LancashireFlyer

I'm I right in assuming that Airports would have sighting of airline loads per flight, so they would know how many people are booked to arrive and depart per day?

The number of people who make a same day airline booking must be in a very single figure %, so it's not like they've not been able to see passenger numbers steadily increasing for many months.

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Porky Speedpig

Yes indeed they do but obviously varies by airport how often they take the feed, is it manual or automatic, what do they do with it etc

ratechaser

Only tangentially related to this discussion but I hope you'll indulge me: I'm looking for a decent hotel for the night at/near MAN before my Easter flight the next morning.

The on-site ones look crazy expensive, around £200/room - whereas a lot of cheap ones in the vicinity look extraordinarily grim - the Britannia Airport Hotel with its 2* average on Tripadvisor looks like one to avoid at any price.

I've found the Waterside Hotel, which looks good, only a 10 min drive away in the morning - any other suggestions? Never flown from MAN before so it's all new to me!

xenole

Premier Inn at Heald Green or Cheadle are good bets if cheap enough. Taxi from both, or the train from Heald Green if the timings are right. Plenty in the area

ThatT1Feeling

I don't like any of the airport hotels at MAN. Even if it's an early morning flight, I tend to stay close to Piccadilly Station - even early in the morning there are lots of trains from Piccadilly to MAN Airport and it's only £4 / £5 for a train ticket. There's a Doubletree, Holiday Inn and Premier Inn all close to Piccadilly.

ratechaser

Thanks, we'd be parking the car at the airport (when we get back at the crack of dawn, I just want to be able to leave the terminal and head straight home), so wherever we stay, it would be a case of park the car there for the night then drive on to the airport in the morning.

Which, admittedly, will be on a working day during rush hour, so will need to allow a bit more time. But flight isn't till 10.45 and I think I'll probably pay for fast track as I'm assuming the airport will be a bit of a zoo...

Hydebear

Agreed! Add to that list Motel One, Malmaison, Staycity Aparthotel and Dakota.

But NEVER set foot in a Britannia....consistently rated at Britain's worst hotel chain - for good reason.

xenole

Example.
The Doubletree at the airport is around £145 on Thursday 14th April. £88 for the one across from Piccadilly Station.
If time allows, park the night before at the airport and catch a train to the city centre and perhaps a nice meal there.

For a 10:45am flight, short of industrial action, amended timetables etc., plenty of time to get back.

£42-£48.50 for the Cheadle / Heald Green Premier Inns that night with free parking.

ThatT1Feeling

I had a colleague from Belgium who didn't consult with me before booking the Britannia on Portland Street for a week. He came into the office, ashen-faced, the first morning. He said that even though it was fully pre-paid, he wasn't staying there another night. He then resigned from the project later that afternoon. Poor guy.

That's totally what I would do if I were the OP. Leave the car at the airport, stay at Piccadilly and have a nice evening meal. Especially as the flight isn't really early.

flipper118

Not sure if this has been asked; do Club Europe ticket holders get through and quicker?

KARFA

security? Yes you have access to fast track.

LancashireFlyer

+1 for Premier Inn. We stay at the Premier Inn on Runger Lane, frequently get family rooms for £36/night and taxi is £6-£7. Its just a room to sleep in, but we can't fault Premier Inns for what they are.

ratechaser

At my last employer, people that visited Canary Wharf from certain 'cheaper' locations were expected to stay at the nearby Britannia to manage costs (to be fair, the bank only made about $5bn profit per quarter so they were really on their uppers). One night we went back to the bar there for a nightcap with a few of them.

The sofas were wipe clean (theoretically at least) PVC, with lots of tears that had been patched up with gaffer tape. I stood. At least the view over the water was a good distraction from the interior decor. I'm assuming that they renovate their hotels on a 60 year cycle and it was close to coming due there...

Anyway... I will take a look at the options, Malmaison is always a favourite of mine, just not sure I can be arsed with a train once I've parked the car. Still think it's simpler to park at a nearby hotel then on to the airport in the morning. To put you out of your misery, it's the night of the 6th April I'd be looking at, and the Waterside Hotel has rooms for £99 including use of the spa, which I think is pretty reasonable.

Yes the rooms are a bit small, but having stayed recently at an Ibis Budget, I think I've already hit rock bottom there...

NicholasMAN

FWIW experience wasn't too bad today for the BA1395 (apart from the 50 min delay due to two no shows).

​​​​​​More checkin agents (4) than Ive experienced in recent visits. Dedicated Priority checkin - a first! - and reasonable security process via Fast Lane, even though it would appear that a lot of people have paid the £5, so Fast Track queue as actually only marginally shorter than Normal (Slow) Track.

What was apparent was what seemed to be additional 'ancilliary" staff floating around - offering liquid bags to those queuing and re-stacking used trays etc.

Seems like they have tried to improve the logistics of the operation by adding additional non-specialist staff to help flow through the system.

Took about 25 mins, taxi to lounge having arrived at 1047
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allycat53

Datapoint for arrival at MAN today 25/03/2022 ... 0830 flight very full and late taking off from LHR due to baggage loading issue, but we landed on time around 0930. Parked at one of the main T1 gates, steps down and then bussed across the tarmac to T3 UK arrivals lane. Walk down the empty corridors to the baggage carousel and an 85-90 minute wait for my bag. There appeared to be one ground handler unloading the luggage containers from the plane and then driving them over to the carousel and then he unloaded them on his own. Did three containers and then went back for more. While he was away a bag jammed the carousel and the ?GBS? staff on hand in the "baggage hall" didn't know how to restart the carousel after hitting emergency stop and clearing the jam so had to call someone who did, and then eventually the next set of containers from the plane arrived with the same sole guy to unload and place on the carousel. Lots of hot and bothered passengers waiting for bags. My bag appeared at 1058 and then the long outside walk back to T1 Meet & Greet to collect the car. OK in the nice weather today. As previous posts above, MAN and the various contractors working there are severely understaffed. Will be avoiding for my next trip in May to JFK, I will drive from York to LHR and stay over the night before I think.