Collecting daughter #3 from T2 on Thursday evening and it seems I need to book parking - if I try and book a 1 hour slot I have two options both of which cost over £65! What the actual Fug??!
The only bit about pick up is this:
Manchester Airport prices and charges for Pick Up directly outside ofTerminal 2:
Up to 15 minutes
£6.40
Maximum stay is 15 minutes.Payments must be madeonlineby midnight the following day.
Please note: A £100 charge will be applied to those attempting to pick up passengers in the drop-off zone.
There is no pre-book parking on the ground floor, this is reserved for turn-up only. Pre-book reservations should park on the first or second floor.
Postcode:M90 5PR
Need to stay longer than 15 mins?
There is no pre-book parking on the ground floor, this is reserved for turn-up only. However pre-book reservations are available for parking on the first or second floor.
And the pre-book bit seems to be > £65 for an hour! Surely I'm missing something here - can anyone explain what's happening now they've shifted "everything" over to T2
You don't need to book for the 15 minute option. Just show up, whisk your daughter away, and remember to pay the £6.40 online afterwards.
You do need to book for longer than 15 minutes. That can get expensive.
It is just a blunt way to disincentivise people waiting around and using up space. Wait somewhere nearby (e.g. Costa on Wilmslow Road, the Airport pub, Macdonalds on Princess Road near the M60 interchange), head to the airport when summoned.
I go in the T6 when I pick up the daughter and park here - it's an open air car park right opposite the terminal doors for overheight vehicles. You get a token at the barrier and pay at the machine before exiting. Still costs me £6.40, but I find it more convenient than the multi storey. Looking at the picture it doesn't 'seem' like they restrict access to cars
*edit - actually, last time we went, we were dropping her off to go to Australia for 2 years and went to check in with her, so I'm pretty sure we were longer than 15 minutes, maybe not by much though
https://maps.app.goo.gl/MR3bTTKcijpiSKaF6
Luckily I am not too familiar with Manchester (as it is widely regarded as being the worst airport in UK), but I think the protocol is similar to most other airports. You drive to local area, park up outside of the airport perimeter, get the person you are collecting to call you once they are through passport and baggage, you then swing in to pick-up zone, make sure you leave within 10 mins or so and pay your £5-£10 for the privilege.
It only gets silly expensive if you are parking up and leaving the car for a face to face, emotional drop off or reunion which takes more than 10mins (as I did yesterday at EDI, £18 to wave my daughter away through security as she jetted off to work overseas for 4 months).
Airport parking rightly deserves its regular appearance on the "Disproportionately Cross" thread.
Here are the turn up and park prices for the car parks
Here are the turn up and park prices for the car parks
oh.... that's not quite so bad then. So when they say 15 minutes max that's not really the case.
Shame she [probably] can't jump on the Emirates crew bus and I pick her up from the Holiday Inn as usual 🙄
Edit:
AI version says I should probably to to an upper floor 🤷♂️
- Up to 15 mins: £6.40 (Maximum stay for Express Pick Up)
- Up to 30 mins: £8.30 (Short Stay on upper floors)
- Up to 45 mins: £9.80
- Up to 1 hour: £12.80
- Up to 2 hours: £21.20
- Up to 4 hours: £31.80
- Up to 24 hours (or part thereof): £61.40
Aim for T2 West- multistory on Melbourne Avenue - you can normally find a space on the upper floors, and it's not mad pricing
I did this yesterday, waited on Bailey Lane/Selstead Road (sorry residents, but it's where all the taxis were waiting too) until my Mum messaged me she was at the pick-up area, whizzed into the pick-up (bottom floor of T2 multi-storey off Melbourne Avenue) and off we went. £6.40 paid online when we got home, very painless for an airport experience tbh!
I can also confirm using the multi-storey for T2 is fine. Usually there about 30 minutes. Pay after.
For T3 you have to pay before exit, and the pay machines are outside, not in the T3 multi-storey - they are near the pick up shelters on the outside car park.
Don't trust the AI version! Not least because everything is changing - e.g. the names of the carparks and the signposts to follow.
Do trust TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR because his answer is right.