The Burrow
Jan 8, 2025
Travelling by plane can be a stressful experience. There’s the mad dash through security, waiting for your gate to be announced as you pay for expensive food, and the fear that your flight could be cancelled or delayed. Once you’re on your plane, most of the stress gets relieved, but many of us worry about the safety of our belongings while we’re on holiday.
In particular, leaving your car at the airport while you travel can be a huge source of anxiety. Nobody wants their car to be stolen, or to pay huge amounts of money for parking!
Some airports are quite safe for parking, but others have a worse reputation. As car insurance experts, we collected data on international airport parking to rank the best (and worst) places around the world to park before flying.
If you’re looking to fly from an airport that won’t cost a fortune to keep your car safe, read on to find out our top picks!
For our list, we looked at the 10 busiest airports in Australia. We ranked them based on airport parking rates and frequency of (state-wide) car thefts data, to find the cheapest airports and safest states for parking. Here’s what we found:
With a weekly parking rate of 84 AUD, Melbourne Airport has the cheapest costs of anywhere on our list of Aussie airports! Melbourne also has one of the lower rates of car theft in the country, giving it a score of 7.58 on our rankings and a comfortable spot at #1 on the leaderboard.
Perth comes close to dethroning Melbourne in our rankings, with 0.38 points between them. A week of parking in Perth costs just five AUD more than Melbourne ($89), giving it a second place finish with a score of 7.20 in total.
With a bronze medal finish, Adelaide scores a total of 6.60 on our list. It’s the biggest airport in South Australia, with average parking costs, but Adelaide has one of the lowest car theft rates in the country to counteract it.
The Aussie capital misses out on a podium finish, but still lands in the top 5. While Canberra beats the average rate of car thefts, the Canberra Airport’s above-average parking costs pull its total score down to 5.25 – which is still a respectable finish!
Australia’s biggest airport only just secures a top 5 finish, despite New South Wales being the safest state for parking in the country – its theft rate of 144 cars stolen per 100,000 is almost half the Australian average! It comes at the cost of the most expensive airport parking available, however. A week in one of its car parks will set you back 210 AUD, so anyone concerned about how much airport parking costs should look for other options.
Queensland is the worst region in Australia for car theft rates. Mix that with the third highest airport parking rates in the country (starting at 156 AUD/week) and it’s no surprise that Cairns lands at the bottom of our list for parking quality, scoring just 2.14.
With a rating of 3.61, Gold Coast Airport is the penultimate worst scorer on our list. Continuing our trend of high theft rates in Queensland, its parking is cheaper than Cairns’ offerings, but not low enough to avoid the bottom 5 in our rankings.
Just a stone’s throw from the Gold Coast is Brisbane Airport, although it unfortunately doesn’t rank much better on our list! With slightly cheaper parking, it takes our #3 spot for a total score of 3.77.
When it comes to parking in Queensland, Townsville Airport is the cheapest option in Queensland and one of the cheapest in the country with a rate of 113 AUD per week. However, Queensland’s high theft rates still bring it to the bottom half of our list and give it a total score of 3.85.
The only airport in Tasmania to feature on our list is Hobart. While its airport parking rates almost exactly match the national average, Tasmania’s rate of 300 thefts per 100,000 cars drag it down slightly in our rankings, giving it a total score of 4.43 in total.
How much is airport parking in some of Europe’s busiest cities, and will your car be safe there? Here’s our round-up of the best and worst places to keep your car across the continent.
With some of the cheapest parking rates in Europe (36.46 EUR/week) and Budapest having one of the lowest rates of car theft on our list (32 thefts per 100,000 cars), Budapest’s main airport takes home the gold medal in our rankings. With a total score of 9.57 – the highest we found worldwide – it has the best airport parking available!
While Istanbul lands in second place, it still beats Budapest’s prices by just 0.06 EUR per week (36.40), giving it Europe’s third lowest airport parking rate! With Turkey’s theft rate almost two thirds lower than the European average as well, it earns a great score of 9.44 and a well-deserved silver medal.
Prague has become a trending holiday destination in recent years, but it’s just as good a spot to fly from according to our statistics. The Czech Republic’s car theft rate is the fifth lowest in Europe, and the Václav Havel Airport prices are in the top 10 cheapest options (41.17 EUR/week). Scoring 9.34, it loses to Istanbul by just 0.1 points, but still earns a very strong third place.
Spain’s capital city, Madrid, offers the cheapest airport parking rates in the country at 40 Euros per week. It scores a total of 9.02 on our rankings, making it the last city to break the nine-point boundary.
Mallorca’s main airport rounds out the top 5 airports for parking in Europe. With Spain’s low rate of stolen vehicles and airport parking costs of just 44 Euros per week, it beats other Spanish airports like Malaga and Alicante for a spot in our hall of fame, with 8.83 points overall.
With the highest weekly airport rates in Europe (141.42 Euros per week) and Switzerland recording the 6th highest rate of thefts, Geneva Airport ranks the lowest out of the 50 airports whose data we analysed. In fact, it’s the only airport to score less than one point on our rankings – totalling just 0.76!
Orly Airport, the second largest in Paris, earns the (dis)honour of being in the city with the highest rate of car theft. In France, for every 100,000 cars, 252.4 are stolen – almost double the average for Europe! It takes the penultimate spot on our list with a rating of 1.4.
Heathrow Airport is one of the busiest airports in Europe, but it still has a long way to go in terms of improving its parking. It’s the second most expensive on the continent for parking rates (132.94 EUR/110 GBP per week), and when combined with the UK’s car theft data, earns a score of 1.74 overall.
Paris’ main airport, Charles de Gaulle, narrowly beats Orly on our list due to a slightly better price point of 88.80 EUR per week. However, it still shares the region’s high theft rate, giving it a score of just 2.42 and making it the fourth lowest ranked airport on our list.
The second Swiss airport to appear in our bottom 5, Zurich has Geneva beaten on price, costing around 40 EUR/week less. However, with Switzerland’s high theft rate, it only scores 2.66 and rounds out the worst airports for parking in Europe. Major cities like Nice, Bristol, Manchester and Venice just about miss out on our bottom 5.
If you’re jetting off from America, you may be wondering how much airport parking costs in USD, or which state is least likely to leave you without a drive home. Here are our rankings of airport car parks (or “parking lots”) in the USA:
With Utah having the third lowest theft rate in America, and a week of parking costing 74.50 USD, Salt Lake City International Airport averages out as the best in the USA for securing your car. With a total score of 9.16, it’s one of only two airports in the country to score higher than nine points.
Miami is home to the busiest airport in Florida, which is the state with the second lowest rate of car theft nationwide. With the cheapest airport parking rates across the state (84.27 USD per week), it puts up an impressive overall score of 9.13 – that’s just 0.03 behind Salt Lake City!
Our first tie of the list sees Charlotte and Tampa score a perfectly equal 8.71, with each of them achieving their ranking through very different means.
Charlotte has the cheapest airport parking in the US – just 42 USD for a week – but with 261.8 thefts per 100,000 cars in the state, it doesn’t crack the top 10 safest in the country. On the other hand, Tampa shares Miami’s safety rating, but airport parking costs 24 USD more for a total of 108.50 per week. Averaging between them, they both earn a bronze medal.
Serving both northern Virginia and Washington D.C., Dulles International Airport slips into our top 5 with a great score of 8.65. Parking costs 91 USD for a week, and Virginia has America’s fourth lowest car theft rate. Airports that just missed out on our top 5 include Harfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Anyone looking to save their money while travelling should avoid flying from Seattle’s biggest airport, as a week of parking will set you back a huge 329 USD at least! Not only is this the most expensive airport parking rate in America, but Washington has the highest rate of theft in the country – 681 thefts per 100,000 cars. With both of these combined, Seattle-Tacoma comes in absolute last on our list worldwide, with a score of 0.
While San Diego doesn’t come in dead last, it’s easy to beat an airport with no score at all! This city’s weekly airport parking rates are the second highest in the USA (266 USD) and the Californian theft rate is far above the average (more than 500 per 100,000). These average out to give San Diego a rating of 2.59, the second lowest in America.
You might expect Las Vegas’ nearest airport to be as expensive as the city itself, but Harry Reid International Airport only costs slightly more than the national average (147 USD/week). Instead, it’s a high rate of thefts in the state that places it so low on our list. With 679.3 cars stolen per 100,000 in Nevada, its rating takes a harsh drop to 3.19 for the third lowest finish in our American ratings.
Known for its musical heritage and beautiful buildings, Nashville has become something of a tourist hotspot for Americans over the years. However, statewide, Tennessee is not particularly safe for your car, with the 6th highest theft rate. Combine that with a weekly price of 160 USD at the airport for a final score of 4.98.
Surprisingly, Denver International Airport is one of the cheapest in America for parking rates, but still lands in the bottom 5! A week of parking only costs 49 USD – the third cheapest in the USA – but with just under 652 thefts for every 100,000 cars in Colorado, it comes at a much greater risk. These statistics give Denver International Airport a score of 5.14 – not terrible, but bad enough to earn a place in the bottom 5 where it narrowly beats out San Francisco and LaGuardia.
It’s the last thing anyone wants, but it’s important to stay calm and level-headed if you find yourself the victim of car theft. There are plenty of things you can do to make sure it’s dealt with as smoothly as possible. Your first priority should be to check that your car hasn’t been towed rather than stolen, or that you’re not looking in the wrong area. Once you’re sure it’s been taken, here are some steps to soften the blow:
Call the emergency number of whatever country you’re in and file a report, without touching anything left at the scene. Inform them of your car’s details, registration, vehicle ID number, insurer, and anything that may have been left in your car at the time of the theft.
If you can find any photographic of video evidence of the crime, authorities may be able to more easily identify the thief. Contact your local authorities to see if any CCTV footage is available from the area and the specific time, then send any findings to the officer dealing with your claim.
Car insurance can cover theft, depending on the level of cover that you have. If it’s covered by your policy, contact your insurer once your police report has been filed, and send a copy of it to them to help provide a clear picture of events.
Once your police report and insurance claim have been sorted out, it’s important to know what will happen once they’ve concluded. If your car insurance policy covers theft, there are multiple ways your claim could end up:
Compare the Market’s Executive General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, notes that there are different levels of car insurance coverage, and with more coverage available at a higher price.
“There are policies that just cover damage you cause to other people’s property when driving, then there are policies that cover that, plus fire and theft. The top tier is comprehensive insurance, which covers these losses as well as damage to your own vehicle from other events such as accidents, storms and flooding,” says Mr. Taylor.
“If you’re concerned about theft and wanting that to be covered, then its important that you check the policy wording to ensure that it’s an insured event and not excluded. This will help give you peace of mind when your car is parked at home or away from home, including when you leave your car at an airport car park when you travel.”
This dataset contains 3 rankings, split up into the 10 busiest airports in Australia, the 50 busiest airports in Europe & the 31 busiest airports in the US, based on how good they are for parking. To do this, 2 different factors were used. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given. The normalised values were then summed, to give each airport a total score. The airports were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.
The factors used are as follows:
The factors were indexed as follows:
All data is correct as of 29/11/24. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.