Review: the new Escape Lounge in Manchester Airport Terminal 2

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• Dylan says:

  30 Aug30 August 05:57

  This sounds very similar to the Escape + Amex Centurion Lounges in Phoenix, eg shared entry point, dining area that can be closed off for one lounge or the other, surprisingly decent food spread, a slightly higher premium area (1903 or amex), etc.

• mark2 says:

  30 Aug30 August 07:42

  Isn’t that an Ape rather than a tuk-tuk?

  • TimM says:

    30 Aug30 August 12:44

    It is a Piaggo Ape- common across Europe and well beyond, though sadly a rare site in the UK. There are sorts of adaptions available, e.g. pickup, taxi (closest to a tuk-tuk), kitted out for mobile greengrocers or fishmongers and the famous ‘sports’ racing version with a roll bar. There is of an all-electric version too – possibly my dream vehicle.

• Novice says:

  30 Aug30 August 08:07

  Shouldn’t staff serve the buffet??? A lot of food is not covered. I thought there’s a pandemic happening 😂 I had wrongly imagined the world might finally get hygienic but all my staycations have taught me it was wishful thinking.😒

  • John says:

    30 Aug30 August 08:20

    Being indoors and maskless is a lot more conducive to spread than touching utensils. With this logic buffets should never have been invented. Your stomach acids will kill viruses.

    • Novice says:

      30 Aug30 August 08:32

      Well I’m sure you can probably tell; I never have been a fan of buffets because not even washes hands. Even now have seen loads of people not washing hands after using toilets.

      So I meant it generally and also food out in open = someone would breathe on it.

      • Novice says:

        30 Aug30 August 08:33

        Not everyone *

      • John says:

        30 Aug30 August 13:09

        OK, fair enough, but either your immune system is strong enough or it isn’t.

        I haven’t changed any of my habits because of covid, as I was already doing all the recommended hygiene practices since I was 5 years old; I can’t hire a cleaner because they would make my house dirtier.

  • David Cliff says:

    30 Aug30 August 08:42

    How on earth has the human race survived until now without the use of sanitizers and masks! We build our immunity to disease through contact with germs etc. We are only making things worse for ourselves by isolating in sterile environments. As a child i ate mud 🤣 im still alive and thriving!

    • Rui N. says:

      30 Aug30 August 09:38

      What you did there is called “survivorship bias”

    • Peter K says:

      30 Aug30 August 09:47

      Interesting point David Cliff. But have you noticed that since hygiene has improved over the past 100 or so years, so has life expectancy, and there has been a significant drop in infant mortality.

      • sayling says:

        30 Aug30 August 10:13

        It can’t be coincidence that life expectancy increases and reductions in infant mortality over the past 100 years of development, popularity and spread of the internal combustion engine – can it?

        • Peter K says:

          30 Aug30 August 13:34

          @Sayling
          I imagine it isn’t a coincidence, no. Ambulances, better transport of medication, health services within easy travelling distance of most people etc likely has helped!

    • Mike says:

      30 Aug30 August 12:17

      David did you voluntarily eat mud – or are you Northern 😀

  • TimM says:

    30 Aug30 August 12:52

    There is a trend on cruise ships that started well before the pandemic to eliminate their (‘casual’) self-serve buffets in favour of ‘food court’ style themed stalls where staff plate the food by request. This way customers only get what they ask for, in modest quantities, and the staff can improve the presentation on the plate and make suggestions of what goes with what. The result is far less food waste and happier customers.

    • riku says:

      30 Aug30 August 13:11

      i would much prefer this food court style service in lounges as well. I have seen people touching half a dozen bread rolls before taking one – ignoring the tongs next to the bread basket.

      • Novice says:

        30 Aug30 August 14:50

        Exactly my point… everyone has different levels of what they deem is basic hygiene… Some ppl don’t care about certain things like that but my OCD doesn’t like it at all. That’s why regular commenters may remember initially i was happy world is about to get to my level of hygiene and no nobody would die probably from poor hygiene but the question is would I want other people’s toilet unwashed hands touching my food.

        It’s a bit like if it’s your own dog you know how clean the pet is but you wouldn’t be sharing your food with someone else’s dog.

        That’s the way I see it.

        And also yh the food court style thing is way better and it doesn’t help that lounges are supposed to be for premium travellers yet anyone can access if they pay which means packed lounges and buffets with more ppl who have no sense.

• John says:

  30 Aug30 August 08:08

  Would hit!

  😉

• Toddy says:

  30 Aug30 August 08:14

  My experience of using Priority Pass/Lounge key at Manchester airport isn’t great.

  I am denied entry around 50% of the time, as the lounge is “full”. This situation will get worse at T1, with the closure of the BA lounge.

  As with almost everything at MAN, it’s rarely a positive experience. Hopefully the new t2 will improve things!

  • sigma421 says:

    30 Aug30 August 08:34

    My hope is that in T3 Escape will knock through into the former BA space and enlarge their lounge, which would go a long way to solving the issue.

    For all my dislike of MAN I always found the T3 Escape lounge to be a fairly good product for a Priority Pass lounge.

  • Blair says:

    30 Aug30 August 08:58

    That’s interesting; what times do you usually fly when you get denied entry? I’ve never been denied entry at MAN Escape (T1, T3) or Aspire. I was in Escape T1 Friday, just before 17.00 close. I think the food has gone up a notch in quality. The usually bland egg sandwich on sliced bread with barely any filling is now on better quality bread (albeit still sliced pan) with plenty of filling and even some spring onions for garnish.

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    30 Aug30 August 10:06

    I have NEVER been allowed entry with PP at MAN. Hopeful that this makes some difference. A decent VS Clubhouse would make an even bigger difference of course so here’s hoping for a resumption of US travel soon.

    • Blair says:

      30 Aug30 August 10:18

      Were you wearing a football jersey? Athleisure? Did you ask if dinnertime was over (at 2pm)? I’m really surprised to hear this experience from others.

      • Rob says:

        30 Aug30 August 11:22

        This is the general reader experience at MAN I think – but then you weren’t missing much. Hopefully this new lounge has far more capacity.

      • The Savage Squirrel says:

        30 Aug30 August 12:07

        I will admit I was almost always travelling at peak times (usually at the time slot a couple of the key VS flights were going)…. but then most people are travelling at peak times by definition 😀 so I think my experience will not be too unusual.

        • Blair says:

          30 Aug30 August 12:12

          Aha ok I was generally T3 at peak times and BA passengers had their own lounge and AF-KLM used 1903 so Escape was thus left to direct bookings. T1 Aspire tended to be non-peak visits.

• Nick says:

  30 Aug30 August 10:33

  Is all booze available, or just the cheap low-rent stuff? Rhys only mentions champagne, nothing else.

  • Blair says:

    30 Aug30 August 11:54

    Escape have a bar with spirits but they slow heavy drinkers down by serving slowly and there’s a message that they might call time on your drinking at their discretion. Beers are self serve from fridges.

• Karl says:

  30 Aug30 August 12:00

  As far as I remember I’ve managed to get in lounges maybe 3 or 4 times out 10 at Manchester. Flew at all times of day but mostly mornings. Was usually advised that booking in advance for a fee would guarantee a spot for future visits.

  • Blair says:

    30 Aug30 August 12:13

    It’s not clear how to do that on the website though. PP+£5 pre-booking is better for me than the alternatives. MAN food court can be a genuinely intimidating place when you’re 5 foot 7 and have matching Tumi cabin sets.

  • Peter K says:

    30 Aug30 August 13:37

    I’ve not travelled from Manchester a lot but have always in the 5 or so times got into a lounge with 2 people, using PP.

• Cheshire Pete says:

  30 Aug30 August 12:10

  We unexpectedly used the Escape at T1 on Thursday and found it nice. It closes at 5 also which is when our flight was leaving anyhow. We knew in an hour we’d easily spend £50 between us for a couple of rounds of drinks and some basic food offering in the Main terminal. On the door we were offered £16 each for an hour which I’ve never send advertised before. We recognised. (And they us) some of the staff. One from the PremiAir terminal, who remembered us as we we turned up on the wrong day once just as it was closing, and they drove us back to the main T3 in the Limo which was a lovely courtesy I thought! Also a charming lady who would normally works in the 1903 lounge, ex American airline staff, who just knew how to engage with people. Being used to the previous BA lounge, this as our first MAN lounge experience since lockdown in March 2020 and we were impressed on this occasion with the overall atmosphere and friendliness. You can absolutely tell all the staff must have missed their jobs so much over a near 18 month furlough.

  • Blair says:

    30 Aug30 August 12:15

    I agree with this. Massive staff service improvement. I was directed to find a table and they’d bring my PP and boarding pass to me when check in complete. A staff member passing by the food station stopped to lift food covers and serve me as I balanced 2 plates.

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