V-Flyer

Has anyone been through security at manchester recently? how did you find the queues through security?

Hi, I went through T3 checkin at around 18:15 on a Monday evening at the beginning of July.

We paid for "fast track" and wished we hadn't bothered - families, anyone with large items (buggies etc) were ushered through fast track. Our fast track tickets were not verified & all in all it was a total waste of a few pounds!

Standard security looked just as fast - under 10 minutes.

Cheers. Guy,

Went through T2 security just over just over a week ago and can confirm that it was not too busy. We were traveling business so had the fast track pass but as has been said, everyone with wheelchairs, mobility problems and buggies were sent down the FT channel. Unfortunately there seemed to be only one female security agent so the ladies were held up waiting their turn. There was a small problem with one of the lady wheelchair passengers which created a bit of a hold up for the rest of the lady passengers.

guy1234 wrote:Hi, I went through T3 checkin at around 18:15 on a Monday evening at the beginning of July.

We paid for "fast track" and wished we hadn't bothered - families, anyone with large items (buggies etc) were ushered through fast track. Our fast track tickets were not verified & all in all it was a total waste of a few pounds!

Standard security looked just as fast - under 10 minutes.

Cheers. Guy,

Was through T3 this week and it was somewhat busier at around 1700 than normal. You can certainly tell the summer holidays have arrived. Through in around 15-20mins.

Fast-lane in T3 is simply a joke, I always encourage anyone thinking of purchasing this, not to bother as it really is a waste of time and money. I often switch from the fast-lane to other lanes, because the standard security is often faster which is just daft

I keep getting told the MAN airport management team are aware of the issues and are working to fix them, nothing has changed in over a year.

Jon

As others have said and I recently experienced the other week, avoid the fast-track lane in T3 at all costs, it's full of strollers and buggies.

I hate MAN T3 now, sorry I have to say this, but's it's rapidly becoming a LCC terminal.

Why MAN management allow paid access to fast-track is beyond me. For a start they need to get rid of those stupid automatic entry gates.

Received a boiler plate response from their customer relations today about the chaos, some of which I've posted here:

Our fast track lane is an available option for purchase by all passengers prior to their travelling, and it is priced at a standard fee of £3.50. Our fast track facility is available at no cost to disabled passengers and families with pushchairs and their accompanying immediate families.This has always been the case, and unfortunately during the peak summer periods we do experience a high volume of families travelling and wishing to use the fast track lane. I do understand your frustrations as a business passenger having paid for the service, however we offer this service for all of our passengers regardless of the airline they are travelling with. ...............We are also seeing an increase in the number of passengers arriving much closer to their flight departure time. With the enhancements in online check-in availability via some airlines, passengers are arriving later than the encouraged 2 hours minimum. Please be assured if queues are impacting on passenger wait, we do have aviation security officers in place to announce flights and assist by calling passengers forward through security to try and ensure sure that they do not miss their flights.

Love the bit in bold!!! That was very apparent when I was there the other week.

I went through T3 a couple of weeks ago around 17:00 and it was possibly the worst experience I've had of security in a very long time.

I had fast track access (due to BA status) but the ground staff were reluctant to let me use it - as I'd not paid for it as such. Although it made no difference anyway as it just funnelled me back into the regular line - which was packed full of around 300+ other pax. Took around 45 minutes to get through - due to the fact only 3 X-Ray machines were working.

We used Fast Track through Terminal 1 in May on a Thursday morning at about 6am and it was a godsend! The regular queue was a nightmare yet we were through in just over 5 minutes.

As for T3, it depends what time of the day you go. 6-6.30am is generally OK when using the normal queue from experience. It's an all right terminal, thought the layout is very illogical, which is a byproduct from its days of initially being an extension of T1 before being spun off into its own terminal and then some more remodelling after the T1 redevelopment a few years ago. Primarily a Flybe and Ryanair terminal with the token BA presence, Little Red, AA, Air France/KLM, US Airways and a few others. easyJet used it after taking over GB Airways but they're now in T1.

For T2, I'd have thought it would be slightly better in the time leading up to the VS075 departure nowadays seeing as US Airways have moved to T3 (their daily Philadelphia flight leaves at around the same time), though I guess I'll find out for myself in under 5 weeks time! In any case, Fast Track is being booked.

I had a phone call from va today and I asked about fast track for pe customers and I was told it depends on how busy they are on the day whether they let you have fast track. what does that mean? to vs staff have passes for customers or do they walk them through?

Eligible VS UC and Au passengers get a fast track sticker attached to their boarding pass.

gumshoe wrote:Eligible VS UC and Au passengers get a fast track sticker attached to their boarding pass.

ahhhh
do pe passengers get them by luck then?

I am flying PE with VS in 2 weeks from MAN (T2) to MCO. We are two families making up a party of 10 people.

I have two young children who will be in pushchairs (a double pushchair actually) and my friend has a disabled daughter. Can we just use the Fasttrack line for free if it is shorter than the standard line then?

Anyone know the answer to my above post?

Flying on Thursday and dont wanna spend £35 for 10 people if theres no need...

Blimey!
I think us lot in EDI are seriously lucky... EDI security has improved loads over recent years. At the moment, even during peak times, regular queue is 10 mins, and fast-track is about 20 seconds.

@TheBigBad - according to this, yes you should get free FastTrack:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/famil ... -hell.html

I'd check first though - call the airport.

Thanks @gumshoe I will call the airport on monday morning

Called MAN last night, they confirmed, if you have children in a pram then you will be directed down the fasttrack security route free of charge