Finding Melbourne Airport Parking on New Year’s Day would be easy when you book in advance.

I selected New Year’s Day to fly out of Melbourne Airport in order to spend seven days on the Gold Coast with my loved ones.

I had seen in the RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) website that they had a deduction for their members for airport parking. And So I headed to the RACV website and found the following:

“Jetport security parking – self park
Location: Tullamarine, Melbourne, Victoria
Jetport Self Park offers safe secure undercover parking in a modern multi story car park with easy access and efficient check in. On demand courtesy bus service will get you to and from Tullamarine Airport 24hrs, 7days per week. Located at 189 South Centre Road, Tullamarine, approximately 3-4 minutes from Tullamarine Airport.” (from the RACV website – http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/travel/airport parking _ transfers/jetport security parking – self park )

Jetport: Cheap Melbourne Airport Parking

They were promoting Jetport Self Parking and for the week that I was away it was a $10 discount for the airport parking which was close to a 10% drop in price. So all I had to do was to fill out a form on the RACV website, pay of course, and get my code that let me into the airport parking. They emailed me the code and directions for how to get there and how to use the code. So all I had to do was load the car and get there on time. I found it interesting that they referred to Melbourne Airport as Tullamarine Airport. It is located in Tullamarine but is now generally referred to as Melbourne Airport.

I arrived at Jetport Self Parking and pulled over at the boom gate to place my code in and as I registered the actual 2nd digit a male employee quizzed me if I had inserted the code on the keypad. Not a friendly smile or “welcome to Jetport Self Parking”, simply “have you placed your code into the pad?” After the boom gate went up I drove in and the gentleman required for me to park to unload our luggage. We alighted and took out the cases and then he commenced reloading them in to a waiting mini van. Then I needed to choose a car park for myself, so I drove straight down the initial section, then the second one and lastly ended on the roof where the only airport parking was to be found. I remembered thinking that on the Jetport Self Parking web site they publicize a $10 reduction if you park your car on the roof. I then hopped into the elevator and went to the ground floor where the mini van was waiting. From the time I first parked to when I was delivered at the Jetstar terminal was 16 minutes and 25 seconds. It was a good travel time for airport parking that is not based at Melbourne Airport proper. I’d personally have thought that Jetport Self Parking would be trying to get the customer from the airport parking to Melbourne Airport with an enjoyable experience. I would describe the man we had as business like, efficient and brusque who was more concerned with the job than the customer he was serving.

We had a fantastic time at Sandy Point Beach Resort, in Labrador, on the Gold Coast.

Melbourne Airport to the Airport Parking

When we returned to Melbourne Airport we retrieved our bags and telephoned Jetport Self Parking for our pick up. We didn’t wait long for the mini van to reach us and he checked who was waiting patiently and made sure to collect those individuals who were on his checklist. The bags were packed and off we went. It took 16 minutes and 5 seconds to get to my car at the airport parking from the point in time I called for the pick up at Melbourne Airport. As I drove the car down to the bottom floor to get the bags I tossed up if I’d ask for the $10 discount for parking out in the open. In my mind it was reasonable to obtain the discount since the airport parking I paid for was undercover as stated on the RACV website and I clearly had parked out in the weather. Well, I thought here was a opportunity for Jetport Self Parking to rise to the occasion and give me the extra discount as I did not get precisely what I had bought. So I made my way to the office where two gentlemen were sitting having a conversation. I told them that I had prepaid for undercover parking and had parked outside in the weather. They asked me if I had bought by way of RACV and my response was yes. They then declared that I had been given my discount through RACV when I purchased. I then revealed that I had given money for undercover airport parking, nonetheless they answered that you only have one discount. So I purposely questioned yet again for a third time, so you will not give me a reduction of $10 for parking in the open air? The response was a definite NO! So this raises a dilemma of RACV offering a venue for a service that they, I assume, get paid a commission for, that isn’t provided as stated.

From my experience, I draw the following conclusion: that Jetport Self Parking is more enthusiastic about the bottom line of making the dollar than developing a circle of happy satisfied customers that return for more business and tell their friends of the exceptional service they received. This I find very disappointing as they have great facilities. I hope they can turn this around so everyone enjoys the encounter.

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