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Priority Boarding [at MAN] is still such a joke . Why bother.

Priority Boarding [at MAN] is still such a joke . Why bother.

Old Jun 15, 2019, 1:26 am
  #31  
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
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Originally Posted by ThatT1Feeling
As a MAN very very regular, I always go to the gate when it appears on my app, rather than wait for it to appear on the departure board. They could board by group number if they really wished to, but it would take committed, morivated staff to do so. Plus they’d need to train the non BA staff involved in the boarding.

I hope that, along with the lounge Wi-fi and priority security, these things will get fixed if and when BA moves to T2
According to the lovely lady in the lounge, the new T2 will become a scheduled airline terminal only and all budget airlines will be shipped to T3.

The lounge at T2 will not have the views that current lounge has. Time frames on the move varies between who you talk to. The airport says pier two will open in April 2020 but I had a friend who worked on the construction of pier 1 and said it was laughable to say pier 2 will open next year. The plan was to build new buildings for the main concourse but now the plan is to just refurbish the current structure. Not the best decision Manchester Airport Group has made.

BA will move when there is capacity to move but don’t hold you breath with it being within a year. Having said that, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the awful experience that is MAN!
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 1:27 am
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Gig103
Real question from someone who hasn't been through Manchester. Do the gate agents process everyone in the priority queue first, or are they separate gates?
There is a little more space at the gate, but not a lot. They do announce that boarding is by priority, and call the groups forward accordingly, but the obvious reality is that the agents process anyone who turns up at the desk, there isn't scope, space or time to be punctilious about this.

But I think MAN is the worst example of this, the bulding space is just too limited, I'm not sure it was designed for 200 passenger aircraft and the biometric stage adds an extra hurdle. NCL the large room for the gate is divided in two so no problem, BHD has lounge access and space, ABZ is also space constrained but they can run a long line down the side of the building, GLA and INV are fine, it generally works OK there. EDI has a variety of gates, some are problematic due to the layout and nearby cafés and what-not. LBA they board in 5 minutes flat and politely so, hence it hardly matters, not that there are many in the higher groups anyway.
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 1:57 am
  #33  
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
LBA they board in 5 minutes flat and politely so, hence it hardly matters, not that there are many in the higher groups anyway.
That’s probably because it’s only @KARFA, a couple of old women, and a man with a ferret down his pants (which may or may not also be KARFA)

I have yet to try LBA but am thinking of going from there in July rather than MAN.
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 3:37 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Mr Silver K


According to the lovely lady in the lounge, the new T2 will become a scheduled airline terminal only and all budget airlines will be shipped to T3.

The lounge at T2 will not have the views that current lounge has. Time frames on the move varies between who you talk to. The airport says pier two will open in April 2020 but I had a friend who worked on the construction of pier 1 and said it was laughable to say pier 2 will open next year. The plan was to build new buildings for the main concourse but now the plan is to just refurbish the current structure. Not the best decision Manchester Airport Group has made.

BA will move when there is capacity to move but don’t hold you breath with it being within a year. Having said that, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the awful experience that is MAN!
Pier 2 is not scheduled to open until April 2022. It's not actually a pier anymore, but a place for the lounges. have a look at the following, you get better info than from "mates"

https://www.mantp.co.uk/timeline/

The main departures area is doubling in size. When the new part is complete, work will start on refurbishing the existing area. There was never any plan to rebuild from scratch.

T3 will probably just be RyanAir and FlyBe. Easyjet are staying in T1 (or whatever it wlil be called when the transformation project is complete).
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 3:51 am
  #35  
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Originally Posted by madfish
That’s probably because it’s only @KARFA, a couple of old women, and a man with a ferret down his pants (which may or may not also be KARFA)

I have yet to try LBA but am thinking of going from there in July rather than MAN.


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Old Jun 15, 2019, 5:31 am
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
There is a little more space at the gate, but not a lot. They do announce that boarding is by priority, and call the groups forward accordingly, but the obvious reality is that the agents process anyone who turns up at the desk, there isn't scope, space or time to be punctilious about this.

But I think MAN is the worst example of this, the bulding space is just too limited, I'm not sure it was designed for 200 passenger aircraft and the biometric stage adds an extra hurdle. NCL the large room for the gate is divided in two so no problem, BHD has lounge access and space, ABZ is also space constrained but they can run a long line down the side of the building, GLA and INV are fine, it generally works OK there. EDI has a variety of gates, some are problematic due to the layout and nearby cafés and what-not. LBA they board in 5 minutes flat and politely so, hence it hardly matters, not that there are many in the higher groups anyway.
Lest one forgets, BA operated to ISB and MCO from T3 with B744 and JFK with the B763. I seem to recall for a couple of years, the BA1386 Shuttle was also a B763.

Regardless, T3 is absolutely unfit for purpose.

My own strategy is to watch the inbound land from the lounge, amble on down to the biometric scanners when the screen says “gate announcement in 5 minutes” and get to the gate ahead of the main throng to ensure overhead locker space.
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 10:38 am
  #37  
 
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Very odd, everytime I've flown from MAN (usually to LHR) its always had 1-3 on the left and very hard to see usually because the 4-5 is 100+ more people. Never seen it the other way round, even on that gate. Agree the gate area is absolutely not wide enough but often it seems 1-3 don't even realise there is a seperate lane for them.

The priority security is also a 50:50 chance of actually being any faster than regular I find. In the end I think the only status thing I frequently use is the lounges (not as bad as everyone makes out unless I've been really lucky) and priority checkin when theres rarely a person in front of you.
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 10:47 am
  #38  
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Originally Posted by ginger_lord
Very odd, everytime I've flown from MAN (usually to LHR) its always had 1-3 on the left and very hard to see usually because the 4-5 is 100+ more people. Never seen it the other way round, even on that gate. Agree the gate area is absolutely not wide enough but often it seems 1-3 don't even realise there is a seperate lane for them.
Just to welcome you to Flyertalk and to the BA forum ginger_lord, it's good to see you and I hope you can join the interesting group of characters on this forum who are based in Manchester.
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 12:20 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by ginger_lord
Very odd, everytime I've flown from MAN (usually to LHR) its always had 1-3 on the left and very hard to see usually because the 4-5 is 100+ more people. Never seen it the other way round, even on that gate. Agree the gate area is absolutely not wide enough but often it seems 1-3 don't even realise there is a seperate lane for them.

The priority security is also a 50:50 chance of actually being any faster than regular I find. In the end I think the only status thing I frequently use is the lounges (not as bad as everyone makes out unless I've been really lucky) and priority checkin when theres rarely a person in front of you.
Does this not depend on how you are looking at the gates? Gates 142 and 143 are on opposite ends of the same corridor. If queuing at gate 142 then group 4/5 are at the wall so are on the left as you look towards the gate. At gate 143, which is at the other end of the corridor, then group 4:5 are also against the wall, but this is on your right looking towards the gate.

And don't get me started on the abomination that is gate 141.

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Old Jun 16, 2019, 2:47 am
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by rossmacd
Basically because it is too easy to get a shiny card on BA these days
If some people on here had their way, Gold criteria would be set at just under their previous year's TP level.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:13 am
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by madfish

And don't get me started on the abomination that is gate 141.
Last week, gate showing as 143. Queueing commenced. Then, “sorry, gate change to 141.” The biometrics person at the scanner gave up given the numbers of people going the “wrong way” through the checkpoint and just waved everyone back through from the 142/143 corridor to the very messy 141.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:23 am
  #42  
 
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Originally Posted by madfish


Does this not depend on how you are looking at the gates? Gates 142 and 143 are on opposite ends of the same corridor. If queuing at gate 142 then group 4/5 are at the wall so are on the left as you look towards the gate. At gate 143, which is at the other end of the corridor, then group 4:5 are also against the wall, but this is on your right looking towards the gate.

And don't get me started on the abomination that is gate 141.

Yes, this is the usual set-up for 142 & 143. Gate 141 is an absolute farce and I typically walk through Boots to try and get to where Groups 1-2-3 should be queuing. It still amazes me that when disembarking through 141, the ground staff have to stop passengers walking through from security area to the departure lounge to allow the plane to empty. But, then again, it is Manchester airport where customer experience is bottom of the management's priority list.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 7:48 am
  #43  
 
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Originally Posted by Crofton138
Yes, this is the usual set-up for 142 & 143. Gate 141 is an absolute farce and I typically walk through Boots to try and get to where Groups 1-2-3 should be queuing. It still amazes me that when disembarking through 141, the ground staff have to stop passengers walking through from security area to the departure lounge to allow the plane to empty. But, then again, it is Manchester airport where customer experience is bottom of the management's priority list.
T3 as discussed up thread is not really fit for current use, Domestic arriving passengers (inc those connections from international at LHR) via BA at 141 have to use the jet bridge to disembark into a shared space. The only way to prevent cross contamination of those passengers and those newly screened at T3 going outbound is use the tensa barrier to separate the 141 arrivals straight across the narrow corridor and down the stairs opposite into arrivals/ baggage reclaim. As soon as those passengers have cleared and a security sweep has been done the tensa barrier is released and outbound passengers released onwards to the departure areas, shop etc...

Hope that helps a little, a true pain, yes I agree but until T3 is sorted within the overall strategic change project it will remain in place.

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