Budget Travel - Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK)

Perhaps it is worth having a thread for those of you traveling on budget airlines through Glasgow's alternative airport, Prestwick. As far as I can see, currently only three airlines operate out of PIK, namely Aer Arran, Ryanair and Wizz Air.

Although originally from Scotland myself, I have never used this airport, and my first experience will be this November.

My first question would be if anyone knows anything about the bus service from Glasgow Buchanan St bus station, the X77. It apparently stops at the bus stop on the A79 main road. I would like to know how much walking there would be from the bus stop to the airport terminal, as well as how reliable and punctual it is.

The bus stop is right beside the airport terminal. It will take 2 minutes walk. The X77 is very reliable and punctual. Going into Glasgow in the morning between 0730 and 0900 you will hit traffic and the journey time will be about 15 minutes longer. Coming out of Glasgow there are seldom any problems.

The railway station is connected by walkway to the terminal and the trains are every 30 minutes to Glasgow. Journey time is about 45 minutes. The rail journey is worth considering especially if you are going beyond Glasgow. Travelling with Ryanair will qualify you for a 50% discount on a journey to anywhere in Scotland. Keep your boarding pass or booking reference and present it on the train to obtain the discounted return journey.

PIK is a very easy airport to use. Everything is on one level. The security check is fairly efficient and the seating and food in the departure area are fine. Don't expect many shops as they are limited to an excellent selection of whisky, some clothes, perfumme etc.

I have used Ryanair and PIK dozens of times. Ryanair are very efficient and cheap. They seldom have delays or cancellations. Beware if you are travelling with suitcases. They are immovable on the weight restriction of 15Kg per checked in bag. If you have more than that and can't remove it it will cost you a lot of money. Their fees for baggage are shortly to rise but so will their handbaggage allowance. At the moment the restriction is only one piece of handbagage per person. Again that is not negotiable. Ryanair work on the principle that they don't want to have to pay for extra handling and anything that costs them money they will charge through. If you travel within the limits they are an incredibly cheap way to fly. I have just booked a return from PIK to Oslo and total cost was £15 for 2 x 90 minute international flights.

Enjoy your trip

Few remember that Prestwick was one of the first major TATL airports, arising from its major development during WWII as a way point for a/c being ferried or flying from the US and Canada to the UK via the Northern route.

I recall landing there in a USAF C130, 1962, "high priority" on my way to a ship in the Med, after a long logistics flight from McGuire in NJ, including stops in Argentia, Thule, and Keflavik, on the way to RheinMain and a night in an old Luftwaffe BOQ, identifiable by the chiseled and blasted remnants of the big eagle holding a forbidden symbol in its claws. Prestwick then still had many of the old WWII buildings left around the perimeter, ghost-like reminders of a world that recently had been (as were the scars left by the eagle, and the even more glaring holes in the Frankfurt city-scape.

It was also the only place in Britain where Elvis Presley touched soil!

As already mentioned, train links from Prestwick are much more convenient than the bus link and offers Ryanair customers half price discounts. Keep your boarding pass and buy your tickets on the train (as there is not ticket office at the station here). And the walk to the station is via a covered walkway which means you dont have to worry about the scottish weather - until you reach the platform that is!

If you are connecting trains at Glasgow (trains arrive into Central Station) onto Queen Street Station there is a bus which will take you outside the main entrance - IIRC this is free with a connecting ticket - or the walk will take you around 5-10 minutes (not ideal with bags and not very well signposted).

The restaurants in Prestwick are truly awful (I'm sure others may disagree) in my humble opinion anyway. Many years ago there was a great viewing platform but this has been closed to the public for some time now - according to a friend of mine who worked there for many years it was because of the military flights which land at Prestwick (in particular the Israeli military flights) as it was deemed to be a security risk.

I havent flown from Prestwick for a number of years now following a disagreement with Ryanair but still pick up friends or family from the airport.

Most of them agree that it is not a stressful experience with generally short security lines.

Beware of the early morning fog playing havoc with early flights though...

Some very interesting answers, thank you very much. The train suggestion is excellent. However, to get from Perth in the early morning it would seem that Scottish Citylink is the answer, with a change onto the X77 at the Buchanan Street bus station.

I hope what is written in the timetable from Perth to Glasgow is pretty accurate, given that traffic must be pretty terrible around Glasgow around 8am. Is it easy to find where the X77 leaves from at Buchanan Street, given that Scottish Citylink is a different operator and comes into the stands right in front of the main building?

Some very interesting answers, thank you very much. The train suggestion is excellent. However, to get from Perth in the early morning it would seem that Scottish Citylink is the answer, with a change onto the X77 at the Buchanan Street bus station.

I hope what is written in the timetable from Perth to Glasgow is pretty accurate, given that traffic must be pretty terrible around Glasgow around 8am. Is it easy to find where the X77 leaves from at Buchanan Street, given that Scottish Citylink is a different operator and comes into the stands right in front of the main building?
Signposting at Buchanan is good so you'll have no trouble connecting to the X77 which is a large double decker gaily painted with the service number. One word of caution, the X77 is a normal service bus which passes Prestwick with no special provision for airline passengers, so loading luggage may involve some fumbling.

It was also the only place in Britain where Elvis Presley touched soil!

Argh, you beat me to it! :D