YVR Cockroach

We're looking at taking a 1p or 440p flight from BHX on the 2nd May bank holiday. Just wondering how busy BHX would get on such a day. We're looking at getting into the rail station at 9:33 or 10:33 from Leamington Spa. FWIW, travelling KL in the back cabin, ST E and E+ status.

bcmatt

Even when BHX is busy, it is not particularly swamped. An advantage with KL is that it departs from terminal 2 which deals with fewer flights and almost no LCC or holiday charter flights, so you won't be stuck behind the unwashed masses!

You can easily check-in online with KL and they have self service kiosks at BHX. Security in T2 is usually a breeze in my experience, very little waiting and much less of a scrum than T1. Facilities in T2 after security are underwhelming - coffee shop, bar, self-service restaurant type set up, duty free and newsagents! The lounge SkyTeam use ("4 Deck") is pretty tiny and I don't remember much in the way of food, only some drinks.

Note that when you get off the train at Birmingham International and take connecting monorail to the airport, you will have to walk all the way through Terminal 1 and right to the end of Terminal 2 to get to the KL check in desks. It is not that far really, but just so you are aware if there are a lot of you or you have a pile of luggage!

The BHX web site can be pretty handy too: www.bhx.co.uk

YVR Cockroach

Thanks. So it looks that if we do miss the 10:11 train, the next one an hour later should still give us enough time (11:33 for a 1300 flight)? We won't have any internet as we'll be on a narrowboat the previous day/evening unless there are some canal-side kiosks!

bcmatt

Personally I wouldn't be too worried about arriving at 11.33 for a 13.00 flight. I do it all the time! Check-in closes 30 min before departure.

Ah yes, forgot you were narrowboating! You can do a telephone check-in with KLM in the UK, but I can't remember if it is possible with checked baggage. I'm sure the KLM UK site will have details.

iainbhx

The busy day at BHX over the bank holiday will be the Thurs/Fri before the bank holiday Monday. The actual monday itself will be pretty quiet for departures.

T2 is rarely a problem as it is pleasantly uncrowded. T1 can get quite busy between 4-6pm of a weekday, but the security queue is rarely more than 20 minutes even at that time.