Aaaggghh - I've got to take the dreaded EasyJet this weekend from STN 6am departure - anyone got any tips on how to minimise the pain?!

Sadly BA (or any other airline) not an option.

HELP!

Do you need a particular seat (s), or are you not fussed? If not fussed, then use the online check-in (which puts you in Group D), although unless you can cram everything into a laptop case (managed three times last week!), you'll still need to check in your case. You can do this the night before, I've never used it but did read about it in their magazine a few months back.

I was in and out of STN at the weekend just gone - no problems at ANY stage (Air Berlin check in took 5 mins, security less than 10, passport control on way back in about 5). We didn't have any checked luggage coming back, but there were bodies everywhere and no movement on the conveyors. The worst queue of the whole trip was the queue in WH Smiths for bottled water (use the pharmacy counter at Boots instead!)

THere is a secret security queue at the far left of the terminal. I imagine this is what MaxJet etc use. You may be able to sneak in here and avoid the long queue at the main security line - we used this last week (albeit we were directed to the secret queue by security).

Don't do what I did a couple of weeks ago.....

On a domestic flight and had a two hour wait, so I thought "sod it" I'm off to the Servisair lounge... trouble is it is really only accessible if you are on a non-domestic flight ... when it was my time to leave the oasis of the Servisair lounge I had to get escorted across runways and stuff to get back to the correct gates for domestic departures !!! Felt terrible ... but the G&T's helped!!

This was happening all the time last Friday - the lounge lady was getting a wee bit wearied with it, but did say there was plans afoot to move to a larger lounge in the main terminal shortly.

A few weeks ago .. I was the only one

I'm sure she mentioned September for the new lounge -located in the main area before you jump on the trains to the gates

6am? Where do you live?

Some friends who live in central London are booked on a forthcoming 06.10 FR STN-SUF. The Stansted Express doesn't run during the night so if you don't want to pay for a taxi this means taking the bus from Victoria or wherever at something like 03.00. Faced with this unappealing prospect they were considering
(a) getting the last Express to STN, arriving there at something like 01.00, then watching a couple of DVDs on the laptop, or
(b) going clubbing until 03.00 in London, bus to STN, then sleeping it off on the plane.

You know you're getting old (at 32) when you read this and think "I used to do that" followed immediately by "there's no way I would/could do that now."

Here is a tip worth remembering. If you are driving and have Satnav, don't enter STANSTEAD (as in your thread title) . Otherwise you will end up approximately half-way between Cambridge and Colchester

Praise be! Assuming this will be a Priority Pass lounge, my occasional Ryanair jaunts to Ms Raffles' family will be substantially improved!

Stansted last night was a nightmare. There are no proper queues for the passport desks, because the desks are so low that you cannot see them from the back of the scrum!! Everyone scrums in together until you get close enough to see where the desks are.

When I get to the front of the queue, the young woman on the desk is wearing a very thin black see-through blouse with a red slip underneath. I kid you not. If this is some sort of new uniform trial then I am all for it .

Obviously despite 20 mins to get through passport control, no sign of baggage. It finally arrives 45 minutes after touchdown. However, the good news is that the M11, which had been closed, had reopened by the time the bags finally turned up ^ .

I used, as an experiment, www.luxuryairporttravel.com last night, because they were the same price as my local minicab boys and I thought they may be more professional (money-back guarantee if they are late etc). I had absolutely no complaints at all and am happy to recommend them. We paid the extra �15 for an executive car and had a big BMW thingy.

You sure this wasn't the real reason for the scrum???

It is a Priority Pass lounge, and although you're not supposed to use it at present with Ryanair flights as it's in STN Sat 1, as mentioned above it is possible if you brass neck it, as they will send over a despatcher with a car to drive you across the tarmac to the correct gate once you're done in the lounge.

I used them for the first time a few weeks ago. Was very happy with the service- I didn't pay the extra for an executive car but still ended up in a very comfortable Mercedes.

the first departure on Fridays to Mondays is 4.25am (4.55am on Tues to Thurs). This should be just about enough for a 6-ish departure, provided you OLCI. A bit too close for comfort otherwise.