Originally Posted by ecaarch
Exactly what I've resorted to. I fly into London and then either take the train or a BA flight (they can be pretty cheap if booked in advance). That way, I'm going thru immigration at LHR or LGW where the staff seems to appreciate what a tourist is. It's pretty sad when the attitude of immigration staff determine your routing.
Hint: check out the
VLM website as they often have cracking fares from London City airport (LCY) to Manchester (though no good if you want a direct connection from LHR or LGW).
Also check out
bmi fares on the LHR to MAN route and
Jet2 from LGW to MAN.
Hope that this helps.
Nigel.