Consider Stansted, Instead
Manchester Airport might seem like the obvious departure airport for people in our region, but the amount of money that can be saved by using London airports can make these a very attractive option, even once you’ve factored in a hotel stay (which I often use for Manchester Airport in any case if it’s an early flight).
It’s always been the case that flying transatlantic is far cheaper from Gatwick or Heathrow, but for most European flights from Manchester you’re almost guaranteed to find a much cheaper option from Stansted. So before booking your next family holiday, just compare the flights from Manchester with Stansted first.
Here are a couple of examples of how much you could save, based on our personal experience of the recent skiing trip and last year summer break in Spain.
Skiing in Norway
The only option from Manchester to Oslo airport (not Oslo Torp, which is miles in the wrong direction from the ski resorts) is with Norwegian Air, which will cost a family of four around £1000 return year round. Contrast this with the £78 we paid with Ryanair (that’s £78 for all four of us) and it was a no brainer, we drove south and saved ourselves a fortune.
A week in Barcelona
A return trip from Manchester with Ryanair costs around £145pp (before baggage and other extras), compared to £73 from Stansted. So once you round this up for a family of four you’ve already saved close to £300. Just as important is the fact that there is only one flight in each direction per day from Manchester, with the outbound flight being at 6:30am, while Stansted has 4 flights per day to Barcelona.
It’s not just money, it’s flexibility too
Bear in mind also that since many destinations with Ryanair might only fly every other day from Manchester, more often than not they will fly every day from Stansted, which means that you have more options for the length of your holiday and can also mean saving money on accommodation as well. Likewise, you’ll have more destinations to choose from and can avoid more expensive airlines like Norwegian or more remote airports like Oslo Torp.
But the drive south isn’t much fun
True, but if the flight is £900 cheaper from Stansted for a family of four, I’m quite happy to make the drive. Also, where you might be driving further in the UK you might find yourself saving a drive in your destination country. Oslo Torp for instance is actually 2 hours south of Oslo by car (or a similar length public transport journey which involves a bus and a train). So weigh up the transport times at both ends as well as the savings.
Top tip: use some of your savings to book the Radisson Blu, within walking distance of the airport
I usually book an airport hotel whatever airport I’m flying from, especially if it’s an early morning flight. Radisson Blu have excellent airport hotels at both Manchester and Stansted and they’re always my first choice when flying from Manchester so that I don’t have to mess around with a transfer from the hotel to the terminal.
The Radisson Blue at Stansted Airport
This hotel is even more convenient as there is only one terminal at Stansted, so our room is literally a two-minute walk away from the departures area. It’s also a mere two minutes from the blue car park – where we’ve left our car for the week – and even closer to the green car park. This is priceless when you have young children, as we do, and when you have to be up early for a flight – in our case at 4am for a 6:30am flight to Oslo. It would also be ideal if you had a late flight back to the UK and wanted to rest before driving home the following day.
Walking into reception you find yourself in a huge futuristic open plan lobby with a 13-metre-high wine rack containing 4,000 bottles of wine towering over the bar. The kids were certainly impressed, and to be honest so were we. Check in was fast and efficient with only a minute or so waiting for the guests in front of us. We were asked about breakfast and informed the staff that we were checking out at around 4:30am (breakfast begins at 5am). No problem, we could order breakfast to go which would be waiting for us when we checked out.
Exiting the lift on the 6th floor, we crossed a bridge that led toward our room and which gave the kids an impressive view of the lobby and wine rack below. The room itself (we booked a two bedroom family room) was immaculate, with underfloor heating in the bathrooms, towels shaped into animals on both beds (which delighted the kids), Nespresso machine (which delighted me), sitting area and huge, comfortable beds.
If, like my family, your kids are in the holiday mood the moment they leave the house, you’ll also be glad to know that there’s a pool at the Radisson Blu Stansted Airport too, as well as a gym and spa. But as we’d arrived fairly late, and were getting up so early we didn’t let the kids know about the pool.
The beds proved to be as comfortable as they first looked and we were all hugely disappointed, to have to get out of them at 4am. As promised our breakfast bags were ready and waiting for us when we checked out and within five minutes of check out, we were checking in our bags at the Ryanair desk. The Radisson Blu Stansted Airport had everything you could ask from an airport hotel really, but don’t just take my word for it check out the reviews online.
Rooms in the Radisson Blu Stansted Airport start at £78 while huge two-bedroom family rooms can be found for around £150. The hotel is a very short walk to the car parks and to the terminal.
I’d certainly drive south for those kind of savings. That hotel looks lovely too!
Wow, this looks fabulous! So amazing and great hotel!
Great review… especially with holiday bookings coming up.
Interesting, I’ve never flown from Stanstead. The hotel looks fab!