Why we started
As frequent travellers, we kept running into the same questions when arranging airport parking: did the advertised price include the fees, and what did “undercover” mean at the actual car park? We wanted a straightforward way to compare the options before a trip, including what the facility offers and what the stay is likely to cost.
That is why we built Airportparkfinder. Operators do not pay for a listing, a higher ranking or a better rating. Today, we do not take commissions or referral fees; you book and pay with the operator. If our business model changes, we will update this page.
What we do today
Airportparkfinder compares off-site airport parking at Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide airports. We list each car park with what we found on site and a total for your dates that includes the airport access levy, any booking fee and GST.
When you choose an option, "Book directly" takes you to the operator's own website, where you book and pay. We don't take bookings or payments, and we don't take commission or referral fees. Questions, or found something that doesn't match? Contact us.
Ready to look? Compare off-site parking at your airport, or use the trip planner to see whether parking or a ride costs less for your trip.
The audit, in plain terms
Before a car park is listed, someone from our team drives there, parks, rides the shuttle to the terminal and back, and fills in the same checklist every time. The checklist is short and literal.
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Facility type is what we saw, not what the brochure says. Solid Roof is a permanent hard roof over the bay. Shade Cloth is fabric or mesh on a frame. Open Air is sky. A carport with a mesh top is Shade Cloth. We photograph it.
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Shuttle times are measured, not quoted. We time the ride to the terminal and ask for the published frequency and the overnight arrangement. The journey time we list is time on the shuttle only; waiting, check-in and loading take longer.
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The cover matches the listing. We check that the bays sold as Solid Roof or Shade Cloth exist and match the description on the day we visit. We don't track live occupancy, so the operator confirms availability when you book.
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Keys, cameras and the fine print. We record whether you keep your keys or hand them over, whether the yard was fenced, lit and covered by CCTV when we visited, and what the terms say about damage. Terms that disclaim everything don't pass.
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Overstay grace is written down. Every listing shows how many hours an operator gives you when a flight runs late before another day is charged. Zero is allowed. Hiding it is not.
What we record reflects the car park on the audit date. Each listing shows the date of its last audit, and we go back to check again. If something on site doesn't match the listing, report a listing error and we'll recheck it.
How ratings work
The star rating on each result is the operator's average rating out of 5. It covers the operator as a whole rather than a single offer, so every offer from the same operator shows the same score. Our team records it, and "No reviews yet" means we don't have a rating for that operator.
Operators can't pay to change a score or where they rank. Ratings are one input to the Recommended sort, alongside price and shuttle journey time.
One price. The whole price.
Australian Consumer Law requires a business that advertises part of a price to also show the total as a single figure, including every fee a customer can't avoid. The ACCC has pursued airlines and ticket sellers for "drip pricing" — a low headline that grows through checkout — and the penalties now run to tens of millions of dollars.
We don't treat that as a legal minimum to tiptoe around. It's how the site is built. The number on every result card is the parking charge for your dates at the operator's published rates, which already include the airport access levy, plus any booking fee the operator charges, with GST included. Open "What's included" on any card to see how it adds up. You book and pay with the operator, who confirms the final price. If you find a mandatory fee that isn't in our total, tell us and we'll fix it as soon as we can, usually within 2 business days.
How "Recommended" is decided
The default sort on the compare page is a plain weighted score across the parking options in your results: total price for your dates counts for 40%, shuttle journey time for 30%, review score for 30%. The weights are published next to the sort control. There is no fourth, invisible factor.
Planned booking model
Planned, not available We're working on booking through this site, connected to operators' gate systems. If it launches, operators would pay a commission on completed bookings, never for position or ratings, and we'll update this page first.
The market, as it stands
A capital city airport is a geographic monopoly. If you want to park at the terminal, there is exactly one landlord, and the landlord knows it. In 2024–25 the four airports the ACCC monitors made $402.1 million in operating profit from car parking. Brisbane Airport alone cleared $125.3 million at a 76.8% margin. Melbourne, Sydney and Perth all sat above 60%. Source: ACCC Airport Monitoring Report 2024–25.
Those margins create a price umbrella for independent operators on industrial land near each terminal. Off-site options can cost less, but facility descriptions and the fees included in a headline price can vary. Our comparison focuses on making those details visible before you book.
Airports also charge off-site operators an airport access levy (also called a landside access fee) when shuttles use the forecourt. Operators have reported increases of up to 134% over five years. Where the operator passes this fee on, it belongs in the total price.
Sources
The figures on this page and on the home page come from these sources.
- ACCC Airport Monitoring Report 2024–25. Car parking operating profit and margins for the four airports the ACCC monitors, for the 2024–25 financial year.
- Melbourne Airport drive-up rates. The 1-day rate for the Terminal car parks (T123 and T4). Checked .
- Our listings. The typical daily rate for off-site parking, as at .