I would allow for more than two hours if you are trying to park a car as well,as those airport restrictions are still in place and would allow two hours after parking your car.
ps We are going to Palma from Stansted on the ninth may

easyjet like ryanair allow those with children to board early so there shouldnt be a problem sitting together,just get in line at the boarding desk early and await announcements.

Most certainly you need to be in the terminal more than 2 hours before your flight departs. It can take quite a while to get through security at Stansted.

If you can afford it the Stansted official Valet Parking (book on the Stansted Airport website) is by far easier as they meet you on the forecourt of the terminal. However to get the best prices it does need to be booked at least 4 weeks in advance.
Pink Elephant is ok but is a fair distance from the airport and the queues for the buses on your return can be quite long.
Pippa

Most airline check in close 2 hours before departure..

When we fly (we have a 5 year old and a 3 year old) we arrive 2 hours before the check in closes - most check ins open 2 hours before closing. It seems abit early i know but i like to know we are "there" and have our seats - then having something to eat at the airport and browsing the shops is all part of the holiday!!

To help you make sense of above statement...we are going away ourselves soon our flight time is 11.00am so therefore the check in will close at 9.00am - i am planning to be there for 7.00am to be one of the first in the queue so we can choose what seats we want.

It is extremely unlikely the airline would separate you and your children anyway even if you were late checking in you should all get seats together whether thats rows behind each other or across the aisle from each other.

Have a great holiday and im sure the kids will love majorca too!

fatcodycat

Can I just correct fatcodycat/ Most check in desks do not close 2 hours before the flight time, it is usually an hour and a little less for a scheduled flight.

Most check in desks open 3 hours before flight time.

luci

sorry....

just that most charters we have flown with have had those timings (and i am abit obsessed with getting there early)

sorry again..

Bird,

just for your information, Ryanair no longer permit people with small children to board first - just those who have paid for online checkin and priority boarding. After that it is a mass free for all. Easyjet do continue to allow families to board early.

For the benefit of Mr Cynical my last flight with Ryanair was in september and on the 2nd of march with Easyjet,while Easyjet and Ryanair both operate a paid perks service where you pay to board early,afterwhich the those with children are permitted to board.
So despite this new service, those with children are given priority ahead of all others with exception of those who pay extra.

Then again knowing those prats at Ryanair I expect they may have found another way of screwing the customer but rest assured Easyjet are the same as on march when i last travelled.

Just my tuppence worth ... families who preboard seem to include all ages of kids, grannies, godparents, uncles and cousins .............

Hi there,

thankyou for all the responses we have booked the car park with the e parking on stansted airport,

our easyjet flight on the 14th may is due to leave stansted at 10.00 am therefore we were planning on getting parked for 7am and then making our way to the check in desk which we were told opens at 8am, would this be correct,and enough time or should we be getting to the carpark earlier than that??
claire

what time is the check in desk likely to close? the flight is 10.00am, i thought if i got there at 8am that would be when it opens?? am i wrong,getting very confused now

Check in closes 40 minutes before the departure time. And Easyjet recommend that you check in 2 hours before departure time, i.e. in your case at 8.00a.m. Of course, they won't close the checkin if there are still people in the queue at 9.20 either!!!!

They will board in the following order. Speedy boarding first, then families with young children and babies, then those holding Boarding Cards A, then B etc etc

HTH

I would say that gave you plenty of time clair.Idont think the check in desk would open anymore than 2 hrs before your flight anyway. on the few occasions we have flown with easyjet we have arrived around 2 and a half hours before the flight ,. most people at stansted wait around on the seats then there is a big charge for the check in desk when it opens bang on 2hrs before the flight. although at busy times i.e school holidays there could be a large queue forming with everyone taking a guess at what checkin desk its going to be.

you wont get allocated a seat number with easyjet you sit where you want, so its just a big push and charge at the gate. but i have found they invite passengers travelling with children to board first if you can get through the scrum there is some system of passengers boarding tho , i think you have a letter on your boarding card which may have something to do with order of checkin but not sure .

Bird,

I have flown with Ryanair twice within the last week and neither time were families offered priority boarding.

We have booked for the e parking at stansted, but can upgrade to the valet parking, is it worth doing, im not sure of the difference as we have never parked at stansted before, can anyone advise as to whether we should upgrade or stay with the original booking
thanks in advance

Hi, after reading through other discussions about stansted im not sure now what i should be doing first, as a family we have only ever flown from norwich and that was a few years ago now.
Anyone who has used stansted airport please can you give me a few pointers as to where to head for first,etc.
We were planning to head straight to our check in desk, how will we know which one is for us? we are flying with easyjet, will this be easy to find?
once checked in we were going to get a bite of breakfast then head for security?? or should we be going straight from check in to security?? got no idea? once through security is there places to look in and eat in or are they before the security bit? i assume after security its then that you wait to be called to board the flight., but again could be wrong, anyone who knows the chain of events please post on here to put my mind at rest.
With two little ones we were planning on pushing them in there pushchairs up to the planes door,then collapsing them (got quinny zapps) and handing them over or is this a bad idea as the time it takes us to unload the little ones collapse the pushchairs etc, will we be being bypassed by many people racing for the seats on the plane?
would we be better to hand over the pushchairs with our luggage at check in??
Also we were planning on taking a gameboy each for the older 2 boys on the plane is this acceptable??
Anyone out there who may be able to put my mind at ease then please post a reply thanks

I have flown Easyjet a few times (albeit not from Stansted) and my suggestion would be - park your car, get to the terminal and immediately check the board to see which check in desks Easyjet are using. Next, check-in, go through security and eat on the other side. It'll be much easier and you'll not be rushing at the last minute.

I would suggest that you get the kids out of the pushchairs before you get the plane door - I really don't think you'll be allowed to push them all the way and to be honest I don't think it's a good idea - you'll hold people up and you'll get stressed out trying to hurry up. When I flew with my friend and little girl last year, all parents were asked to collapse pushchairs at the gate door. Yes, you can check in the pushchairs if you so wish but as there's only the two of you with four kids it might be easier not to.

Gameboys, ipods etc are perfectly fine to use on the plane - listen to announcements, they'll tell you when they need to be switched off (usually take off and landing).

Above all - don't worry. Take a depth breath, it'll be fine.

Clair .dont worry . We use stansted often it is our nearest airport and i quite like easyjet you will be fine . once you have been dropped off by your car parks shuttle bus make your way to departures and as soon as your through the doors you will have a board in front of you where you can check your flight no. and it will give you a checkin zone to head to . all the easyjet check in desks will normally be in the same zone or two. if like me your early you will find many people crowding around these boards waiting for a checkin zone to be displayed but remember you probably wont be given one until 2 hours before your flight there are shops and resturants on either side but only duty free on the other side of security.once checked in personally i would go straight to security in case its busy but as your not travelling in school holiday time I cant see you would have too long to queue , then get something to eat and browse around on the other side of security while keeping an eye on the screens for your gate number unless you already have been given one. Easyjet board very promply so dont hang around once there is a gate number displayed on the board.

not to sure about pushchairs . havnt used one for a few years but pretty sure you can take them to board gate and hand them over. gameboys , psps , portable dvd players are fine on the plane once you are in the air .you cant use them on take off and landing tho. but dont forget the new security rules re liquids.

dont worry assuming they are letting families board first the other people will have to wait

lyn