So I returned on Thursday (15th) from once again a lovely week away in Gran Canaria using BHX for the second time, and once again it was a very enjoyable visit

We departed Cardiff at around 03:30 and arrived at BHX shortly after 05:30, We paid the £2 to drop off outside the terminal and it was a very quick and efficient process, We approached the TUI bag drop area, which was very quiet , A friendly greeting arrived and we were asked if we had used the self service bag drop before, indeed we had so we proceeded to scan the boarding pass and place the bags on the scale to weigh and print the baggage tags off, first time I’ve used the TUI self bag drop and it’s very efficient, took around 2-3 mins to put both bags through and then head over to put the bags on the conveyor belt. Security was a breeze, very quick and considering we were heading through at the same time as the business flights ,There was only a 4-5 minute queue, most of the security screening lanes were open so allowed for an extremely quick and easy process. Once through security we headed straight to the wetherspoons for a breakfast, not too bad with regards to prices and the food came within a 5 minute period within ordering and also piping hot, arriving early meant we had a bit more time to kill, after a brief look in the shops and duty free again, we headed up towards the gates to have a look out of the window at the various aircraft on stand , arriving and departing.



At around 07:40 the gate was displayed on the departure screens, after a short walk and also down some stairs we arrived at gate 55 ( I think ) fairly pleasant area actually, seems to be fairly newly renovated, a selection of 4 gates all with plenty of seating areas, after around a 10-15 minute wait the bus arrived outside and the flight was called, G-TAWN was the aircraft that the bus brought us too, front steps only which meant there was a bit of a queue but not too bad, I then proceeded to my seat which I chose for this flight and also the return flight of 7A, I made the point last year that the Jet2 legroom exceeded the TUI equivalent and it seemed it was the case, The cabin seems a lot more cramped than that of Jet2, The flight was quickly boarded and surprisingly only around 120 onboard out of 189 which allowed for a very quiet and uneventful flight, The captain gave a briefing on the route and also said he would be back with us with further updates in the cruise, lovely crew on the way out who were very friendly and also couldn’t do enough for you, a nice tough from the first officer giving regular updates on where we were and also if there was a sight to see he would point it out to look out for, there was a bit of turbulence towards the Madeira area, however it was a fairly quiet flight and one that made for an enjoyable start to the holiday

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After around 4 hours 20 minutes we arrived into LPA we were quickly on stand which turned out to be an air bridge at C13 and very quickly offloaded, Passport Control has no queue at all and also the wait for bags was very minimal, around 25 mins from exiting the aircraft to boarding the bus to get to our resort , A small 15 minute wait for other passengers to get bags and get on the bus which was jammed packed, I think mainly with passengers from the BHX and MAN flights, The bus dropped us off second into our hotel in Puerto Rico



The hotel itself was much improved on last year, Food and drinks options had been improved dramatically with more branded drinks and also more cooked meats in the evenings, Rooms are also were recently renovated and of course one of the main highlights of staying in Puerto Rico is the incredible views you will have, simply breathtaking, The weather itself was also great in the 7 days that we stayed all 7 were sunny, highs of around 26 in day and a pleasant 17 in the evenings, I’d say the hotel was around half full or perhaps a little more. Of course the sign of a good holiday is one that flies by and this one certainly did the 7 nights just flew and before we know it it was time to return home.


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We had a look at our our coach pick up time from the TUI desk the day before and the pick up time was 11:15 for our 14:00 departure back to BHX, a 40 or so minute coach ride back to the airport and we were greeted by a TUI rep which told us which desks to go to, I think there was around 8 desks for TUI which were for all the Uk customers and also the TUI Scandinavia flights, all fairly quick and efficient mind, Security was also very quick and the process similar to BHX only took around 15 minutes from bag drop to walking through through the duty free area , The flight was displayed on the boards of the gate C13 ( the same gate as which we arrived a week ago), a very quick boarding process again and this time a much fuller flight I think there could have only been a few spare seats and this time a different frame- G-TAWU, the pilot announced we’d get away as soon as we could, A small delay being that we had to cross the arriving runway before we could depart, although departing 20 mins late the flight actually landed 13 mins early back into Birmingham. The flight itself was once again a very enjoyable one, the crew were all very nice and like the outbound flight couldn’t do enough for you, some lovely views returning and also the most beautiful burning sunset which brought the close of the holiday.


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After what seemed like a very long approach due to the amount of traffic departing and arriving into BHX, we landed and parked up on a stand which once again needed bus transport back Into the terminal, 2 buses which were there as soon as soon as the aircraft doors opened and took only a few mins from when everyone arrived on board and the arrival into the passport gate area, considering a few flights all arrived at the same time ) Thomas Cook, Jet2 etc) there was only around a queue of 30 people waiting and this went down very quickly, It must have only have been around a few minutes and I was through awaiting the arrival of my bags, this itself took around 20-30 mins which I thought was fair enough, We took our bags off the carousel and directed ourselves to walk out of the terminal, we were picked up in car park 1, we exited the barriers and started our journey back to Cardiff thinking to ourselves where did that week go


Once again I to say I'm very impressed with regards to all things BHX, using it again I haven’t had one issue with anything, TUI themselves were fine, on time and clean aircraft , If I was pushed I’d give a slight edge to Jet2 , however I’d certainly use both again from BHX.


Saving myself over £150 per person from flying from Cardiff and ill certainly look to use BHX in the future if I can, two visits and both have been great... until next time :)

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Thanks for letting us know about your trip Craig. It is also nice to know that many people find BHX an enjoyable airport to use.

Those photos bring back many happy memories of my holidays to Gran Canaria (y)

No worries at all ! for sure couldn't really fault a thing, very useable and enjoyable stress free experience, recommended from my point of view.

Certainly a lovely place is Gran Canaria, Puerto Rico by all accounts has one of the best climates in the Canary Islands so that is a bonus, but if anyone is in need of a cheapish winter break id say give Gran Canaria a go

QUOTE]
Great report! Great photos!

Thanks Jerry, Perks of having a window seat right !

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear that BHX served you well :)

You are very welcome ! Honestly really enjoyed my last two visits using the airport, would happily use again in the future

Excellent report thanks very much for doing it :)

I'm glad that BHX offered a good experience

No worries at all Ray, I hope report was able to give a good insight into the good experience available at BHX, already started to look at next winter with both Jet2 so if the price is competitive id happily use again :)
 

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