Search “Manchester Airport meet and greet” and almost everything you find will be parking. Valet parking, where you hand your keys over at the terminal and someone else parks your car while you fly.
That is not what this page is about. If you are landing at Manchester and you want a driver standing inside the arrivals hall with your name on a board, ready to take your bags and drive you home, that is a different service entirely. It is what we mean by meet and greet, and it is one of the things our passengers mention most often.
Call A Car has been running airport transfers out of Denton since 1970. This page explains exactly how our Manchester Airport meet and greet taxi service works, where your driver will be standing, and when it is worth booking.
Meet and Greet Parking vs Meet and Greet Taxi
Worth clearing up, because the same phrase covers two completely different things and people book the wrong one.
Meet and greet parking is for people who drive themselves to the airport. You arrive at the terminal, hand your keys to a valet, and they park your car for the duration of your trip. You get it back when you land. Useful if you are driving, irrelevant if you are not.
Meet and greet taxi is for people arriving on a flight. Your driver parks, walks into the terminal, and waits in the arrivals hall holding a board with your name on it. You walk out, they take your bags, and you go. No car to leave, no car to collect.
If you are flying in and want someone waiting for you, the taxi version is what you need. That is what we do.
What Actually Happens When You Land
The concept is simple but the details are what make it work.
Before you travel, we take your flight number. That is the thing that makes everything else possible. From the moment your booking is confirmed, we are tracking that flight.
On the day, we watch it land. Not the scheduled time, the actual landing. Your driver leaves for the airport based on when the aircraft is genuinely on the ground, which is why you will not come out to an empty arrivals hall because your flight was two hours late out of somewhere.
While you are clearing passport control and waiting at the baggage belt, your driver is parking and walking into the terminal. By the time you come through the doors, they are already standing there.
You will spot them because they will be holding a board with your name on it. They will take your bags and walk you to the vehicle. That is the whole thing.
If you cannot see them straight away, which happens occasionally in a busy Terminal 2 arrivals hall, you have their number and they have yours. One call and you are sorted. Our office is also staffed 24 hours a day on 0161 320 7117 if you would rather ring us.
Why It Is Worth More Than It Sounds
Without meet and greet, a pre-booked pickup at Manchester Airport works differently, and this is the part people do not realise until they are standing there with a suitcase.
Vehicles cannot collect passengers from outside the terminal. The forecourt is a drop-off zone only. It is monitored by number plate cameras and stopping there to wait risks a penalty charge. So on a standard pickup, you walk out of arrivals and across to the multi-storey car park to find your driver. At Terminal 2 that is the car park signposted P3. At Terminal 3 it is P14.
It is not a long walk. But it is a walk, with your luggage, after a flight, possibly at two in the morning, possibly in the rain, possibly with a toddler who has had enough.
Meet and greet removes that entirely. Your driver does the walking instead of you.
For a short hop back from Alicante with a cabin bag, you may not care. For a long-haul arrival with three cases and two tired children, it is the difference between a good end to a trip and a miserable one.
Who Gets the Most Out of It
Some passengers book meet and greet once and never book anything else again. These are the ones who tend to.
Long-haul arrivals. After eight, ten or twelve hours in the air, often with a connection in the middle, the walk to a car park is the last thing you want. Coming through the doors and seeing your driver already there changes the whole feel of getting home.
Families with young children. Managing bags, a pushchair, and children who are past their limit is hard enough without also navigating an unfamiliar car park. Having someone take the luggage off you at the door helps more than it sounds like it should.
Elderly passengers and anyone with reduced mobility. A short walk with luggage is not short for everyone. This is the group we most often get booked for by a family member rather than the passenger themselves.
Late night and early morning arrivals. Between about 11pm and 5am, meet and greet is arguably at its most valuable. A quiet terminal and a dark car park is exactly when most people would rather have a person waiting than a set of directions.
First-time visitors to Manchester. If you have never used the airport before, having someone meet you inside removes all the guesswork about where to go.
Business travellers. Time matters when you are travelling for work, and a driver waiting inside arrivals is both quicker and more professional than a phone call from a car park. Most of our corporate travel arrivals are booked this way as standard, and passengers on a business account can have it set as the default so nobody has to request it each time.
Meet and Greet at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3
Manchester Airport now has two active passenger terminals. Terminal 1 closed permanently on 19 November 2025, and the former T1 entrance was rebranded as Terminal 3 Departures in March 2026. A lot of guides online still list three, which tells you how recently they were updated.
Terminal 2 is the main hub, handling roughly three quarters of the airport’s passengers, including easyJet, Jet2, TUI, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic. It is also the larger and busier arrivals hall, which is exactly why meet and greet earns its keep here. Full detail on our service at this terminal is on our Terminal 2 taxi service page.
Terminal 3 is primarily Ryanair, plus a number of short-haul and domestic routes. See our Terminal 3 taxi transfers page for more, and our Terminal 3 pick up guide if you are collecting someone yourself rather than booking a driver.
If your booking says Terminal 1, it has moved. Ryanair passengers go to Terminal 3, everyone else to Terminal 2. Tell us your airline when you book and we will make sure your driver is standing in the right building. Given how much moved during the transition, that is the single most useful thing you can give us alongside your flight number.
Booking Meet and Greet
Add it when you book, whichever way you book.
By phone on 0161 320 7117. Our team is there 24 hours a day, every day. If you have any questions about how it works or which terminal you need, this is the easiest route because you can just ask.
Through the Call A Car app, on iOS and Android. Book ahead, add your flight details, and collect reward points on the journey.
Through our online booker. Fixed fares apply on card payments, and promo code WEB10 takes 10% off airport transfers.
Whichever you use, give us three things: your flight number, your airline, and the name you want on the board. The flight number lets us track you. The airline tells us the terminal. The name is so your driver is holding the right board, which matters if you are booking on behalf of somebody else.
The cost of meet and greet is confirmed at the time of booking along with your fare, so you will know exactly what you are paying before you commit.
Booking for Somebody Else
A good share of our meet and greet bookings are made by one person for another. A parent collecting a student, a company collecting a client, someone arranging transport for a relative who does not want to sort it themselves.
It works exactly the same way. Give us the arriving passenger’s name for the board and a contact number for them, and your driver deals with them directly on the day. You do not need to be there or be involved once the booking is made.
For anyone nervous about a relative landing late at night in an unfamiliar airport, this is usually the thing that settles it. They walk out, someone is holding their name, and they are looked after from that point.
Areas We Cover
Once your driver has met you, we go anywhere you need. Our regular meet and greet destinations include Denton, Hyde, Audenshaw, Haughton Green, Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Droylsden, Stalybridge, Gorton, Reddish and Bredbury, along with Manchester city centre, Stockport, Salford, Trafford and further afield.
Travelling as a group? Our minibus hire takes up to eight passengers, so everyone is met at once and travels together rather than splitting across vehicles. For fares, see our Manchester Airport taxi prices guide.
We also run meet and greet at other airports we cover, including Liverpool John Lennon, Leeds Bradford, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham and Newcastle. The full list is on our airport transfers page.
FAQs
Is meet and greet the same as meet and greet parking?
No, and this catches people out. Meet and greet parking is a valet service for people who drive to the airport and want someone to park their car. Our meet and greet is a taxi service for people arriving on a flight, where your driver waits inside the arrivals hall with a name board.
Where exactly will my driver be standing?
In the arrivals hall of your terminal, past the customs exit, holding a board with your name on it. Your driver will confirm their position by phone or message once you have landed, so if the hall is busy you are not hunting for them.
Do I need to call when I land?
No. We track your flight, so we already know. If you want to message your driver when you have your bags, it helps them time the last few minutes, but nothing depends on it.
What if my flight is delayed?
Your driver’s timing moves with the flight automatically. You will not be charged for waiting caused by an airline delay, and your driver will not be standing in arrivals for two hours.
Can I book meet and greet for a departure?
Meet and greet is an arrivals service. For departures, our standard door-to-door transfer collects you from your address and takes you to the terminal, which is all an outbound journey needs.
Can I book it for someone else?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Give us the passenger’s name for the board and a contact number for them, and the driver handles it directly on the day.
Does it work at both terminals?
Yes, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Manchester Airport no longer has a Terminal 1. If your paperwork says T1, tell us your airline and we will work out where you are actually landing.
Is it available late at night?
Yes, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Late arrivals are when a lot of our passengers value it most.
What if I cannot find my driver?
Call them on the number in your booking confirmation, or ring our office on 0161 320 7117. Somebody answers at any hour. It is rare, but it is never a problem.
How far in advance should I book?
As early as you reasonably can, and at minimum 24 hours ahead for guaranteed availability of the vehicle you want. During school holidays and bank holiday weekends, earlier is better.
Book Your Meet and Greet
If you would rather walk out of arrivals and straight to someone holding your name than walk out to a car park, this is the one to book.
Call 0161 320 7117, use the Call A Car app, or book online. Give us your flight number, your airline, and the name for the board, and we will take it from there. We have been meeting people off flights at Manchester Airport since 1970.
