do give you some lowest prices based on actual booking in the last week, but otherwise we encourage you to do a search. We don't collect your email or anything else so there is no inconvenience for you. Okay...rant over!)

Tip: it might be considered that the official car park has better facilities or convenience, but not necessarily; remember to check features like distance to terminal and shuttle bus schedules.

Using Airport Parking Shop

Airport Parking Shop allows you to see official and third-party car parks together based around key functionality. For example, carparks that need a bus will be under Park & Ride; we don't leave official ones under on-airport, making it difficult to filter and compare.

4 - Compare Parking Features to Find the Best Value

There is very likely to be more than one provider of your chosen parking option: Glasgow Airport has at least 5 Park & Ride operators. Therefore, once you have decided on a parking type, you can then compare what they offer to see which one offers the right balance of price and convenience for you:

• Transfer time & frequency: walk or shuttle time and how often for the shuttle.
• Distance from terminal: check how many miles away your Meet & Greet is taking your vehicle.
• Keys: leave keys is often cheaper; keep keys is a convenience premium.
• Booking flexibility: fully flexible vs pay-now/non-refundable.
• Opening hours: 24/7 collection for late/early flights.
• Accessibility: step-free routes, Blue Badge bays.
• Security & reviews: independent accreditation, recent ratings.
• Total price, not headline: watch out-of-hours, late-return, or oversized-vehicle fees.

For example, Direct Parking quotes a 2–3 minute transfer with keep-your-keys self-parking, whereas ParkSafe is around 10 minutes with frequent shuttles. Flying Scot runs on-demand shuttles but requires you to leave your keys.

Using Airport Parking Shop

Tip: After doing a search the features above will be displayed in the tabs, or by hitting the More Info button.

5 - Compare Sites to Find the Cheapest and Save More

Quick insight

Not every airport parking site works with every carpark and sometimes they can sell the same space at different prices. It helps to check more than one site and use a meta provider like Airport Parking Shop.

The Detail

(I ran out of deep dive riffs)

So, you are ready to save money – you've even planned out how many more drinks you can get at the pool bar. But then you google for Glasgow Airport parking, you see so many sites to choose from, and your head starts to hurt. Which one is best?

The world of airport parking is made up of lots of businesses:

• The official airport car parks usually run by the airport.
• National third-party car park chains – for example NCP or Purple Parking - who have branded, large capacity, car parks where you can park yourself and keep your keys.
• Small independent ones who may be regional.
• Meet & Greet providers who take your car to a secure compound that you won't visit.

The smaller ones may wholly rely on comparison sites to sell spaces for them, while the larger ones may have their own web shops. The larger ones usually sell their own spaces and often ones from other car parks – they may even rebrand these spaces as their own. The result is a lot of choice and understandable throbbing in your head.

Use a comparison site to cut through the noise

This definitely helps but not every car park works with every comparison site and sometimes, different sites charge different prices for the same space. Ever been searching for car insurance and found a provider available on one comparison site and not another, or at a different price? Airport parking is no different with the added complication that some comparison sites are selling their own spaces too.

Search more than one

The key therefore is finding the cheapest price is to check as many different sites as possible. As with anything else, there is a cost benefit ratio so you might set yourself a target of the top 3 or 4. Or you might just give up!

All the comparison sites have a lowest price guarantee – isn't that great?

Checking multiple sites for lowest prices is a time-consuming exercise so why not just rely on the cheapest price guarantee of the first one? Cheapest price guarantees are fantastic, but it is down to you to go find a lower price elsewhere, often within 24 hours, and then contact the original provider, send them the link, and wait for their refund. Something most of us don't have time for.

How Airport Parking Shop Can Help

That is why Airport Parking Shop is here. We compare the car parks for you, and we even compare the comparison sites. We are independent, we don't have any car parks of our own. Check the logos for our partners above and then look down the search results for airport parking and you can see we work with almost everyone (find one we don't, let us know and we'll get on it).

How we save time and money:

• See more options: both independent carparks and comparison sites.
• Compare providers: see prices for the same space, all next to each other in one search.
• See like-for-like: compare Park & Ride with Park & Ride, Meet & Greet with Meet & Greet.
• Quickly narrow down: filter by parking type, customer reviews, providers and even distance to the airport.
• Switch dates in a click: easily change date and arrival times to compare prices and see the cheapest.
• Understand feature differences: see summary cards of key features in the results or click to find more information.

What terminology is helpful to understand pricing?

Meet & Greet vs Valet Parking

Meet & Greet and Valet Parking are similar beasts, but Valet Parking offers a more premium service. With Meet & Greet it is usually your job to park in a designated space and take your keys to a desk and hand them over, while with Valet Parking someone meets you outside the terminal, speeding up the process.

Park & Ride vs Long Stay

These terms are often used interchangeably with Park & Ride preferred by third party operators and Long Stay by the official airport. In general, both involve a bus ride but sometimes you have to walk from Long Stay. At Glasgow, there’s a frequent shuttle for Long Stay and it’s also less than an 8-minute walk if you prefer.

On-airport vs off-airport

Many comparison sites have an on-airport filter and a separate one for Park & Ride. The on-airport category might seem self- explanatory, but the search results usually include Long Stay, which is often a bus ride away - similar to Park & Ride. The reason is that Long Stay is usually owned by the airport, so think of On Airport as anything owned by the airport. Unfortunately, when you filter Park & Ride you won't get the Long Stay to compare it to. We don't do this, putting Long Stay in with Park & Ride to allow that comparison.

Short Stay

Short Stay doesn't mean you have to stay for a short period of time. The price and closeness to the airport means it is usually used by friends or relatives sending someone off, but you can park for a week or two if you want. Just remember it will cost you a lot more.

Glasgow Airport Car Parks

Express Drop Off and Pick Up

Glasgow Long Stay

This is an on-site car park just a few minutes from the terminal building. The transfer buses run 24 hours a day every 7 to 10 mins. There are Blue Badge spaces near the bus stops, and the transfer buses are wheelchair accessible. Drive up prices start at £30 for 1 day so run a quote above to book online and save up to 60%. Price known to be correct as of January 2021.

Postcode: PA3 2AY

Glasgow Short Stay 2

You may think of the Short Stay car park as merely a place to park when picking friends or family up from the airport. However, this could be just the place to park when you go on holiday. The ultimate in convenience, this on-site car park is directly opposite the terminal building, less than a five minute walk to the check-in desk. You can just turn up and park but to get the best rate (provided your trip is three days or more) it is advisable to book ahead. Drive up prices start at £5 for 20 minutes and increase to £36 for a 24 hours. Prices known to be correct as of January 2021.

Postcode: PA3 2SW

Airparks Glasgow

Airparks Glasgow is an off-site car park situated four miles from the airport, a journey which takes 10 minutes by shuttle bus. The transfer buses operate every 20 mins night and day. Security is good, with the car park having been awarded the Park Mark. A Return Greet Time Saver service is also offered, meaning that you will be met in your own car when you arrive back at the airport, saving the hassle of having to take a transfer bus back to the car park.

To find out what our users say about Airparks Glasgow click here to read our customer reviews.

Postcode: PA3 3BJ

Park ‘N’ Fly

If you don’t mind using a transfer bus for both legs of your journey, then this off-site car park could be of interest. It is a five minute journey to the airport, and buses run on demand. Automatic Number Plate Recognition is used so make sure you enter your correct registration number when making your booking.

If you’d like to hear what customers who previously parked with Park ‘N’ Fly have to say about their services, read reviews here.

Postcode: PA3 2NB

Other off-site car parks include Direct Parking, Glasgow Flyaway Parking, Glasgow Flying Scot, Glasgow Supersaver, Park Safe and Swift Park.

Glasgow Airport Motorbike Parking

Looking to park your motorbike at Glasgow Aiprort? Find out where to park and how much it costs on our handy guide

Glasgow Stress Free Meet and Greet

If you want a hassle-free start and end to your holiday, this Meet and Greet service fits the bill. Just phone 20 mins before you arrive at the airport to allow your driver time to get to the airport to meet you. He will be waiting for you at the drop-off area outside departures and will drive your car from there to the secure Airparks Glasgow car park. A similar procedure applies on your arrival back, provided you phone after clearing immigration.

Postcode: PA3 3BJ

Glasgow Flying Scot Express Meet and Greet

If you have checked in online, only have cabin baggage and want to shave even more time off your airport experience, then this Fast Track service could be the answer to your prayers. You will be able to park on the second floor of Car Park 2, which is linked via a bridge to the terminal building and the entry to the security area. You will also have access to the Priority Security Lane, minimising queuing time.

Postcode: PA3 2SW

Glasgow City Guide

Glasgow, meaning 'dear green place' is actually Scotland's biggest city, with a population of almost 612,000, but is justified in this name - it has over 70 parks and open spaces. It hosts the best shopping services outside of London and has excellent business, cultural, sport and tourist facilities. Glasgow has won the prestigious titles of European City of Culture 1990, UK City of Architecture and Design 1999 and the European Capital of Sport 2003.

Its stylish streets are lined with some of the finest and most skilfully preserved Victorian buildings, and the City Chambers, Glasgow's public headquarters in George Square, is a potent reminder of the city's 19th century status as the second city of the Empire.

Glasgow's unique atmosphere should be experienced by everyone. Entertainment in Glasgow includes some of the finest festivals, special events and a vibrant night life. The innumerable pubs and clubs are all situated within close vicinity, all adding to a brilliant night out.

Other Services at Glasgow Airport

Glasgow Airport has plenty to offer to both business and leisure travellers. This Glasgow Airport Guide covers most aspects of travelling through Glasgow Airport, from shopping and dining facilities to transfers, car hire and airport accommodation.