In late June the taxi took us to London Luton Airport that was once a great place to travel from. Now you have the feeling that they will shortly be influenced by one of their major customers Ryanair and even charge for the toilets.
They have this speedy security check in scheme. It means you pay £3.00 per person to "jump the queue". On a very hot Saturday afternoon there were not many people travelling and we passed through the "normal security" in under 5 minutes.
Upon our return the taxi driver had to pay £1.00 to pick us up and I had to do exactly the same earlier this week when I dropped off some relatives. The only alternative is to park on a dangerous yellow line or at the car park that is a 2 minute bus ride away!
They have also introduced charges for baggage trolleys. Unlike most airports that have a similar scheme to supermarkets and DIY stores whereby you put a £1 / €1 into the trolley to release it and get it back, At Luton it keeps it!!
What a welcome for the visitor to England. We need returning visitors in the present economy and to start taking money off them as soon as they arrive at the airport like this is not good.
The airport is owned by Luton Borough Council but is operated, managed by London Luton Airport Operations Ltd and the majority shareholders are Spanish.
No doubt this company is trying to sueeze as much money as possible from the travelling public. What a difference it Nice Airport for example. There is the "Kiss and Fly" drop off zone (no charge), Free car parking for a few minutes and they even allow dogs to greet their owners friends.
Mind you, everyone wants to charge when they can. I was shopping for food in High wycombe, Bucks yesterday afternoon.
Sainsburys are having a new store built opposite the Eden shopping centre. They have a temporary store off the beaten track in an industrial area. It is situated in a marquee. There is a car park in front of it and you have to pay to use it 50p 30 mils, £1 an hour etc. You have to spend £15 or more to get the car park costs back. As I had only spent just over £9.00 I could not get my 50p back.
Had I gone to Morrisons which much more in the centre, the car parking is free as is with so many supermarkets. I appreciate that these stores have their car parks for their customers, however when you establish a car park in an industrial area and put a tent there with a supermarket in it, I think this is pure greed Wycombe District Council.
It certainly puts me off shopping at Sainsburys in High Wycombe. One thing though., they did not make you put money in the trolley or even keep it. Now that is something supermarkets could do, imagine the profits then!!
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