Oh, that's good then. A nice relaxing way to start your holiday - enjoy

has anyone used the executive lounge at manchester?
is it worth the money?
can you take newspapers and mags on to the plane with you or are they "complimentary" in the fact that you can read them for free but not take them out of the lounge?

cheers

p.s. i originally posted this in the birmingham airport section but have managed to get my flights changed.

No, you can't take the newspapers/mags out of the lounge - they only had Telegraph, Independent anyway. No magazines either!! I'm not sure the executive lounges are worth the money anymore -especially early in the morning. They are full of business men on laptops, it's hard to get more than a couple of seats together. Very little in the way of snacks available early in the morning either. You need to be in them for the full 3hour allowed and to have a least couple of drinks (spirits etc) to get your moneys worth in my opinion!

Has anyone used any of the executive taxi firms at Manchester Airport? If so what were they like and can you make any recommendations. Thanks

Hi

We will be flying out of MAN with First Choice going to Faro (Portugal) next week and we have to collect our tickets at the airport, but that is all we know

Can anybody tell me which terminal and the location of the FC desk we would collect them from.

Thanks
Graham

Kiltman-Graham,

You'll need to head for the Thomsonfly check-in area at Terminal 2 (FCA have merged with TOM). The desk numbers are 49-54 from memory but I know they have a few more now following the merger. You'll find the customer services desk there as well. Enter Terminal 2 using the middle set of doors and you can't miss the customer services desk, its blue!

Darren

Thanks Darren

I knew you would have the information

Graham

as anyone left there car on terminal 3 and walked across the walk way to departures as i am thinking of booking a weeks parking there but i have walking difficulties and was wondering how far the walk is, i normally park in short stay terminal 2 and walk into the departure lounge and was wondering if the walk is about the same

wn5,

I would say the distance from T3 car park to the check-in area is less than the equivelent at T2. The distance to the departure lounge and gates is less too.

Darren

thanks dazbo5 i have never flown from T3 before so that info is very helpfull, cheers

T3 is as compact as it gets and the car park is very very close to the entrance to the terminal.
i used to work in and around the airport for a company that did work for Emirates and I would say dont park on the bottom two levels. Every taxi and Chauffeur car trys to park here and the bays are very tight I have seen a few cars get knocked so go up a bit and the car parks near always empty.

thanks chester for that

We are flying BMI to Chicago just before Christmas. Last time we flew with them, the long-haul flights went out of T1 but now it's T3. From what I remember of T3 before all the changes, the BMI check-in area was tiny, near the top of the stairs, mostly self-service machines. If it's still the same, I'm wondering whether it will be chaos with all the passengers from a long-haul flight trying to check in. Online check-in isn't offered for this flight (although, to be honest, on other airlines I haven't found online check-in to be of much use - you still have to queue to check your bags in).

Does anyone know if the BMI check-in area in T3 has been changed to accommodate their long-haul flights? And does it have a separate desk for Premium Economy?

Another question please!

Is it right that you can no longer access the eateries in T1 unless you are flying from there?
We generally used to eat there the night before we fly instead of the airport hotel, and sometimes get breakfast there too.

T3 airside looks as if all it has is a bar and a Costa Coffee. Unfortunately this time we don't have access to the BA lounge so we're either going to have to eat a too-early, mediocre, expensive breakfast at the hotel or go hungry until we arrive in the US!

wraf137,

You remember the check-in for bmi perfectly!! There are plenty of desks for european flights, but long haul flights are from the desks just around the corner from them; they are seperate. When I went to Antigua with them in March, check-in was a slick operation and only took 5 minutes. Premium and Business passengers have their own desks. It's all change in Manchester airport now. The upstairs area in T1 is now duty free and part of departures so you can't go between T1 and T3 now like you used to be able to. There isn't much air-side in T3, just basics and quite expensive.

Darren

The check in for BMI is now very quick and easy (a well run outfit) , the use the former BA New york desks just round the corner from the small check in area you remember. The is a self service cafeteria in T3 departure lounge, it is ok but nothing like as good as Garfunkels was in T1. Sorry you cannot now go in the T1 area at all.
A new Greggs has just opened in T1 arrivals (where the car hire desks used to be) and does a decent bacon butty etc. You can get to this as it is before security then walk back to T3 although you now have to go outside the building to do this.

The flight is great with plenty of entertainment and the staff on board have always been very good.

Darren and tulsablue

Thank you both for the information. I'm reassured about the check-in, and may give Greggs a try for a quick breakfast before going airside.

Have only flown BMI once before, to Washington DC in 2005, just before they took the A330 off the route. The staff were friendly and service was good - I'm no fan of airline food, but was pleasantly surprised that BMI still provided the little things (like cheese and crackers) that other airlines have penny-pinched away. I thought their PE seating was good then so am certainly interested to see what it is like now, with the ex-business class seats. Although I'm not keen on the TVs being in the arm because I particularly liked watching the 'nose camera' on take-off and landing, which I now won't be able to do.

I wish that BMI's customer service/reservations was as well run and slick as you say their check-in operation is. Booking MAN-ORD-DEN, with the MAN-ORD leg in PE, proved too difficult for BMI. They alternated between telling me that it simply couldn't be done and then saying it could, at a really silly price that was higher than the whole journey in Business Class! Luckily I discovered that it was a simple online booking with LastMinute, at a reasonable price.

wraf137,

Have a look at my trip reports on page 13 of the bmi thread for more details of the PE seats.

Darren

I flew with BMI in July to Chicago from Manchester, we took advantage of the previous night checkin option where there was only four people checking in, we did this as outbound we were travelling economy and wanted exit seats for the leg room.

On arriving the following day the queues were quite long and everyone flying to the USA had to queue up at the same document control point prior to checking in.

On the return flight we flew Premium Economy which was fantastic and well worth the money, infact in my opinion business class is not work the vast extra amount as PE so comfortable.

Dave