 Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from Austria and flew from Birmingham. I can confirm that three hours is needed to check in because the queues are horrendous.
It’s also worth buying the express security service as well.
Not a great experience, but at least we got to go skiing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Kramer, fortunately son no 2 is only flying back to there and coming in the car with us on the outbound trip.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Surely this depends on who you are flying with?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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the security queue will be common to all carriers, presumably? there are also press reports of major delays getting back into Manchester airport this morning. It's so long since the airports had to deal with crowds, they're out of practice.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| zikomo wrote: |
| Surely this depends on who you are flying with? |
Not really. Chatted to a chap on the platform who missed his internal flight because of the security queue, and they’d removed his baggage from the plane.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just sat at BHX hotel now ready for tomorrows flight. For the sake of £8 have just booked us fast track so will report back once we’re through on how it goes. Doing the TUI BHX to TRN flight & wandering across at 03.30, just in case……. 
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EasyJet check in is fine. Long queues appear to be for Tui and their self service baggage check in machines.
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@Chuckles3, I suspect it will not be too bad tomorrow. Saturdays are the main problem, with flights leaving within a few minutes of each other...
e.g. they had 4 flights depart from Brum this AM - three at 6 and the other at 6.30.....
Tomorrow, it is two at 06.15 and yours at 07.00
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Checked in for the jet2 0910 szg flight this morning and including security took about 30 mins. Same for thesame flight jan29th
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@albob, Keeping fingers crossed. In Jan it wasn’t pleasant at check in but they’ve moved TUI back to zone B from D, presumably as the q’s were crazy. Security wasn’t too bad but at least we’ve got a back up now. Will know in a few hours 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Not been to Brum for a few years but secirity was so bad decided never to fly from there again
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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So it’s 4.40 am & we’ve just sat down for breakfast. Got to check in at 3.45 & very little traffic. By the time we’d done our paperwork checks, bag tagging & walked to oversize for the skis the q was huge. Quite a q at security as no auto gates open - think they are trickling people through to ease the lack of security staff working - it moved fast enough though. Fast track prob wasn’t needed but used it anyway.
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Security is one thing - fast track is often the way to go.
But @Kramer, posting that check in needs three hours without saying who is is flying with is not helpful at all. For sure the queues for check-in will be very different for different airlines. I suspect he was on a charter flight.
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You know it makes sense.
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Flying from Brum next Saturday at 6.00 and planning to get there three hours before. Can anyone tell me what the queue is like to check skis in? Last time I checked skis in the queue took about an hour to clear. If its going to take as long again I'll seriously consider leaving it and hire instead even though I've paid for carriage.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The ski drop was quick yesterday, BHX were just piling them up by flight in the oversized area rather than putting them on the belt or checking boarding passes. I therefore never expected to see them again but they turned up at Innsbruck perfectly happily.
Three hours was just enough for TUI bag drop, ski bag drop, queue for escalators, queue to queue for security, queue for security, actual security, and a very quick lunch.
(Flight was delayed so could have been slower with the lunch. Reason for delay: BHX security)
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Poster: A snowHead
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On a tui flight Sat am a couple of weeks ago - yes, 3 hours was needed! That was just for the Tui queue though.
Security was fast, and has been pretty good the last few times I've been through (normally on a Thurs or Fri evening though).
Easyjet desks have generally been ok for me too this winter, though with bags on the weekend I'd still recommend a minimum of 2 hours.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Flying from BHX to Geneva tomorrow and won't have the option of going through security with more than 2 hours before flight, because easyJet aren't opening their Bag Drop until then apparently.
Could be interesting
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I was on a TUI flight.
The chap I talked to who missed his flight because of the massive queue for security was on a scheduled flight.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| jebroni3_16 wrote: |
Flying from BHX to Geneva tomorrow and won't have the option of going through security with more than 2 hours before flight, because easyJet aren't opening their Bag Drop until then apparently.
Could be interesting |
Easyjet have been saying they only open 2 hours in advance, but in practice they are open before that (that's been true for me at all of Birmingham, Belfast and Geenva in the past 3 months) - go earlier if you have time, and they shouldn't have an issue with it.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Will do. Thanks (again) @fixx
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Feel sorry for anyone in the easyJet queue behind me this morning. I fear some of the people on the Belfast flight are going to struggle to make it.
When I arrived three hours before departure, there was only one Swissport agent at a desk (and as I later found out, she was new)
Long story short-ish, despite having booked snowboard carriage that senior Swissport agent could see on the booking, was told they couldn't add it so I'd have to pay to check it in.
The email about the change in luggage policy entitling me to free "hands free" item, they also said this couldn't be applied and I'd have to check that too, obviously at a cost.
By the time I finished, a good 45 minutes later, they were finally opening a third check-in desk, but with at least two flights to get through, it didn't look good 
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@jebroni3_16, that sounds very stressful! I'm glad you made it through - I hope the rest of your trip is a bit smoother! 
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Lets hope Birmingham Airport have management that read this page.
Why schedule 4 TUI flights that depart within 30 mins of each other and have so few desks open ? On a Saturday morning TUI have 3 flights (Innsbruck, Salzburg, Chambery) all at 6am and a Verona flight at 6.30. I guess about 180 people per flight = 720 people to process . Its not rocket science to say they need more than 2 -3 desks open.
Add to that the Lufthansa (2), Ryanair (4) , KLM (1) , Jet 2 (4) all scheduled to be departing in the 6am to 7am slot , = its busy, so again why have so few staff on security too ?
Birmingham WAS a good airport . I use it for work too and always fly out on an early flight. It never used to be this bad .
Come on BHX management, border control and the airlines please invest in your staff, stop penny pinching and put more people on shift. People will go elsewhere ! There are more staff working in Weatherspoon's airside than on check in. Bonkers.
I'm flying out this Saturday, so i'd like to think its going to be better than the reports listed on this forum over the last few weeks. It cant be good to have delays, this must have a knock on effect to the rest of the day and also cost big money, so why dont they sort it ?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The airlines choose where to fly from, to and at what times and bid for those slots accordingly. They then outsource their check in procedure, ground handling and baggage services to other companies (Jet2 at Birmingham do not do this as it is all in house) The airport company provide the infrastructure and normally outsource other requirements, such as security screening, to other companies.
It's not all bad at Birmingham in my opinion...and my experience two weeks ago reinforces that. Quick check in, quick security, decent food and then onto Geneva. On the way back I was through immigration and in my car with my bags 25 minutes after landing.
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Fast Track is a disgrace and should be banned
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Birmingham WAS a good airport
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Agreed. In fact the only problem I came across was security. They use to have 8 or more lanes open. When I went through 10 days ago on a Friday afternoon there were only 4. It appears that they are not doing anything about it from the other posts I see here.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/huge-queues-birmingham-airport-security-23228556
From the end of Feb
"A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “With the relaxation of testing, and passengers taking advantage of easier travel abroad, we have seen a huge increase in passenger numbers which at times has resulted in some queuing at security. Aviation has been severely impacted by the pandemic and as a result our workforce reduced by 43 per cent.
"The airport is implementing a large-scale recruitment drive to meet the forecast increase in demand for 2022. Whilst we have seen a great uptake, this is not yet in line with our passenger numbers. We have our second jobs fair of the year on March 3, which will showcase the available roles across the site.”"
Hopefully it will be better again eventually. Am flying from Manchester next, hope that's less chaotic...
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| Kramer wrote: |
I was on a TUI flight.
The chap I talked to who missed his flight because of the massive queue for security was on a scheduled flight. |
And there’s the nub of the problem, regardless of the airline, we all join the same security queue.
My rational for paying for fast track was to reduce as much stress as possible as I’ll have enough at Turin on my way home.
BTW our arrival in Turin yesterday was so much better than January’s experience. Barely a queue at passport & luggage arrived very promptly. Only slightly marred by having to wait for other arrivals before the transfer left. In any case, was checked in at Pila by 2.15 pm & sipping my first Prosecco by 3.30 
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You know it makes sense.
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| snow_rat wrote: |
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/huge-queues-birmingham-airport-security-23228556
Hopefully it will be better again eventually. Am flying from Manchester next, hope that's less chaotic... |
if its like our experience a few weeks ago - I very much doubt it -
Jet2 check in worked brilliantly, check in on line/print bag tags at a kiosk/drop bags all done in less that 15 mins - Security on the other hand - 1 lane open when they had 8 flights leaving in a 50 minute window - you can imagine the chaos. Coming back was no better - lots of families travelling as it was 1/2 term and you can't use the automated barriers if you have under 12s and there were only a few gates open.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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I had a very smooth experience at BHX a couple of weeks ago - but I did allow plenty of extra time. Flight was at 7am, arrived in the car park at 4.30 and was sitting in departures at 4.50.
The TUI check in area was RAMMED. Horrendous. So if you're flying with them, good luck. But we flew RyanAir and didn't queue to check in - all very straightforward.
We had paid for fasttrack security, but we needn't have- there was no queue to speak of (maybe because everyone was queuing at the TUI desks).
For the sake of £4, I will definitely do fasttrack again, purely for the peace of mind, but it was by no means a necessity.
So BHX isn't necessarily a bad place to fly from, but looks like it depends who you fly with!
Coming back, we breezed through passport control - no queue at all. I guess that depends on what flights are landing around the same time. But it was a very positive experience.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@WoottonBecs - you are the Managing Director of Birmingham International and I claim my £5 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Corky, save me a place in the queue!
Have a hotel booked for Fri night but now begining to wonder why as we will have to be a check-in just as we head off to sleep!!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@RetroBod, I'm not planning to sleep Friday night. I only live 30 minutes from the airport so planning to get a taxi at 02.00 which give me 3.5 hours before planned departure.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Just booked fasttrack to ease through security.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Please keep quiet on the fast track , otherwise the queue for fast track will be longer than the standard queue !
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@jebroni3_16 - Ha! Definitely not! You probably wouldn't be reading such a positive review had I been travelling with Tui, but my RyanAir experience was (surprisingly) good.
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Just a quick question: Once one has checked in and bag dropped with TUI can I assume that the flight will not leave without you if there are delays in getting through security and to the gate?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I wouldn't assume anything.
If the airline wish to offload you then they are meant to remove your bags from the flight for security reasons but this does not always happen.
It does appear that the airport try to move people on imminently departing flights to the front of the queue.
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I’ve missed a flight leaving Spain before. Not because of delays with security or traffic - simply because my other half was shopping on duty free.
Bags unloaded and flight left - we missed the gate closing by 10 mins. Think she saved €50 on Chanel no5 but we spent €1000 on replacement flights later in the day.
So… yes the airline will leave without you, if your not ready to board before the gates close. And yes, they should remove your luggage for security reasons.
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FAQ
