Gatwick arrivals parking

[Brinyan]

I haven’t been to Gatwick Airport for a long time.
Will be picking my son up early hours of Wednesday morning - 2am.
Would like to meet him at the arrivals gate.
Can’t work out on Gatwick website, what the best parking option is. It states long stay is free for 2 hours, though this is a bus trip away & number plate recognition to enter. When I tried to book for 2 hours parking, it wants to charge £37 for a days parking.
I’m happy to pay, not looking for a freebie, but just some advice on which car park would be best for Northe Terminal arrivals.
Thanks

[ridds]

Just use the Short Stay.

£8 for 30 mins I think.

[Brinyan]

Thanks. Was hoping there’d be short stay parking, which is ideal. Everyone talks about drop off & pick up zones, which are chargeable & not what I wanted.

[cml24]

Where is you son coming from, really how long is the flight?

I usually stop nearby and only when they land do i drive to short stay. Otherwise you could be there for a while and it'll cost loads more.

Stop for a cup of tea at McDonalds or something two minutes away.

[Brinyan]

Cheers. Only coming in from Turkey. Will get him to call/message when landed & then park up.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

ridds said:

Just use the Short Stay.

£8 for 30 mins I think.

This is what I do, I try to arrive 15 minutes after the flight has landed. Luckily I live 30 minutes away so it is easy to time.

If done well I can just sneak into the 30 minute window.

[Somebody]

Do take a note of the car park. £10 if over 30 minutes in the short stay (Car Park 5), Gatwick North. This was last week.