Manchester Airport

Every time I am either arriving or departing from Manchester Airport, it leaves me feeling bad. First of all, you have to pay for a trolley, and someone said that you do not get your money back for it when you hand it in. So its either pay up or struggle. Secondly, my partner bought some designer sunglasses whilst on holiday and he wanted to claim the VAT back on them, we were told we could very easily do this at the Airport before boarding our flight, we were directed to a small wooden frame, with some forms that we had to fill in and a small letterbox (no pen provided). There was a telephone in case we needed help, but no reply when we called. Thirdly, I am asthmatic, I need to carry my inhalers on board, we are required to put all inhalers, lipsticks etc into a small plastic bag, please note - these plastic bags, we have to pay for them at Manchester, I recently flew out from Heathrow and did not have to pay for them there. Lastly, whilst checking in, the staff were extremely abrupt. The women I got could not see my visa clearly, she threw my passport back at me. Very unhelpful staff.

After reading many previous reviews I was expecting an unpleasant experience during my 2 arrival and departures in the month. Arrived into Terminal 2 twice and bypassed immigration queuing by using the chip automatic passport reader. Luggage was delivered in an acceptable time. My first departure was from Terminal 3, I walked through a very congested Terminal 1 check in area to Terminal 3. Next the dreaded security check, what a pleasant surprise with no queuing, staff on hand to explain what to put in the trays for inspection etc. The bar / cafe area airside was a welcome stop before my flight. Final departure from Terminal 2 and again easy to check in and pass through security. My hand luggage was selected for extra screening with the lady offering to help me repack the bag afterwards.The only down side was the very busy cafes airside with people queuing to get in.

We entered the terminal to utter chaos at the Thomas Cook check in desks. Long queues snaked back past the entrance doors with no one helping to direct passengers to the correct place. The woman in front of us asked an airport official which queue she should be in and was given the answer "God knows!" Fortunately we had allowed lots of time for check in but others hadn't and tempers spilled over which resulted in some uncomfortable scenes. Security was better than the last time I had travelled via Manchester but those people in charge could do with some lessons on how to speak civilly to the public. I never thought I would say this but that experience made Gatwick look good. I hope never to have to travel from there again.

Very impressed. This was my first long-haul departure from Manchester Airport in a while and it went very smoothly. The security at Terminal 3 was a breeze, well organised and rapid. The new bar/restaurant is an improvement and there was plenty of seating at the gate. On arrival, the e-readers were working for passport checks and the luggage was on the belt promptly. All in all, a good experience.

As a 77yr old NZ citizen, with many years of traveling to different countries, through different airports, never have I experienced such behaviour as at Manchester Airport. 8/10/2015, easyJet flight to Geneva, Switzerland. Boarding passes are required beforehand but one must still join a lengthy queue to weigh the check in luggage. At security, it all started, firstly, my 2 replacement hips were given the 3rd degree with much wanding, frisking, patting, and shoes removed for x-ray, at other airports, a question, then a wand and that was it. My hand luggage was taken aside for inspection and the woman was confiscating cosmetics with less than 100mls of liquid. She had a most unpleasant manner, who called on the supervisor when I said I was unhappy about either checking in the goods or having them confiscated. He also had an unpleasant manner, nor did he check the quantity of liquid in the containers. Not was the pocket knife found in that rollup bag which could be a security risk. I boarded the plane feeling very stressed and annoyed with the whole experience.

This is my home airport and I know it very well but I still find it getting better and better. Arrivals into terminal 2 are easy, chip passport services work very well, baggage delivery times getting better. They charge for trollies which I find unacceptable. Terminal 3 departures lacks seating and at busy times there are people everywhere.

Transiting from T3 to T1 having to collect bags and recheck in T1. Easy arrival waiting area for bags in T3 rather cramped. Easy signage and short walk to T1. Check in very quick and smooth. Good signage to security which is spacious and no lines at all - early afternoon - understand it is busier in the mornings. This was a Friday afternoon. Very helpful and pleasant staff. Second time I have used this airport in October and find it a very convenient and preferable alternative to Heathrow. Waiting area for flights at the gate less good - flight was delayed and had to walk to plane. Little space for seating and rather dark and cramped being the only downside.

Tried the New York to Manchester to Doha route on the way to Sri Lanka just to check out this alternative to the madness of Heathrow. The airport was much quieter than LHR in the early morning - a plus - but the buses, the elevators (going just two floors back and forth) and the staff were generally so slow that despite having gauged for a couple of hours in between flights, we ended up arriving just in time for our next flight. Most annoying was the security guy who insisted on discarding my TSA compliant eye drops which had passed inspection. (In plastic bag) at Heathrow and all over Europe. I just did not have the time or patience to show him my prescription and from his attitude I doubt it would have worked. He glibly suggested that I could buy them in the terminal but of course there were no such pharmacies on my way to the plane so I ended up having to travel long hours uncomfortably. There seems to be no consistency in Britain regarding what is acceptable. In fact travel through Europe is becoming just a terrible hassle because of variable procedures. I was happy to arrive in the East where no one shouts about shoes and belts and liquids. I doubt that I will travel through Manchester again.

After surprising my girlfriend with a trip to Paris and turning up 2 hours early to ensure we could get food in the terminal before the flight, I was disgusted at the complete lack of customer service at Terminal 3. Specifically the security where we were held for an hour and a half whilst the over zealous security staff pulled my girlfriends bag aside because her hair straighteners were in the bag (never happened anywhere else in the world I have travelled.) The bag was swabbed first time round came back clean. Went through the process again, straight to the back of the queue, found it utterly ridiculous that the bags that had already been searched weren't prioritised. This time the problem was a dry deodorant which is not a liquid last time I checked. She had to throw it away, lipstick was the next problem. The third time it went through they picked up trace amounts of nitrates (from mud in my car). We were then held for another 20 mins whilst they processed the findings. Most ridiculous bit was the fact that they didn't even ask to see a boarding pass or passport. So much for safety!! I found it so frustrating that I went to complain about the poor process to the supervisor who proceeded to tell me that he was ensuring the safety of all the passengers. I mentioned the fact that they were also providing a service and that the process just needed to be looked at with regards to searching the whole bag before putting it back through to check. To add fuel to the fire my girlfriend had flown in from Dublin that morning with no problems. When I posed the question does that mean Dublin, Birmingham, Brisbane, US don't care about our safety I was told that they weren't adhering to protocol. When I suggested that the bag check process was stupid and that they should prioritise bags that had already been searched he laughed in my face. We went from being two hours early to running for the flight. Somebody seriously needs to sort this out as I will not be flying from Manchester ever again after this experience. To top it off after an hour and a half in security we then proceeded towards the gates and were stopped because there was a flight disembarking. There is a gate that is in between security and the other gates and they stop you if a plane has just landed. I couldn't have made it up. When we said we were late for the flight we were told to just wait. As I said earlier never again. If I could have given 0/10 I would have done

Departing we arrived at 6pm on a Saturday in September and the airport was fairly quiet. Security was courteous and although my bag was chosen for additional screening, they said it had a lot of wires in it - who doesn't these days, we were airside in a few minutes. Good array of shops. Returning lunchtime on an October Sunday the airport was quiet with low queues at immigration and automated gates all in operation so we were into the baggage hall within ten minutes of disembarking, mostly taken up with the very long walk from the jetty. Bags were just coming onto the carousel and were were on our way after only a couple more minutes.