Before you leave your car at airport parking, take nine steps: save your confirmation offline, arrive with time to spare for the shuttle, photograph the car from every side and the dashboard, remove your valuables, hand over only the car key, sign a condition report, keep a receipt, save the car park's phone number, and check the car before you drive off on your return. It adds about ten minutes on site.
Why it matters: if there is a dispute, everything comes down to evidence. With dated photos and a signed condition report, a scratch or extra mileage is discussed on facts, not your word against the car park's. Without them, it is much harder.
In short
Before you leave home: confirmation and address available without signal, and time to spare for the shuttle.
On site: photos of all four sides, the roof if possible, and the dashboard showing mileage and fuel level.
At handover: only the car key, a signed condition report and a receipt.
On return: walk round the car and report any damage before leaving the car park.
Beforehand: on Comparkly, we have already checked the car park, its documents and, for visited car parks, how it handles your car.
Before you leave home
1. Save the confirmation and address offline
Take a screenshot of your booking confirmation, with the car park's exact address, opening hours and access instructions. Download the area in your navigation app too. Airport car parks are often on business parks where the entrance is not obvious, and mobile signal can be weak underground.
2. Work out your arrival time with a shuttle margin
Start from your flight's check-in deadline and work backwards: shuttle or walking time to the terminal, a possible wait for the shuttle, and ten to fifteen minutes for the handover. Our guide to shuttle airport parking walks you through the calculation.
On site, before you hand over the car
3. Photograph the car and the dashboard
Walk all the way round: front, back, both sides, wheels, and the roof if you can. Get close to existing scratches or dents, so the starting condition is clear to everyone. Then photograph the dashboard with the engine on, mileage and fuel level clearly readable. Your phone dates every photo automatically, which is exactly what you need.
Mileage is not a detail. In March 2025, the French motoring site Caradisiac reported cases of cars returned with several hundred extra kilometres near several European airports. France's national consumer institute (INC) also advises checking the odometer when you get back.
4. Remove your valuables
Laptop, documents, sunglasses, garage remote, visible charging cables: anything valuable, or anything that gives access to your home, comes out of the car. The INC advises leaving nothing of value inside. Think about papers that show your address too.
5. Hand over only the car key
If the car park keeps the keys (valet, or a site where staff move the car), take the car key off your key ring. Never hand over your house, letterbox or office keys. If your car has two keys, leave the spare at home, not in the glovebox.
At handover
6. Sign a condition report
With valet parking or any car park that moves your car, ask for a written or digital condition report listing existing damage and the mileage. Read it before you sign. If a scratch you photographed is missing, have it added. To see how a key handover should work, read our article on airport valet parking.
7. Keep a receipt
Ticket, drop-off slip, email or text confirming the handover: keep proof that the car was handed over, at what time and to whom. If it is on paper, take a photo of it.
8. Save the car park's phone number
Add the car park's number to your contacts before you leave. It is the number you will call if your return flight is delayed or you cannot find the shuttle. Save ours as well: a real person answers Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00, on +32 2 320 96 38 for Belgium and +33 7 43 39 46 35 for France.
On your return
9. Check the car before you leave the car park
Do the same walk round as on departure, in good light if possible. Look at the bodywork, the wheels and the interior, then the mileage and fuel. Compare with your photos. The INC advises checking the car straight away on return.
If you spot damage, report it on site, before you leave, and have it noted in writing. Take photos right there. Once you have driven off, it becomes much harder to prove the damage happened at the car park. If the car park does not respond, contact us with your booking number and your photos.
Why photos matter so much
Under French law, when you leave your car with a professional who looks after it, articles 1927, 1928 and 1933 of the Civil Code govern that deposit. According to case law discussed by the Gazette du Palais, it is up to the custodian to prove it is not responsible, for example by showing that the damage was already there at handover.
Your dated photos and the signed condition report do exactly that: they record the state of the car at the moment you left it. Without them, you leave the door open to "that was already there".
That is why we also look at how each car park handles condition reports and keys. What we check before you arrive is covered in the next section.
What we have already checked before you arrive
Your checklist covers your car, on the day you leave. We check the rest before you book. We only list car parks we trust. Every partner signs our partner contract, and we check its documents: company registration, insurance, the right to operate the site. We talk with the owner or manager of each car park.
On our visits, we look at the entrance, how the car and the keys are handled, and where the cars are actually parked, not only the handover point. We meet the valet companies we work with in person. A visited car park shows the Verified by Comparkly badge with the date of the visit.
We also make test bookings, like a customer: car handover, timing, shuttle, return, how support responds. If something goes wrong on the day you come back, our support team answers Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00.
FAQ
Do I really need to photograph my car before leaving it?
Yes. It is the simplest proof of the car's condition on departure. Walk all the way round and photograph the dashboard with the mileage and fuel level. Your phone dates the photos automatically.
Which key should I give the car park?
Only the car key, taken off your key ring. Never leave your house keys. Keep the spare key at home.
What should I do if I find a scratch on return?
Report it to the car park before leaving, have it noted in writing and take photos on site. Compare with your departure photos. If the car park does not respond, contact our support with your booking number.
How much time should I allow for the handover?
Allow ten to fifteen minutes for photos, the condition report and the receipt, on top of the shuttle time to the terminal. At peak times, allow more.
What does Comparkly check before I book?
Each partner's documents, and a conversation with the owner or manager. On our visits, we also look at how keys are handled and where the cars are parked, and we meet the valet companies. Finally, we make test bookings to check the service from the customer side.
Is the car park allowed to drive my car?
It can move the car to park it if that is part of the service, as with valet parking. Beyond that, your odometer photos at departure and return let you check the mileage.
Your checklist is ready. Find a car park at your airport on Comparkly: you book with car parks we have checked, see the total for your dates upfront with all fees included, and can get a refund up to 24 hours before arrival, minus the service fee.
