Tips & How To Save Money Flying From Stansted Airport

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Stansted Airport is the largest airport in Essex, despite being known as ‘London’ Stansted! As a frequent flier, I’m sharing all of my tips for flying out of Stansted, to make the start of your holiday (and mine) a breeze!

Stansted Airport Tips

1. How To Get To Stansted Airport

How Much Is The Stansted Airport Drop-Off Fee?

The Stansted Airport drop-off fee has now increased to £7. You get 10 minutes to pull up in front of the terminal, drop off and be gone. Payment is taken at the end of the drop-off lane. If you overstay the 10 minutes, you will be charged extra at the point of exit.

If you are travelling to Stansted via taxi, companies will often charge the drop-off fee to you ON TOP of the quoted price for the journey.

However, you can get away with paying the drop-off fee…

The Mid Stay Car Park has 1 hour free parking for set-down and pick-ups. This can be found just off the A120 on the roundabout with McDonalds and the Premier Inn. Simply go through the barrier, take a ticket and follow the signs to Set Down.

There is a large parking area where you can be dropped off and then catch the free shuttle bus to the terminal. Shuttle buses come frequently and run 24hrs a day. This is a great option if picking up too as you have that additional time in case there are hold ups in arrivals.

Parking At Stansted

I usually park in the Mid Stay Car Park. It’s convenient, less than 10 minutes to the terminal and not too badly priced. If you’re looking for the cheapest parking at Stansted, you can save money by parking in the Long Stay Car Park, however, it is further away (15 minutes). In the summer months, JetParks is open, which is 20 minutes away by shuttle but it is a little cheaper.

Travelling By Public Transport

If you live in Essex, the only real choice of public transport is: the First Essex X10 bus to Basildon (via Chelmsford), the X30 to Southend (via Rayleigh) or the Arriva 133 to Colchester (via Dunmow and Braintree).

Stansted to London

The quickest way between Stansted and London is on the Stansted Express train to London Liverpool Street. This service takes around 50 minutes and leaves every 15 minutes. The train station is connected to the airport.

Stansted Airport is not on the tube network. Only Heathrow and London City Airport can be reached using the London Underground.

Airport Bus Express and National Express have coach services between Stansted and various London stations. The buses do take longer (around 1hr 30) but are cheaper.

There are direct National Express bus services between Stansted and Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports. Heathrow and Gatwick can also be reached by rail (both requiring a couple of changes in central London). The Heathrow journey takes around the same time as the coach but Gatwick by train is a little quicker.

Best Hotels Near Stansted Airport, Essex UK (Including Parking Options)

2. Print Boarding Cards In Advance

Many of the airlines that fly from Stansted require you to print your boarding card in advance. Ryanair and EasyJet, I’m looking at you. You can get it printed at the airport but it will cost you an arm and a leg (potentially more than the cost of the flight). Mobile boarding cards are also accepted. Just make sure your phone is fully charged or you have a way to charge it that won’t have you running around the terminal looking for a plug socket.

If you don’t have any checked luggage, most of the time you’ll be able to head straight to security. I know USA passports require an extra check with Ryanair, it’ll be written on the boarding card that you need to stop by the check-in desk in this case.

3. Know Your Luggage Allowances

Airlines seem to always be changing their hand luggage allowances. Just because a bag was the correct dimensions last time you flew, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be now. Unless you’ve paid extra, on flights such as EasyJet and Ryanair, you’ll only be allowed one bag on board. This includes purses and smaller handbags too, they’ll have to be squished into one.

I find that if you have a normal-sized backpack, they tend to get ‘ignored’ as they are pretty much guaranteed to fit under the seat in front. If the overhead lockers are getting to full capacity and you only have a suitcase, it may need to be checked into the hold at the gate. Airlines are trying to cut down on this happening by only allowing you to have overhead space if you’ve pre-booked it.

4. Security: Liquid Allowances

Without wanting to sound too much of a grumpy traveller, people travelling through Stansted Airport don’t seem to have much of a clue when it comes to airport security. Sorry, but it’s true. It doesn’t seem anywhere near as bad at Gatwick and Heathrow!

With the extra charges for checked baggage, a lot of people will tend to try and fly hand luggage only. This means that all the liquids you need for your holiday will be subject to limitations.

First of all, the individual containers need to be less than 100ml in capacity.

That INCLUDES suncream bottles, perfumes etc. I’ve seen so many people have expensive perfumes taken away for being in a bottle that’s too big. If you do want to take perfume, an atomiser is a great option. That way you don’t need to travel with the full bottle.

ANOTHER TIP. Again, if travelling with only hand luggage, don’t be tempted to buy any large liquid duty-free items. Especially if you still have a return flight. Just because you’ve got through one lot of security, you’re likely to lose it on the return journey if you can’t transfer it into a checked bag.

Secondly, all hand luggage liquids have to fit into a 20cm x 20cm clear plastic bag.

This is where many holidaymakers fail. BE PREPARED IN ADVANCE. Before going through security, all liquids will have to be placed in the plastic bag and it HAS TO BE ABLE TO CLOSE. For a while, Stansted were charging people for liquid bags, but now they are free. But by waiting to pick up a bag from the airport, you run the risk of packing too much and it not closing.

Just like the liquids over 100ml, I’ve seen many Stansted holidaymakers at the bag scanners having to decide what liquids to shed and leave behind, in an attempt to get the bag to close.

20cm x 20cm plastic bags can be bought from places like Amazon in advance. I personally use a heavier-duty clear plastic pouch with a proper zip which I use every time I fly. Superdrug sells a Malibu travel pack which comes with SPF 15 and 20 suncreams and an aftersun in a reusable bag. All the bottles are 100ml.

To save money, once I finish the bottles, I now buy suncream in larger sizes (as they are cheaper) and just refill the smaller bottles as and when I need to. Bottles HAVE to have the capacity printed on them.

If you plan on flying again you can reuse the bag or pick up an extra on your way through the first time. Simply keep them with your suitcase so you are good to go for your next trip!

At Stansted’s security you are required to remove electronics (laptops, Kindles, tablets) and liquids from bags. Try and pack these where they can be removed easily and quickly, so you don’t hold up the line! If you do everything correctly, there’s also less chance being pulled up for an in-depth bag search.

5. Stansted Airport FREE Drinking Water

Drinks and bottles of water aren’t allowed through security. BUT, there’s nothing stopping you from taking an empty bottle through. You can fill it up for free once you get to Airside Departures.

There is a free water fountain down the hallway that leads to the toilets (between Pret and Coast to Coast) in the main departure lounge. I’ve also found fountains at the gates that you walk to and another for the gates on the 1st air train stop. Again, both are located near the toilets, so head there. I’m yet to find one for gates on the 2nd air train stop.

If all else fails, I find that bottles of water at Stansted are reasonably priced compared to some airports around the world!

6. Meal Deals & Where To Eat

If you are flying on an airline that doesn’t have a meal included in the flight price, a great option is to check out the meal deals from Boots or WHSmiths. For less than £4 you can get a drink, a sandwich and a snack. The range of snacks that are part of the deal has got smaller over time but there are plenty of options for all tastes. If you can’t fit all the items in your bag, I’ve just carried them onto the plane before and this seems to be fine.

If you are looking for hot meal options while at the airport, there are lots of places that suit all different budgets. The cheapest coffee I’ve found is at Pret for 99p. I like Itzu for a quick breakfast and Wetherspoon – The Windmill for sit-down options.

Is Stansted Airport Open 24 Hours?

Pret, Starbucks (both airside) and Costa (land side arrivals) are all open 24hrs a day. Security shuts for a couple of hours between midnight and around 2.30am. A couple of the restaurants open at 3am, the rest tend to open at 4am until the last flight departs.

7. Tips for Departures

Don’t be a seat hog. Even after the huge Stansted renovation, space in the departure lounge can get very tight. During peak departure times there’s often not enough seats for everyone. Of course you get the seat pigs that selfishly decide to lay across 4 seats despite people having to then stand up.

I’ve been at airports for hours before, including overnight, but there’s a time and a place to lay across seats. If it’s empty, knock yourself out, just be considerate of other passengers too.

There are more seats near the gates but often you won’t be given a gate number until it’s closer to the departure time. Because there are 3 separate ‘branches’ you can’t always guess what gate your flight will be at, so it is best to stay in the central departures area.

8. Arrivals

Arriving into Stansted has in the past, stressed me out majorly. Immigration lines can sometimes be HUGE. If you can use the E-Gates, these are located on the far left of the arrivals hall. There’s not a lot of space, especially if you have to take the air train and a flight full of passengers are spat out into the immigration hall all at once!

Any Questions? Let me know!