Living in Cyprus, we flew over the day before from Paphos with what must the most expensive Easyjet flight we’ve ever had. I had changed another booking I had with them to EDI as we decided not to go there in February and managed to select the wrong return date on the App and picked a very expensive flight. Despite calling them within 5 minutes, they changed the date and dropped the change fee but wouldn’t budge on the flight charge, even after emails to the executive team. So, Mrs M and I had forked out nearly €1,500 for our return flight. Anyway, we arrived at MAN around 01:30 and headed over to the Radisson Blu for a few hours sleep before our flight to MCO.
Next morning we skipped breakfast and headed over to T2 to a very quiet check in area. Straight to a desk to deposit our checked luggage and had a very chatty and pleasant agent. Up to security, which we had been dreading but hang on - a new scanner awaited us at the fast track lane and no queue. Even better, the staff were all pleasant and welcoming - well done MAN! After a brief stop at Boots to allow Mrs M time to pick up some items we can’t get in Cyprus, it was off to the 1903 lounge where I had heard sometimes had a bit of a dragon at the desk. Again, we had a result, ladies there were charming. Not too busy and we were able to get seated for breakfast and then moved to the window seats overlooking the airfield. Very attentive staff kept the tables neat and tidy and we were impressed with the service although the restrooms were not very clean.
Soon we were shown the gate number and we headed down to greet Wendy Darling, the newest in the fleet. Gate staff were calling Group 2 first due to the air bridge being positioned at the front door but said that any UC passengers could board if they wished and didn’t mind everyone passing through the cabin. We were in 1D and 1G and I was impressed by the cabin layout and the seat space. Lots of storage space and I could get my legs straight out in front of me (and I’m 6’3”).
We had Jo as our excellent FSM looking after the UC cabin although all the crew were very attentive, chatty and friendly. I had pre-selected the chicken which was passable and chose the halibut starter and rhubarb dessert which were excellent. 90 minutes before landing, I selected the pulled chicken burger which was excellent.
8 hours 40 flight time today and we arrived slightly ahead of schedule but had to wait 10 minutes to disembark due to a faulty air bridge. GE was a breeze and within 30 minutes of arriving we were at the car hire garage, Florida Visitor Toll Pass in hand collecting our car from Avis which was showing my name on the board. Unfortunately, I had to return later to exchange it as the instrument panel went completely blank and the indicators stopped working (on a Ford Edge with 2,000 miles on the clock!). The lady in the kiosk couldn’t exchange it until she had the return details and the guy checking it in couldn’t see them on the panel - but fortunately when he scanned the barcode, he found what he needed and I drove out with an upgrade.
Overall, after the hiccups, an excellent trip and a welcome improvement at MAN.
Cheers
Allan
Allan
