5 Questions to Ask Before Booking Meet-and-Greet Parking

Meet-and-greet and valet parking are convenient precisely because someone else drives and stores your car while you're away — which is also exactly why the horror stories exist. Almost all of them trace back to one of a handful of gaps that are easy to check for before you book, not after.

1. Is the operator fully insured for the vehicle while it's in their care?

Every operator listed on the exchange has to confirm this as part of getting approved, but it's still worth checking the specifics for higher-value cars — insurance limits vary by operator.

2. Is there proof of your car's condition at drop-off and pick-up?

This is the single biggest gap in the wider market: without a timestamped record of your car's condition when you hand it over, a dispute about a new scratch on return comes down to your word against theirs. Every booking made through the exchange includes a photo record — staff photograph your vehicle at check-in and again at check-out, and both sets are emailed to you automatically, so there's independent proof on both ends regardless of what the operator's own paperwork says.

3. Do they track your return flight, or do you have to call ahead?

Good operators track your flight number and adjust automatically if you land early or your flight's delayed. If an operator's listing doesn't mention this, ask before you book — it's the difference between your car being ready when you land and you standing at a forecourt waiting for someone to fetch it.

4. What's the cancellation policy, and does it hold if your flight time changes?

Flight times move. Check whether a rate is refundable or amendable before you book a non-flexible one purely because it's a few pounds cheaper.

5. Where is the car actually stored?

"Meet and greet" describes the handover, not the storage — ask (or check the listing) whether cars are kept in a secured, covered compound with CCTV, or in unmanaged overspill parking nearby. Reputable operators are specific about this in their listing; vague answers are a signal to compare elsewhere.