LUTON AIRPORT review :  27 June 2009 : by David Harrison   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

I recently needed to take two friends to Luton Airport for a flight about 7a.m., so check-in about 6 a.m. We got to within about a mile of the Airport by about 5:45 a.m. and encountered a solid traffic jam. When we finally reached the drop-off area it became apparent that the jam was caused by people trying to enter the drop -off area and being refused entry. I am told by others that this is a common occurrence and considering the amount of new road development that has taken place recently is inexcusable. y friends caught their flight by the skin of their teeth (and by walking some of the way carrying their luggage) but there must have been dozens of people who didnt

LUTON AIRPORT review :  1 June 2009 : by Geoffrey McNab  (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Not having travelled via Luton for some time I was pleasantly surprised at the improvements. It is worth noting the £12.50 single rail fare from St. Pancras station in London is valid on either the First Capital Trains (slower) or the East Midland Trains (faster) which depart from the same level as the Eurostar trains. I took an East Midlands train which went non-stop to Luton Parkway where I stepped onto a shuttle bus and was stepping into the airport departures area a mere thirty minutes after leaving St. Pancras! With hand luggage only I already had my Easyjet boarding pass printed and therefore avoided the queues at check-in where the desks do not open until two hours before the flight. A tip for travelers is the M&S Food to Go situated close to the arrivals area if you want to eat well at prices lower than the various food outlets. All round the airport are machines encouraging you to buy a Priority Security pass for £3. Perhaps at a very busy period this might be worth it but when I went up to security there were only four people in front of me and I was through the first check in a flash. There were several scanners in use and the only two people in front of me for the one I was directed to and I was soon through the system. Airside seems a great improvement on the old airport as I remember it. I suspect at busy times there would not be enough seating but on this occasion I had no problems finding a seat in between walking about and exploring the shops. The departure screens are rather small and I suspect some people with visual impairment might find them difficult to read. Like other airports passengers are requested to wait in the lounge and only go to the gate when the number appears on the screen. Be warned, the walk from the departure lounge to Gate Fifteen is quite a hike! All in all it was a surprisingly pleasant passage through the airport and I would certainly consider using Luton again.

LUTON AIRPORT review :  26 May 2009 : by Y Nasiokas  (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

First time through LTN, overall a pleasant experience though. Only minus is the limited check in facilities for easyJet given the overall area available in the terminal. Shopping facilities typical of a mid-size UK airport, security clearance fast and efficient, with extra scanners opening when needed, resulting in a smooth flow of passengers. Felt a little crowded every now and then, but overall a smooth and trouble free departure.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 15 April 2009 : by John Linehan

Customer Rating : 4/5

Flying out of Luton airport for the first time I was very impressed by the set-up. None of the tedious queues at security associated with Heathrow and Gatwick, plenty of good seating and refreshments and only a minimal walk to the departure gate for our easyJet flight to Istanbul (see my comments on Sabiha Gokcen airport). The arrival back from Istanbul was also pleasing, clearing immigration and customs within twenty minutes of deplaning. I'll certainly consider flying out of Luton in future.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 14 April 2009 : by L Moik

Customer Rating : 3/5

Outward journey was very smooth , no problems. Not a big airport. Return was a different story. Passport control was very slow at midnight - I had to wait approx 25 mins. I travelled back to Central London - The Green Line bus company was very good, on time to Central London. A bit pricey one way ticket - £14.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 18 February 2009 : by Eddie Buckle

Customer Rating : 4/5

I had a remarkably hassle-free arrival at Luton on Saturday morning. Coming in from Berlin with hand luggage I was through passport control, which seems to have improved quite a bit recently, and on the shuttle bus to the station within a few minutes. It was almost like coming through London City. I was at St. Pancras an hour after the scheduled arrival time of the aircraft, which was pretty impressive. Travelling back on Sunday evening, it was more the Luton I'm used to: very hot in the main terminal area, and not enough places for people to sit down. All reasonably efficient but not a particularly enjoyable experience. 5 stars for the arrival, 3 for the departure.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 15 December 2008 : by Ross Clark

Customer Rating : 3/5

The main bug with this airport is the sheer lack of facilities at the gate, especially nowhere to sit down if your boarding agent is dragging the chain as you wait to board. This is easily fixed! The landside access is OK, with a frequent bus service (£1 each way) between the airport and the railway station ("Luton Airport Parkway"), in a vehicle which is well-suited to the task. The slow train to St Pancras is 45 minutes, 15m frequency, and one way costs over £10.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 19 November 2008 : by Dave Jaros

Customer Rating : 3/5

Small and easy to go airport for normal traffic, can be packed in peaks. Arrival on Monday 8.30 am, expecting queues for immigration (though EU passport), but through in 5 minutes, train ticket machine did not work so ticket bought at the counter (why everyone runs FC, no one travels with NE trains for city ?), shuttle bus in 5 mins (takes now some 15-20 mins for train station due to road works). Departure in the evening (web check-in not possible with my airline), two counters open, proceeded fast, few shops and food courts after security (i.e. water quite pricey - bottled 0,5 liter for 2 GBP, not in bar). There are very few seating opportunities for seating after leaving lounge. More displays for gates in the departure hall (after security) would be nice. Menzies handling agent did not organize the plane boarding well (though both stairs provided, in dark, everyone headed for front plane door) and failed to provide loading sheets in time causing a delay of 25 minutes on departure. Fair alternative to LHR + Piccadilly tube. However, trains are not suited for luggage.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 28 October 2008 : by S Ward

Customer Rating : 4/5

I flew out and back to Luton for a long weekend about a week ago. I had pre booked midterm parking, arriving about 11:00 am, a bus took us to departure area within minutes. Just as we walked in a check in desk, with no queue, opened for our flight So car park to departure lounge in 20 (ish) minutes. We then had to kill 3 hours which was fairly painless, buying a sandwich and coffee filled some of the time. The return was almost as good, landing about 13:40. No wait at all for passport and luggage arrived about 10 minutes later and we only had to wait 10 mins for a bus to the car park. About 35 minutes from plane to car which is very good. Perhaps we were just lucky but I was impressed.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 21 October 2008 : by P MacLeod

Customer Rating : 1/5

My advice is just don't go there. The airport itself (departure lounge retail area) is quite nice since the makeover, but they don't seem to be able to cope with passengers coming in and out (which is what they are there for, really). In my opinion it's all about money-making at Luton now, not customer service. I flew back last week, arriving at 23.30. The EU/UK nationals passport queue was of biblical proportions. It took 50 minutes to get from the start of the queue to the passport desk while my taxi waited outside clocking up ££s in waiting charges. Number of staff there to apologise, offer explanations, etc: 0 (zero). It's not the first time I have had a long wait in passport control at Luton, but it seems to be getting worse. There is a non-refundable charge for trolleys, they charge a lot even to drop off passengers or park, the pick-up area is badly organised. Its a shame because it used to be great, and its very convenient for me. But luckily we have a choice in London and next time I'll go somewhere else

LUTON AIRPORT review : 25 September 2008 : by Eva Drewett

Customer Rating : 1/5

It cost £1.00 to use a trolley at Luton Airport. It is a rip-off! As far as I am aware the idea of charging for the use of baggage trolleys has been recently introduced. There is no clear information to make sure that passengers would understand that this is non refundable fee. Most people would assume that £1.00 would be refunded when trolley is placed properly in a row at the other end. What a surprise it is not. Passengers are actually charge £1.00 for using the trolley to take their baggage from the pickup/set-off area to the terminal building .The distance is just a few yards. It is outrages and disgraceful rip-off. I travel a lot but did not come access such a deceiving way of squeezing money from travellers. The charges for car parking are already ridiculously high. What next? Should we start paying for breathing the air at the airport area?

LUTON AIRPORT review : 15 August 2008 : by R Bowdon

Customer Rating : 1/5

It cost £4.50 to park for 20 minutes to meet my daughter in June. If her flight had been late or baggage delayed, it could have been £6 or £7 for less than an hour. A rip-off! The only alternative is to join the many motorists parked on roads near the airport and contact arrivals by mobile phone. I did this a month later at approx 10.30pm. Vehicles were parked on double lines, in bus stops, hotel approach roads and gateways with drivers on mobiles waiting for news from arrivals. This is not a satisfactory situation and could cause traffic congestion or accidents. But what else can you do? Why are airport charges so high and why is there no simple drop off/pick up facility. The drop off area is confusing. I didn't dare go through the barrier in case I would be charged some ridiculous fee just to stop for one minute and not even turn the engine off. My passengers were dropped by the roundabout, not a very safe place to make a quick exit. Even though I live in Bedfordshire, I would not recommend anyone to use this airport if they have to rely on their own private transport. And what other way is there to get home to a village in north Beds at 11.30pm?

LUTON AIRPORT review : 5 July 2008 : by M Preston

Customer Rating : 2/5

When I joined the queue to check in for an easyJet flight there were 9 people in front of me, one group of 3, 1 couple, and two singles. It took 25 minutes to get them checked in. I wonder what a busy day would be like. The so-called security person who searched me after the metal detector went off (because I had a small wad of folded paper in my back pocket) was threatening and arrogant before I'd said a word, and when I told him he had an attitude problem he told me 'to watch my mouth' or I'd get a 'personal search' and then rudely demanded I remove my shoes - clearly on a mission to be spiteful and obstructive. I then told him that just as airport staff have the right to not be abused, so do the public, he then stuck his face into mine and one of his colleagues threatened me too. It's not my fault if these people hate their jobs and the public, they chose to do that job knowing what it entails. This was the worst security related experience I have had in over 30 years of extensive world wide travelling, much of it in countries where one might expect such treatment. It is totally unacceptable for the UK to allow public facing employees to behave in such a manner.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 7 June 2008 : by Darren McCormac

Customer Rating : 2/5

Flew back to LTN from SXF. Many of the issues I encountered were not directly due to the airport management, but surely it could exert some influence? Immigration was fairly quick and painless, but baggage reclaim took an undue amount of time, in view of the number of passengers and how long it took to get off the plane and to reclaim. So I took the opportunity to use the train ticket machine in the baggage hall to save some time later - only to discover that it only offered open and saver return tickets! The supposedly better shuttle bus to Parkway station took its own time (and don't even get me started on the sheer rudeness of the station staff). It took me three hours to get from the plane to south London. Ridiculous - Gatwick and City for me from now on.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 13 May 2008 : by M Gough

Customer Rating : 1/5

Where do I start with this excuse for a airport. Nice terminal. Thats it for the compliments. Security is a joke with very rude staff. Queues everywhere especially at immigration. Did they not imagine people might be coming through and staff were required. Now my biggest gripe is the car parking. The signage is varying between non existent to determined to confuse you to a massive rip off. Picking up my son cost me £3 for two minutes to park so I could put his bags in the boot. Look at their short term charges and try and find a place to pick someone up. A disgraces.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 30 April 2008 : by Jason Tottey

Customer Rating : 2/5

I am afraid that Luton is starting to show its age. You only start to notice problems when your circumstances change. I have always travelled through here without anyone accompanying me, but things change when you have a child in a pushchair. Having to go up a floor for security, which means you have to then go back down stairs to reach your gate. Admittedly check in and boarding passed ok. On return to the airport walked over to entrance and again had to climb flights of stairs, with what seems like huge distances to passport control, with again a descent down stairs to reach it.. It was a good job grandparents were on hand to help out. This airport seriously needs to be re-arranged to provide a much better route through the airport for the passenger.

LUTON AIRPORT review : 29 April 2008 : by R Hopkins

Customer Rating : 3/5

Have they read this website and reacted or was it pure luck? I travelled on 21.04 and was astonished at the speed of check-in. This was back to the old days. Security operated moderately well, though why do some go through with heavy sweaters while I never do? We even had time to look in the shops, a first for a long while. Return was the usual queue to immigration. However, knowing this was likely, we'd legged it from the bus to get in quickly and were lucky to be just ahead of another plane-load. As we passed through, the queue was at the usual horrendous length. Even our luggage was there fairly quickly. Car parking £50 for 4 days! No, I don't want to park in an isolated village miles away to get a cheaper rate, but it will be the taxi next time. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel positively about this airport and avoid it if I can, but on this occasion it more or less worked like an airport!

Luton Airport review by E Morris

11 April 2008   Customer Rating :

A cheap and cheerful but as yet disorganised airport. The transport links are poor and if you plan to get there by road expect you must allow for traffic chaos on the unending delays caused by perpetual roadworks and alterations or risk missing your flight. Public transport is the best bet but trains stop running very early and are often crowded , dirty and unreliable so you might have to rely on a bus! The parking arrangements are very costly and offer very poor value for money . As with most airports in the Uk, the owners seem oblivious to the needs of passengers and the grim feedback given here is unlikely to have any impact whatsoever.

Luton Airport review by Mark Bickerton

7 March 2008   Customer Rating :

Arrived at Luton at 2230 on Sunday evening. No steps available, so we waited 15 minutes before we could disembark. The queue for passport control at arrivals contained about 600 people, requiring a wait in sheep-pen like conditions for 20 minutes. Rather unhelpfully, after 15 minutes there was an automatic announcement that we 'might experience some delays because of planes arriving', almost implying that planes arriving was not something they considered when designing the airport or its systems! A few staff were on hand and to be honest they did help pregnant women and those with young children, but at no time did anyone apologise for or explain the situation.

Luton Airport review by James Camp

21 February 2008   Customer Rating :

Shockingly bad experience. Firstly we were stuck place for a while as there wasnt enough stairs to get us of the plane. Then crammed on to a single bus (which had the heating turned up) to be taken to the arrivals terminal. We queue for ages to get in as only 6 out of 10 immigration booths are open. Finally we have the pantomime of getting our luggage back. Took about 45 minutes, maybe an hour to get our luggage. No information as to what was causing delay as staff were indifferent or stressed and thus no real help. No tannoy or staff announcements as to what was causing problems - information was passed word-of-mouth via passengers. Eventually luggage turned up but no apologies/announcements etc. Utter rubbish, avoid if possible.

Luton Airport review by G Hamilton

30 January 2008   Customer Rating :

Why do passengers get so irate about security checks? Simple. Because the checks are illogical and hopelessly inconsistent from one airport to another. Yesterday, I was required to remove shoes, a light suit jacket and a narrow silk scarf, leaving me in a state of undress that I found, frankly, humiliating on a busy businessman-oriented flight to Amsterdam. I fly every week almost, preferring City Airport and Stansted, and I know not to wear belts or heavy jewellery. But with every security guard freelancing the regulations, there seems to be no way to get through the process unscathed. At some terminals, mere possession of a stick of mascara or lipstick can have you apprehended; however, returning from a continental city, you can wear what you like and carry your full make-up kit. Security chiefs - GET REAL. No damage will be done by a slick of lip balm. If your intention is to persuade us of your vigilance and thoroughness, I'm afraid this is one PR exercise that is having exactly the opposite effect.