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Selection
Dan and I needed to get from Amsterdam to Manchester in time for Friday evening’s “Versus Cancer” concert at the MEN arena. The headline acts were due on stage at around 9pm, but we had to get to the arena much earlier than this because we wanted to see all the support acts too.
Jet2 and KLM are the only airlines who offer regular multiple daily flights from Amsterdam to Manchester, but KLM are not remotely competitive on one way fares. Although Easyjet offer a much higher frequency of service between Liverpool and Amsterdam, we were keen to try out Jet2, as they are one of the few British-based scheduled airlines that we haven’t yet flown with. If I remember rightly, this route initially started as a three times daily service, but now only operates twice a day. Jet2 do additionally operate cheap flights to Amsterdam from Leeds and Blackpool, but none of these operated around lunchtime, when we wanted to leave. Jet2’s evening flights to Manchester were much too late to be able to make the show, so we ended up taking the 9.35am flight. We booked just one week in advance, and the two tickets cost a total of £95.
Getting to the airport
Amsterdam’s outstanding public transport system is well documented, but I’m not sure how many visitors know that there often easier ways of reaching Schiphol airport than travelling through the main Centraal station. Our hotel was about a mile outside the main tourist area, and just a few minutes’ tram ride from Zuid (South) station. From here, trains run every six or seven minutes to Schiphol airport, with a journey time of just nine minutes. Naturally, as we expected, everything ran completely smoothly, and we reached the check-in desk within about 25 minutes of leaving the hotel.
At the airport
We checked in about 70 minutes before the flight was due to depart, and there was only one person in front of us. It then took us about four minutes to go through the initial queue, which was for checking boarding passes, before entering the main airside departures hall. Although Amsterdam Schiphol airport has excellent waiting facilities for all passengers (including upstairs reclining seats), we took advantage of the lounge access provided by Prioirty Pass, with Dan being allowed in on my card, without any additional charge. The lounge had a limited selection of pastries, together with the usual array of alcoholic and soft drinks, but at that time in the morning some yoghurt and fruit juice would have been great!
With a flight due to depart at 9.35, we started the long trek to the departures pier just after nine.  Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has many good points - the facilities are superb, and weary travellers are presented with a plethora of retail and relaxation opportunities, with a whole range of innovations, including an airside art gallery. However, everything is situated within one massive terminal, walking distances to and from gates can be significant.
If you are transferring from one flight to another, then we would probably agree that bigger is better - processing all 40 million annual passengers under one roof means that there is no need to worry about transferring between different terminals - if you’re just travelling point to point, and have no need to spend hours in the terminal, then size really can be a huge disadvantage.
By the time we finally reached the H pier, from which most no-frills Amsterdam flights depart, time was longer on our side! We still had to get through full security screening, and the queue for this was much longer than the original boarding card check. Luckily boarding had only just started by the time we got to the gate.
The flight
Unlike some of the other more bargain basement no-frills airlines, Jet2 do least allocate seats, however cramped their aircraft are! The flight finally left the gate about 20 minutes behind schedule - there was no explanation or apology for this, although it almost seems like standard form at Amsterdam. With the flight to Manchester only expected to take just over one hour, there is usually enough block time in the schedule to allow for minor ground delays like this. So we begin our very slow journey to Amsterdam’s new sixth runway, which feels like it is halfway towards Rotterdam.
Once in the air we got the usual offering of drinks and sandwiches for sale, together with a half-hearted attempt to sell duty free - I think Jet2 probably acknowledge that any serious shopaholics would have done their business in the terminal. The only kind of in-flight entertainment on this kind of no-frills flight is the airline’s magazine. Jet2’s mag was fairly unspectacular apart from the handy city guides.  
We didn’t make up any time following our late departure, but passport control and baggage reclaim at Manchester airport were both surprisingly quick, and we got to the arrivals hall within 15 minutes of reaching the stand. We knew that our hotel was in Didsbury, but stupidly hadn’t checked the map beforehand, so we jumped straight in a taxi, only to find out later that the hotel was just 200 yards from East Didsbury station, which itself is just ten minutes’ train journey from Manchester airport.
See hotel review, for more details
Jet2 flights summary
Liked
·                     Allocated seating.
·                     Reasonably priced, considering it was a late booking.
·                     Efficient baggage reclaim at Manchester.
·                     Both airports extremely easy to get to by public transport.
Disliked
·                     No mention of, or apology for delay.
·                     Very cramped seating.
·                     Huge walking distances at Schiphol airport (but this is difficult to avoid - it isn’t any better with KLM!)