Pay Heathrow Drop Off Charge: Fees, Fines & Avoidance

Dropping someone at Heathrow sounds simple — until the barrier lifts, the camera clicks, and you’ve got a £7 bill to track down before midnight tomorrow. Miss it, and that fiver balloons into an £80 fine within days. The good news is that paying the drop-off charge is straightforward if you know your way around the system, and there are a few legitimate ways to skip it entirely. Here’s everything you need to drive in, drop off, and drive out without a penalty letter in the post.

Charge per entry: £7 · Payment window: Up to midnight next day · Payment methods: Online, phone, on-site · Operator: APCOA · Free options: Blue Badge holders

The table below summarises the key figures drivers need to know before entering any terminal drop-off zone.

How do I pay the Heathrow drop off charge?

Heathrow uses APCOA to run the drop-off charge system, and there is no pay station inside the drop-off zone itself — you pay either before you arrive or after you’ve left. The most convenient route for most drivers is the online payment portal on the Heathrow website, where you enter your vehicle registration number and select your terminal. You can pay immediately, or pre-pay for multiple upcoming visits if you drop someone at Heathrow regularly.

Online payment

Go to the Heathrow drop-off charge portal and enter your vehicle registration. The system logs your entry via ANPR camera the moment you drive in, so you do not need a ticket or any physical token. Once you’ve entered your reg and chosen your terminal, you can pay by card online. If you forget on the day, you have until midnight the next day to settle it without penalty.

Phone payment

Call the APCOA payment line and provide your vehicle registration number and terminal details. Payment is taken over the phone using a card. This option suits drivers who do not have smartphone access or who encounter issues with the online portal. The call centre can also look up past visits if you are chasing a historic payment.

On-site payment options

There are no payment machines inside the terminal drop-off lanes themselves. Drivers who miss the online or phone window receive a Penalty Charge Notice through the post. To avoid this, set a reminder or use the APCOA Auto Pay feature, which links your registration to a saved card and processes charges automatically after each qualifying visit.

What happens if I forgot to pay the Heathrow drop off charge?

If you do not pay by midnight the day after your visit, APCOA issues a Penalty Charge Notice. The standard fine is £80, but it drops to £40 if you settle within 14 days of the PCN being issued (Inshur (Insurer Blog)). The PCN is sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle using DVLA records, so it will follow you whether or not you were the driver at the time.

Fine details

The £80 PCN is not a fixed tariff — it scales down if you pay quickly. According to Fleeto’s payment guide, the ANPR system logs every entry automatically, and once your registration has been matched to a visit without a corresponding payment, the fine process begins without any prior warning letter. You will receive the PCN by post, typically within a week or two of the visit.

Payment grace period

There is no official grace period beyond midnight the next day. Some drivers report that the 14-day discounted window effectively gives you a two-week window to pay £40 instead of £80 — but the charge itself (£7) does not increase. The additional £73 to £73 is the penalty for missing the payment window, not a late fee on the original charge.

Penalty charge notice

If you receive a PCN, you can challenge it if you believe it was issued in error — for example, if you paid but the payment did not register, or if your vehicle was not the one that entered the zone. According to the Heathrow Drop-Off Guide, you should check your payment confirmation and vehicle registration details before submitting an appeal. Successful challenges are possible when a clerical error is at fault, but routine “I forgot” appeals are rejected.

How to avoid paying the Heathrow drop off charge?

There are several fully legal routes to sidestep the £7 charge, ranging from disability exemptions to simple logistics tricks. The right choice depends on whether you are the one being dropped off, or whether you are the driver trying to minimise costs.

Free drop-off zones

The official Heathrow drop-off policy states that the charge applies only within the designated terminal drop-off lanes. If you use Heathrow’s Long Stay (Park & Ride) car parks instead, you can park free for up to 30 minutes, which is enough for most drop-offs. From there, a free shuttle bus runs to all terminals. Holiday Extras (Travel Tips) notes that Park & Ride is the most practical free alternative for drivers who want to avoid the charge without special circumstances.

Passenger walks

Hatton Cross tube station sits within Heathrow’s free travel zone, meaning you can drop a passenger at Hatton Cross and they can board a free Heathrow Express shuttle train to their terminal without cost. This works for flexible passengers who are not in a rush and for drivers who want to avoid the drop-off zone entirely. The shuttle runs every few minutes during operating hours.

Blue Badge exemptions

This is the most robust exemption available. Holders of a valid UK or EEA Blue Badge can register in advance for free access to the terminal drop-off zones, provided the badge holder is a passenger in the vehicle. According to Heathrow’s official terms and conditions, you must register at least 7 days before your visit. If you missed doing so in advance, you have until midnight the day after to register and the exemption will still apply retroactively.

How much is the drop off charge at Heathrow 2026?

The terminal drop-off charge at Heathrow was increased to £7 per visit from 1 January 2026, according to Holiday Extras (Travel Tips). There is no on-the-day time limit that determines a reduced charge — if a vehicle enters the zone, it incurs the full £7, regardless of whether the driver stops for 30 seconds or 9 minutes. Exceeding the 10-minute maximum stay triggers a separate PCN on top of the £7 charge.

Current fee

The current rate is £7 per vehicle entry. This applies every time a vehicle passes through the ANPR gates at a terminal drop-off zone. There is no cap for multiple entries on the same day — if you drive in twice, you pay £7 twice.

2026 updates

No further official fee changes have been announced as of early 2026 beyond the January 2026 increase from the previous rate. The Colleague Concession scheme, which gives airport staff a 100% discount, is set to end on 31 October 2026 (Heathrow Airport (Official T&Cs)), meaning staff drivers should expect to pay from November onwards unless a replacement scheme is announced.

Time limits

The 10-minute maximum stay in the drop-off zone is strictly enforced. According to Holiday Extras (Travel Tips), this means unloading luggage, saying goodbye, and driving away should take no more than 10 minutes total from the time you enter the zone. Unattended vehicles may be towed regardless of whether the drop-off charge has been paid.

The implication is straightforward: the Heathrow drop-off charge is low-cost to pay intentionally, but punitive to forget.

Heathrow Airport Drop-Off Charges: How to Pay and Free Options

Beyond the basics of paying and avoiding the charge, there are nuances that catch out regular users — particularly around the distinction between “drop off” and “pick up,” and the difference between terminal drop-off zones and car park facilities.

Autopay setup

APCOA Auto Pay is the automatic payment system for the Heathrow drop-off charge. Setting it up links your vehicle registration to a saved payment card. Every time the ANPR camera logs a qualifying entry, APCOA deducts the £7 charge automatically, eliminating the risk of forgetting to pay. According to Fleeto’s detailed payment guide, Auto Pay is particularly worth it for anyone dropping passengers at Heathrow more than once a month.

Free options list

• Park & Ride Long Stay: free for 30 minutes, then £9.40 for the first 2 hours (Fleeto (Payment Guide))
• Blue Badge holders: registered in advance = 100% drop-off exemption
• Hatton Cross shuttle: drop at the tube station, free terminal transfer
• Short Stay car parks: designated Blue Badge bays available (Heathrow Airport (Official Accessibility))

Terminal specifics

Each terminal at Heathrow has its own dedicated drop-off zone, but the charge and payment system are unified — paying for one terminal covers that entry only. Heathrow’s official drop-off page confirms that the charge applies at all terminals, and no pick-ups are permitted in the drop-off lanes. Anyone collecting a passenger must use the car parks instead.

Steps to pay the Heathrow drop-off charge online

The step-by-step process below covers the standard online payment route for most drivers.

1. Go to heathrow.com/transport-and-directions/terminal-drop-off-charge and select “Pay your drop-off charge.”
2. Enter your vehicle registration number in the field provided.
3. Select the terminal where the drop-off occurred from the dropdown menu.
4. Choose your payment method — card payment is accepted online.
5. Confirm and submit. You will receive an email confirmation — keep this as proof.
6. Repeat for each qualifying visit. If you have forgotten a previous visit and received a PCN, pay the PCN separately through the link on that notice, not through the standard payment portal.

“A £7 charge applies at Heathrow every time a vehicle enters the terminal drop-off areas.”

— Heathrow Airport (Official Site)

“If you fail to pay the charge, you’ll be fined. The penalty charge notice is £40 if you pay within 14 days, rising to £80 after that.”

— Inshur (Insurer Blog)

The implication is straightforward: the Heathrow drop-off charge is low-cost to pay intentionally, but punitive to forget. For occasional passengers, the online portal handles the £7 charge in under two minutes. For regular drivers — those shuttling family, friends, or clients to Heathrow every week — the Auto Pay setup is the single most cost-effective decision you can make, converting a recurring fine risk into a fixed, manageable expense. Blue Badge holders, meanwhile, have a fully free route available, but only if they register in advance through the official Heathrow system.

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Heathrow requires payment for drop-off zones at all terminals by midnight next day, with Heathrow payment guide offering clear steps on fees, exemptions and fines.

Frequently asked questions