Some recommendations would be ace 😀
There are 5 of us heading to Basque through Manchester airport in a a couple of weeks time. So with that we will have a bike bag, large holdall and carry on luggage each. I know buses are pretty regular from most stops but i'm really just wanting to organise a hassle free connection.
Any recommendations?
valet parking, you drop your car off at the terminal drop off point. Works great.
Local station? Much prefer the train for the lack of hassle if you can get direct.
The long-term car parks are the best option and there's space on the shuttle buses for big luggage but they do get quite full at peak times, so you might need to do it by splitting into two groups. Fly mid afternoon and you'll be fine.
If there's more than one of you in the car, drop all the stuff off at the departure hall drop off then head back to park the car. When coming back, come out of the arrivals hall, turn R and take the lifts to the departure hall drop off then someone goes and picks the car up.
The arrivals bit sounds a**e about face but it's the least hassle of anything I've tried other than taxi/valet parking.
Nice one guys, cheers. Having never been through Manchester local stations may add an extra step in the journey i am trying to avoid. And yea its a busy time as in early afternoon hence i thought i should ask around.
We are coming down from deepest darkest Scotland so trying to make this step as easy as possible. The rest of the journey is a doddle.
Either do what whitestone suggests or use [url= http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-airport-parking ]this link[/url] to find cheap airport parking - I normally find skyparksecure id cheapest. If you book a few weeks in advance, it's maybe £10 more to park in the multi-storey next to the terminal rather than the long-stay which requires a bus ride. The jetparks are cheaper but the buses are not as frequent. the multi-storey is actually part of the terminal building, so for an extra tenner it's a no-brainer for me.
At Manchester you can park pretty much outside the terminal doors for not much money.
Whitestone, you have the answer. Cheers
I'd just use the meet and greet service - not usually that much more, but makes life a lot easier if you have a lot of stuff as it's a fairly short walk to the terminal from there and you avoid having to get a bus which may be a pain if you have a lot of gear.
Last year we used one of the JetParks that's about a 15 min bus journey away as it was a bit cheaper and it was sodding miserable coming back knackered, having to wait for the bus, then drive around about a million car parks before we got to ours. By the time we got there we could have been home if we got a taxi! Swore after that that it was meet and greet all the way...
Nice one guys, cheers. Having never been through Manchester local stations may add an extra step in the journey i am trying to avoid.
Direct trains from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Manchester Airport station. Up the lift and across the terminal to check in. Done it a few times
Whitestone is nearly correct. The police / security are pretty hot at spotting people loitering and trying to leave via the departures drop off (especially if lots of people with big bags). They'll fire you off back to arrivals.
As said - booked in advance, parking at the door is pretty cheap.
@mick_r Not had that happen to us, but then it was just the wife and me rather than a group. I suppose I was only waiting ten minutes - there were cars in the bays that were there when I arrived and still there when we left so it could depend on time of day or how busy things are.
The official Meet and Greet was very efficient and convenient last time we used it.
On airport long stay at Manchester is max 10 minute walk if you drop everyone off first - don't bother waiting for the bus unless there's one there.
Meet and greet very good and effective and my choice with kids + bags + pushchair for usually the same price as long stay. Another bonus in this age of booking singles with different airlines is you can drop off at one terminal and they'll bring it back to another (done that twice now).
I wouldn't go off airport / jetparks as it's just ball ache with kids/bags/bikes in tow and the buses always look like a scrum.
Yeah there were 4 of us plus a bike bag, and arrivals was very busy that day.