To warn you that Bristol airport has become a shit hole?

I find it quite a good airport, and has always been quiet when I’ve flown from there.

I do think that upstairs bit at Bristol, where all the cafes are, is pretty crowded and horrible, but I don't really expect any airport to be nice tbh. I would rather fly from there than schlep all the way up to Gatwick or LHR.

All in all I prefer the ferry.

I will always book a 6-8am flight if I can. The issue with this is that, while they'd probably argue they have the Flyer bus from the station 24 hours a day, there are no trains into Bristol from the east that arrive before 6.45 (6.30 from the Cardiff/Northern lines).

I use Bristol a lot, as it's my closest airport, and I'd agree that the main problem is getting there - there isn't enough of a public transport infrastructure. So, you end up paying a fortune for parking! My only top tip is to book the parking as far in advance as possible. On the bright side, it is one of the airports that has adopted the new hand luggage scanning technology which makes that process quicker and easier!

The car park is ridiculous. I recently did a 3 day trip and the parking was more than the flight.

I’m near Gatwick and I think it’s a great airport … don’t like the £10 drop off fee but there are ways round that.

Dalaman was horrendously expensive … about £25 for a McDonald’s. And I know nobody NEEDS a maccies at a Turkish airport but it’s just for info.

I quite like Bristol and vastly prefer it to Birmingham which is about the same travel time for us. We are away next week though and when I booked the silver zone parking I was shocked it had gone up a lot since last year.

You folks have obviously never had to spend time in Luton.......

Airports everywhere have two imperatives, get you on your flight and get you to spend. That's why (as I'm sure you know), we are all funnelled through Duty Free whether we need/want to buy anything or not, then it's the bars/restaurants/suitcase shops etc.. Spend, spend, spend.

I am fed up with this subliminal herding so I try to beat it every time, it's a challenge and nothing to do with not wanting to spend in an airport, it's about beating the system and refusing to queue to spend MY money! I accept queues at immigration/security but I am not queuing to spend in order to enrich the airport.

So I just use the water fountains and my own cup/bottle and bring along a cheese or other inoffensive sandwich and some snacks. I don't want to buy alcohol, or cigarettes, or toblerones, or magnets, or any other shite, and I certainly refuse to queue like a lemon to buy a dry overpriced piece of bread with a sliver of ham in the middle. I can live without tea or coffee for the duration.

So there!

I do apologize. My only previous experience of Essex was Southend in the 70s and anything on the TV. I was happy to find my preconceptions were wrong.

Info on what gate thd plane was going to use was provided earlier...you can't tell they don't plan well in advance and not just an hour before, so people could head in that direction. Means less stress as people know they are in the right place and less delays because everyone knows where to be

Ah, depending on the airport it may not work how you imagine.

At quite a few airports gate allocation isn't known until the inbound aircraft is actually parked (even the pilots of the inbound may not know the gate until after landing).

Sending people to the wrong gate early can create quite a few problems at some airports, especially the larger ones, especially where there's a form of flow control or it's a long distance between clutches of gates..

Hence late notification at many places.

We are actually civilised in Essex you know 😁

I'll see your Lyon and raise you Heraklion airport

I disagree to an extent. Airports are stressful because we've all heard stories about cancellations and delays and often have spent thousands on a holiday.

It would be great if:
Staff were friendly, especially the security staff. There's no need to be rude.

If signposts were more informative. Ie Starbucks that way, gates 1 to 10 this way. Rather than a generic shops/gates. Plus more of them

Info on what gate thd plane was going to use was provided earlier...you can't tell they don't plan well in advance and not just an hour before, so people could head in that direction. Means less stress as people know they are in the right place and less delays because everyone knows where to be

Extra advance information. Like your plane is flying in to thd airport and is on time, or your plane is already here so we will be good to go

There were more seats.

That people aren't funneled through the duty free on a path that means slower people delay others....immediately causing stress

If there aren't many people, those zig zag walkways to get to passport control are altered to make it faster

Airports ( UK anyway) are increasingly run as private enterprises.

Passengers want cheap fares.

Airlines don't want to pay airports lots of money for ground handling/passenger handling...because .....cheap fares...

Like the airlines airports cut costs -wages - facilities, etc.

..it's been a downward spiral at many airports for many years, especially at airports where the majority of traffic is Low fare.

To be fair, I’m surprised that people are so quiescent in their treatment at airports and the general ‘treat em like cattle with wallets’ approach.

I recall once being locked in a corridor at a U.K. airport with a plane load of passengers after disembarkation and a man very politely leading a mass rebellion of passengers desperately needing the loo and angry at our being trapped for the airport’s convenience.

It’s a pretty miserable experience for anyone elderly or remotely unsteady on their pins or even just with small children, lets face it. The airport systems make not the slightest allowance for passengers characteristics. Why no seating in security queues or ability to sit to take shoes etc off? - offer a slower dawdle type q - yes, slower but less stressful for the ‘walking wounded’ or airport inexperienced. Why not offer playpens or additional assistance to passengers with tiny children as I’ve seen in Italian airports for example?

And suggest that security staff who yell in passenger faces after they’ve been thanked ‘that I don’t need to thank you back as I’m just doing my job’ remember too that passengers also don’t ’need ‘ to travel through that airport again. !!

I agree op. I spent a few years flying in and out of Bristol airport for work each week (back when it was small and pleasant), I'm not a fan of it now. In fact, I'm amazed they got planning permission for the level of expansion they've done without having to have also done something about the access to it (including a rail link from Bristol).

I now have to travel for work again a lot and I drive a bit further and go to Southampton instead, which is a lovely airport and is about the size of my lounge

Totally agree op. Its overcrowded to the extreme. When we flew from there at the end of June, we checked in, got through security and had over an hour to wait and there were NO SEATS ANYWHERE. We even walked towards our departure gate to find a seat, all taken. Previous experiences in the last year have been similar- one time the amount of drunken stag/hen dos at 7am was horrendous.

London City and Cardiff are lovely. Never tried Bristol but have heard enough to put me off over the years.

. The fares were very expensive though in relation to incomes.

..Bingo...

That's the main reason why the whole experience has deteriorated over the decades.

I totally agree. I first flew in the mid 60s. People dressed nicely, and we were not crammed in. The fares were very expensive though in relation to incomes.

I think it’s fair to say that the golden age of flying has passed.

I generally can't fathom any universe in which I need to know this or whether I would care.

Why does this need a public service announcement. If it's your closest airport and it flies where you want to fly, you use it.

Public transport is generally hell.

Flew from T5 a last year and it was crowded. We went into Plane Food and it was so calm and lovely. We had a great bowl of soup, sourdough bread and tap water. Good price for an airport and we sat in comfort for 90 mins!