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.
Could she jump on the tram and get off at wythenshaw town centre? Or Sale waterpark park n ride?
Just parked (prebooked) and the ground floor which is normally short stay us all closed off.
Yeah, the parking around there is all changing as they've recently closed the old Terminal 1 and shoved everything (except Ryanair) into the shiny new T2. This is a shame, I loved T2 when it opened cos it was super quiet. Now every **** heading off to the Costa del Chav is going through there.
The T2 multi-storey is now called P3 and there's a slightly changed route into it. Lower floor for pick up. Upper floors for pre-booked parking.
Find somewhere to wait well offsite, receive phone call then get in and out sharpish. Don't try and get clever with waiting in laybys or driveways or doing pick ups in the drop off zone. Everything around there is CCTV'd to the max.
I'm getting friends or private taxis to the airport these days...
I got super burned on a 7 hour delay on my return last flight.
I think I paid about 160 for parking and then had to pay an extra 60 quid to get out of the car park... That's despite paying extra for late return insurance.
Not worth the paper it's written on...
Double post on edit
It was Ryanair.. And my fight was grounded due to 'bird strike' on one of the engines... And that's absolutely correct..
... But I was flying out of Almería and there ain't no ****ing bird's there at that time of year..
There was probably some sort of mechanical fault, and don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be delayed than crash..
But a bird strike is an 'act of god' for insurance purposes, so no Bueno for me.
I'm just gonna go for jet2 out of Leeds in future.. The same flights are easily about 100 quid more!
But I'll be saving about 160 quid in parking fees using taxis rather than driving to the airport.
And I don't have to lube my bum hole up incase my flight is delayed.
I'm just gonna go for jet2 out of Leeds in future..
Leeds is nice when it works (generally pretty quiet there). But it's also one of the flakiest airports in the UK because it's quite high up and also because the runway doesn't quite align with prevailing winds. Means it often gets fogbound cos of the altitude and landings can be... interesting. Or diverted.
Airport parking can be quite a risk in those circumstances. A diverted flight can mean an extra day's parking charges by the time you've got back there.
I prefer parking for the ease of use (especially travelling with a bike box) but the costs and risk of overstaying can be quite offputting. I'm never entirely trusting of taxis either. If one doesn't turn up at 2am, there are limited options for a Plan B!
Bumpy landing is guaranteed as its a short runway, so the pilots have to anchor on the brakes a little bit more.
Could she jump on the tram and get off at wythenshaw town centre? Or Sale waterpark park n ride?
No, she will be knackered after having just done a Dubai/Capetown trip and then jumped on a flight back from Dubai for a week's holiday.
Not asking her to to more than the bare minimum!
Well that was simple... Clearly set up to literally stop, load up and go.
I did go into the terminal but was out and gone within the 15 mins.
It was pretty quiet too which was nice
I'm registered for the auto-pay thing and I got my receipt this morning:
Drop-Off Date : Thu 11 December 2025 19:39 - Thu 11 December 2025 19:59
Price : £6.40
So despite being there for 20 minutes (thought it was less!) rather than the "15 Maximum" it still cost £6.40.