The BelTel reports today that DFI is trying to stop cars using a lay-by to avoid Belfast City Airport parking charges. You do wonder if DFI does not have anything better to do with their time, and more importantly, there are questions about who asked for this change, as making changes to benefit private companies raises concerns.
As you may know, both airports charge £3 for drop-off or pick-up. But there is a straightforward way to avoid the fees.
The long-stay carpark in both airports lets you stay for 10 minutes for free. It is as close as the paid drop-off points; I have walked it many times, and it’s only a minute or two to the terminal.
When picking up at either airport, just park nearby and get the person to call you when they have passed immigration/baggage, and normally, it’s a smooth and free pickup.
This is one of those weird behavioural economics situations where people act completely irrationally. No matter how many times I tell people this, they still go ahead and pay the £3, as the big sign tells them that is the pickup point.
All the sheeple will continue to pay the £3 but the savvy traveller knows to go for the free long stay option.
I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily politics, preferring to write about big ideas in society. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
Discover more from Slugger O’Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!
For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.
Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.
If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.
