Birmingham Airport NEC Chalets

Birmingham airport, compared with the two other airports used on this trip (Amsterdam and Turin) is an absolute shambles. Building work means that no one seems to know where to go; signage is virtually non-existent. On return the queues for immigration are simply unacceptably long with half the self-scanning stations out of use. On the plus side staff on the ground, although obviously harassed, were reasonably civil and helpful. The owners/operators/directors/bosses need to have a good think about their competence to run an airport.

a very good airport when flying with jet2holidays its a very good place with a load of shops and restaurants while you wait the only thing i wouldn’t recommend is the spoons because it it very very packed and you cant move and is slow from this but over all a really good airport | plus near the gates you will find a kids fly zone where they can run about play and burn off there energy so they can sleep on the plane (all free)

On our way to the departure gates we went into one of the new 50 person lifts at the airport. It stopped before it reached its destination. There was no information in the lift about what to do in an emergency The alarm button provided an automated voice asking if it was an emergency 15 minutes elapsed before a voice called out from above asking if we were stuck. After 20 minutes a message flashed that a mechanic was on their way. Eventually the doors were jacked open and all of us including children were pulled up, as the lift had stopped a few fit below the arrival floor. A terrible start to our journey. This new feature in the airport has replaced the escalators and travellers are not offered an alternative way of reaching the departure gates

Drop off is not particularly obvious, it’s just not thought out properly. Return flight arrived at 05:40 hrs, plane, a full 787 stood miles from terminal,No steps for 15 mins then some rickety old steps where found. Then two buses arrived. Obviously inadequate for a large flight . Baggage collection ! took an hour- no other flights that morning! The belt was stop / go . The airlines pay for these services but BHX fail to deliver. Signage and exit are just pathetic and leaving the building is the same as arriving - shambolic. No staff on hand, visable or bothered. Management clearly have no idea of their customers needs or service journey expectations. Our Flight was from USA where service personnel where at every corner guiding and offering friendly help to their customers. Sorry BHX but this is couldn’t care less inadequate management. Will avoid in future

good and simple entry into the airport and through security - had to be scanned as my rear rump showed something that didnt show up afterwards. Really impressed with the team there and told them so, thanks. Went to Wetherspoons for breakfast and it was awful, nowhere near the standard that we have outside - rubber eggs but I think thats because they were under the lights too long as it took about 25 mins when the turnround was about 10 minutes, either way it spoilt it and was not worth the money. Young couple on the next table had a gorgeous breakfast delivered so its luck of the draw, on my showing, dont go near. Went to Costa for a cup of tea, a lady got there just before me (and for the record ordered two things exactly the same, cant remember what). The male passed her on to a female who brought the coffee back and nodded at me and toward a queue and said, 'if you want to join the queue its there' meaning I would be at the back of 4 more people at snail pace. I just told her, I joined at the same time as this lady, my money is good anywhere so I took it there. Pret were the epitomy of customer service, Costa should send their staff there to see how courtesy is delivered through outstanding customer service. Enough said. The airport is well catered for with choice, suprisingly in the non-airside part of arrivals/departures with Smiths, coffee, supermarkets etc. quite impressed and leaves Manchester standing. Brum has been my first choice Midland airport for many a while and I wasnt disappointed.

Sit down, kiddos, because I'm going to tell you everything I love about the lovely establishment that is Birmingham Airport. All these horrible reviews about the baggage check being too long have clearly had no thought put into them. The workers at Birmingham Airport are doing their absolute best to get you on to your flight. It is entirely the customers' fault if it takes long. It's their fault for buying overly sold tickets. Their points are invalid and wrong. Now I shall explain my personal experience of the airport. The airport is open 24 hours a day, so I do not need to camp out at the front until their opening hours. This helps, because whenever my family book a holiday and leave via Birmingham Airport, they choose to leave for the airport at 4:00 AM at the latest. This gives it an extra little kick of excitement for the holiday. In fact, my favourite part of the holiday is usually going through Birmingham Airport. This takes us onto the next area: baggage checking. This is most likely the part that I don't like. This is due to the fact that half of the time I don't know what is and isn't an electronic. For the baggage checks, you have to separate the electronic items from the non- electronics in your hand luggage. I own a Nintendo Switch, and keep most of my games on physical cartridges. Since they contain metal, and are used with an electronic device, I forget that they are not electronic every single year. I get mildly traumatised when my family seem like they are in a rush to do the baggage checks. But then, when that daunting task has been completed, you enter a whole new world. First, you walk through a roomy wooden corridor. Things get more lively very quickly. First, a makeup shop to your side, and another shop of some sort to the other. Once you finish gazing at the beauty of the outlets, you enter what I call the Circle of Life. As the name implies, it is the most lively room in the whole airport. It is a circle full of shops, restaurants and other essential areas, in case you have forgotten something you might need on the trip. I prefer to have my breakfast in this room, because we don't have the stress of having to chuck your breakfast down so we can get to the airport in time. Then you have an opportunity to go to the toilet, hang around WHSmiths for a moment before you are ready to enter your plane. Finally, you traverse through what I like to call the "Hallway of Anticipation and Dreams." The Hallway of Anticipation and Dreams is a white, glistening, marble, cathedral-like corridor where they have blurry glass to build up the anticipation of how your friends and family are doing. The queue times are not an inconvenience, but perhaps a touch of je ne sais quoi. After building up your hopes and dreams in the heaven-like room that is the Hallway of Anticipation and Dreams, you enter your last stop, which I like to call "The End." The End takes on many forms depending on what flight you are taking. It can be a staircase,

We went into the airport at 04.00hrs to check in for an 07.00hrs flight to Krakow via Munich with Lufthansa. It us a little over an hour and forty five minutes to check in. Check in was made all the more difficult because of people’s stupidity and disregard for their fellow passengers. Examples include incorrect paperwork, booking one suitcase and turning up with two or three, vastly overweight cases then the process of trying to lighten the case begins and so it goes on. Admittedly this is not totally the fault of the airport but the staff could put these people to one side and let those who observe the guidelines not to be held up. Having checked in we went to security where the queue was horrendously long. Eventually an airport officially called for anyone on our flight to go with him and we were escorted to the security check point. Having cleared security we had just enough time to get to the departure gate as the flight was called to board. As we had to walk past Boots we managed to grab and sandwich and a bottle of water otherwise we would not have had anything until after 10.00hrs. I have to say there were no problems on the return trip everything went smoothly. Upon return to Birmingham airport after having zig zagged our way through arrivals to passport control we emerged into the baggage reclaim the Munich flight was shown for carousel 5. After hanging about for about twenty minutes we walked down the baggage hall to find our case going around carousel 3 Sadly travel particularly air travel is not a pleasant experience currently. Fortunately most people travelling despite being understandably cross and annoyed were in remarkably good humour………..fortunately It can’t go on like this for long, can it???

Parking is good and reasonably priced if booked in advance. Some check ins were very busy others were less busy and quick at check in. Prices in all the shops past security are very high so be prepared. Security check in took about 50mins with queues snaking round but staff were quick and friendly.