What Happens if Your Flight Is Delayed and You’re Parked at Melbourne Airport's Value Car Parks?

Delayed flight home and worried about extra parking charges? If you booked your Value Parking online, a late return won’t automatically mean extra charges. A short delay is covered by the grace period that comes with your booking. If it’s a longer delay, you can extend your booking online before you’re due out.

All of that rides on having booked parking online. Drive up and park without a booking, and there’s no booked exit time to run past. That means you just pay our drive-up rates for the hours you’re actually there on the way out.

Yes. The free Value Car Park buses run 24 hours a day, every 15 minutes. Value North and Value South each run their own service, and where you pick it up depends on the car park you’re parked in and the airport terminal you land at.

If you’re headed back to the Value South Car Park, the pick-up is the same every time. Just head to Bus Lane 1, Bay 3 at the T4 Transport Hub, whichever terminal you flew into.

Getting back to the Value North Car Park is a little different. It has two pick-up points, both marked with bright orange Value North Car Park signs, so they’re easy to find.

• Landed at Terminal 1 off a Qantas domestic flight? The Value North Car Park bus is at the pick-up point outside Terminal 1.
• Came in on an international flight at Terminal 2? It’s the same pick-up point outside Terminal 1, a short walk from the international terminal.
• Flew Virgin Australia into Terminal 3? The Value North Car Park bus stop is outside Terminal 4.
• Landed at Terminal 4 on Jetstar, Rex or Link Airways? The Value North Car Park bus is right outside.

Booking your parking online means you get a grace period built in. On a delayed flight home, the buffer applies automatically on every online booking, so you don’t have to do a thing to use it.

For stays under 4 hours, there’s a one-hour grace period. For anything longer, which covers most trips where you’re flying out, that stretches to a 2-hour grace period. Stay past that, and our drive-up rates start to apply. The same buffer also works the other way, so a slow drive in is just as covered as a late flight home.

It is a cushion, though, not a plan. Roadworks and traffic around Tullamarine can change fast. So check possible road delays and disruptions around the precinct before you leave, and pull up Google Maps for live traffic to time your drive.

Long weekends and school holidays are the ones to watch when the terminals get busy and traffic backs up around the car parks and Drop Off and Pick Up zones. Add a buffer to your drive, and leave yourself enough time to park, catch the bus and reach your check-in counter.

If you get to the boom gate past your booked exit, your QR code still works. Scan it, and the screen shows any additional fees you owe. Pay on the spot by credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The boom lifts, and you’re on your way.

Parking overstay rates kick in once the grace period ends. From there, the extra time is charged at our regular parking rates, depending on the car park you are in. If you’re not sure what or why you’re being charged, press the HELP button at the gate for parking help. That puts you through to our customer service team at any hour of the day.

You can manage bookings online any time before your booked exit time through the My Bookings page. Follow these steps:

1. Head to the My Bookings page and enter your booking reference to pull up your booking.
2. Change your exit date and time to when you’ll actually be back.
3. Pay the difference in parking fees, and we’ll send you a confirmation email.

Running late on the way in instead? Same deal. As long as it’s more than 2 hours before your booked entry time, you can change your booking through My Bookings. Amending or cancelling is free in that window, and if the new booking costs a bit more, you just pay the difference.

The Overstay Guarantee is an optional extra you add when you book for a small upfront fee. It refunds overstay charges when something outside your control keeps you away. It covers these situations:

• Your return flight is cancelled because a government has closed the border between Victoria and where you’re coming from.
• Your return flight is cancelled by the airline, with no replacement that would have had you back in time for your booking.
• You can’t fly because of physical illness or incapacity.
• Your return flight is delayed and lands later than Melbourne Airport’s published arrivals schedule, for any reason.

If one of those is what kept you, and you’d added the Overstay Guarantee at booking, head to the Melbourne Airport Parking Refunds page. Upload your evidence of delay or cancellation from the airline or a note from your doctor, along with the overstay fees you’re claiming. Once your claim is approved, the refund process takes up to 14 working days.

Booking online is what gives you room to move if your flight back runs late. So, sort parking online by clicking on the gold ‘Parking’ button in the top-right corner of the page. You can book up to 12 months out and weigh up every parking option side by side. Have a quick read of our Parking Terms and Conditions before you book, or check out our Parking FAQs page if you have questions.

While the Value Car Parks are our budget-friendly picks, we have more long- and short-term parking options onsite. If you want to be closer to the terminals, our Terminal Car Parks and Premium Car Parks sit right by the terminals. Rather drop off your car at the valet? Book Melbourne Airport Valet or Qantas Valet instead.

For deals and seasonal offers, subscribe to our Parking Deals newsletter, and we’ll send them straight to your inbox. You can also follow Melbourne Airport on social media for updates on whatever’s happening around the precinct.