Heathrow short stay parking (Terminal Parking): closest car park to the door

Heathrow short stay parking is the closest official Heathrow parking product to the terminal door. It runs at Terminals 2, 3, and 5, with a covered, step-free walk of 2 to 5 minutes from the car park into the check-in hall or out from the arrivals exit. The Terminal 4 car park closed on 23 June 2026 for a multi-year redevelopment of the T4 forecourts; T4 parking is now the Park & Ride on Scylla Road. The product was renamed from Short Stay Parking to Terminal Parking on 29 September 2025; the rename was branding only and the car parks, the tariff bands, and the per-terminal arrangements were not affected. Bookings made under the old Short Stay name still apply in the renamed Terminal Parking car parks. Airport signs still show Short Stay in many places and Heathrow is replacing them gradually; follow them as if they say Terminal Parking.

Pricing is by time band, not by flat day rate. The first 29 minutes is £8, 45 to 59 minutes is £15.50, one to two hours is £20, and 24 hours is £98, with intermediate bands between 2 and 24 hours. The same tariff applies at all three terminals.

At T4, the TW6 3YD postcode now serves only the kerbside drop-off forecourt; the car park it also served closed on 23 June 2026. Fast Track / Overheight 24-hour rate is £107.80 (versus £98 standard). Heathrow is inside the expanded ULEZ; a non-compliant vehicle pays £12.50 a day to drive to the airport on top of any parking charge.

Terminal Parking is priced by the duration of the stay, not by a flat daily rate, so the rate per hour falls as the stay lengthens. The verified bands at the time of writing:

Heathrow publishes the full intermediate band schedule on the booking page for each terminal; for an exact quote at, say, 4 hours or 8 hours, use the Get a parking quote widget at heathrow.com. The same tariff applies at all three terminals.

The £8 first-29-minute band versus Park & Ride free

The first 29-minute band at £8 is the most-asked-about Terminal Parking rate because it covers a typical pickup or drop-off. Park & Ride offers the same 29-minute window free at every terminal, with the trade-off being the 15-minute courtesy bus to the terminal door rather than a 2 to 5-minute walk. If your passenger can wait at the kerb at the car park bus stop, Park & Ride 29 minutes free saves the £8. If they need to be met at the terminal door with bags, Terminal Parking is the only product that puts you on foot at the door for under £15. Pickups beyond 29 minutes at Park & Ride are £9.40 for up to 1 hour 59 minutes; Terminal Parking is £20 over the same window. Both numbers are useful to know when planning a collection.

Pre-booked versus drive-up

Drive-up tariffs are fixed and apply at the exit machine on the day; the bands above are the drive-up rates. Pre-booked online (only available for stays of 9 hours and over; see the next section) the rate is dynamic and typically lower than the equivalent drive-up band, particularly for stays well over 24 hours where the £98-per-day drive-up rate compounds. The cheapest pre-booked rate moves with lead time and dates; book through Heathrow's own site widget for a specific quote.

Three Terminal Parking car parks, at T2, T3, and T5, all with the same harmonised drive-up tariff and the same 2 to 5-minute covered walk. The deltas between terminals are the postcode, the Meet & Greet drop-off level within the same car park (relevant if you book Meet & Greet at the same terminal), and the overheight arrangements. Terminal 4's car park closed in June 2026 and is covered below for anyone still expecting it.

Terminal 2

Postcode: TW6 1EW. Attached to the T2 building, covered walkway to the check-in hall. The same approach road serves the Terminal Parking car park, the kerbside drop-off forecourt, the Meet & Greet reception on Level 1, and the Valet lane. Overheight: T2 Short Stay Car Park 2 ground floor takes vehicles up to 3 metres, with a minimum charge of £21 for up to two hours. See Terminal 2 parking for the broader picture.

Terminal 3

Postcode: TW6 1QG. Attached to the T3 building, covered walkway. Meet & Greet reception on Level 1 of the same car park, and Valet on the forecourt. Overheight area at T3 takes vehicles up to 2.75 metres; other floors are limited to the standard 2.2-metre barrier height. See Terminal 3 parking.

Terminal 4

Closed. The T4 multi-storey shut on 23 June 2026 for a multi-year redevelopment of the T4 forecourts and car park, taking Terminal Parking and the Meet & Greet reception inside it out of service together. All T4 passenger parking now uses the Park & Ride on Scylla Road (TW6 3XL), where Zone A next to the reception is free for up to 2 hours and the shuttle runs every 5 minutes. The old TW6 3YD postcode still works for the kerbside drop-off forecourt (£7 per entry). See Terminal 4 parking.

Terminal 5

Postcode: TW6 2GA. Attached to the T5 building, covered walkway. Meet & Greet reception on Level 4 Row M of the same car park, and Valet on the forecourt. T5 has a dedicated Fast Track / Overheight entrance on the ground floor of Terminal Parking Car Park 5 with no height restriction in that lane (24-hour rate £107.80). See Terminal 5 parking.

You cannot pre-book a Terminal Parking stay of less than nine hours. This is the single most important practical rule on the page and it catches a lot of travellers out. Heathrow's online booking system simply does not offer Terminal Parking durations below 9 hours; the slot is left for spontaneous drive-up use. Pickups, drop-offs, lunch meetings at the airport, half-day visits, and short-stay overnights all fall outside the pre-book window.

The practical answer for a sub-9-hour stay: drive up, take a ticket at the entry barrier, park, and pay the drive-up rate at the exit machine or barrier on the way out. The drive-up tariff bands above apply. There is no discount mechanism for sub-9-hour use; the rate at the machine is the rate you pay.

For stays of 9 hours and over, pre-book online through Heathrow's own site. Bookings can be made up to 99 days ahead, with the cheapest rate at the longer lead times. Free cancellation and amendment up to 2 hours before the booked arrival; after that, the booking is locked. The pre-booked rate is materially lower than the drive-up equivalent for stays of more than a day, where the £98 daily drive-up rate compounds.

The overlap with Park & Ride is worth flagging. Park & Ride is pre-bookable at any duration and is much cheaper for any stay of more than a day; the only reasons to choose Terminal Parking for a 9-plus-hour stay are the 2-minute walk to the door (no shuttle) and the absence of the courtesy bus wait. Most travellers pre-booking for over a day end up at Park & Ride unless the door distance matters specifically.

The standard barrier height across Heathrow Terminal Parking car parks is 2.2 metres (about 7 feet 2 inches), which fits the vast majority of cars and small vans. Anything taller needs a designated overheight or Fast Track lane, and the rules differ at each of the three terminals.

• T2 Short Stay Car Park 2 ground floor: up to 3 metres. Minimum charge £21 for up to two hours, then the standard tariff applies for longer stays.
• T3 overheight area: up to 2.75 metres. Standard 2.2-metre limit on the other floors.
• T5 Fast Track / Overheight entrance: on the ground floor of Terminal Parking Car Park 5, no height restriction in that lane. Use the dedicated entrance, not the standard one.

The Fast Track / Overheight 24-hour rate is £107.80, around 10% above the £98 standard. For shorter stays in the same lane the standard time bands apply (or the T2 minimum charge at T2). Terminal 4 has no Terminal Parking car park since 23 June 2026; an overheight vehicle on a T4 trip uses the Park & Ride on Scylla Road, and for anything unusually tall it is worth contacting Heathrow Customer Services before you arrive.

The Fast Track designation here refers to the wider entry lane for taller vehicles, not the security Fast Track product. Both products exist at Heathrow and the names overlap; this section is about the car park lane.

The decision rule for picking Terminal Parking, expressed as three questions.

Is the stay under nine hours? If yes and you need to be at the terminal door, Terminal Parking is the right product. A two-hour stay at £20 is reasonable for a meeting or a delayed pickup. A 6-hour stay falls in the intermediate band and adds up quickly, but is still competitive against alternatives if door proximity matters more than price. For sub-30-minute pickups where the kerb is not essential, Park & Ride's 29-minute free window beats it on price (£0 versus £8) for the trade of a 15-minute shuttle.

Is proximity to the door non-negotiable? If yes, Terminal Parking is the only product that puts you on foot at the terminal entrance under £15. Meet & Greet drops at the same car park (not the forecourt) and Valet drops at the forecourt itself, but both are around £143 a day pre-booked and substantially more drive-up. For a one-day stay where you have to walk straight into the building, Terminal Parking at £98 drive-up is the cheapest option. Beyond a day, the £98 daily compounds; pre-booked Park & Ride at around £12.50 a day off-peak undercuts it by an order of magnitude if the 15-minute shuttle is acceptable.

Is the stay over a day and the 2-minute walk worth the price? If yes, Terminal Parking is the right call only when the door distance is genuinely the priority. A 5-day stay at the £98 drive-up rate is £490; the same stay at pre-booked Park & Ride is around £62 off-peak. The £428 saving buys a lot of shuttle waits. Most readers booking for more than a day are better served by Park & Ride and accepting the bus; Terminal Parking earns its higher rate on shorter stays.

Four products on the side-by-side: Park & Ride at every terminal, Meet & Greet and Valet at T2, T3, and T5, and Priority Park & Ride bookable at T5 only.

For an overnight return where door matters (you are picking up late, your luggage is awkward, you cannot wait for a bus), Terminal Parking is often the right answer at £98 despite the higher daily figure than Park & Ride. For most other use cases over a day, Park & Ride beats it materially on price. The full cross-product picture lives on the Heathrow parking overview; the park and stay packages page covers the related case where you book a nearby hotel plus parking together. The parking FAQs page covers recurring quick-lookup questions across all the products. For the drop-off rules on the forecourt itself (which uses a different £7 charge structure), see Heathrow drop-off charges.