ltnman
I wonder if your relatives have considered moving to Luton to save you the inconvenience. I would suspect not. Do you actually fly from Blackpool?
The new owners are doing a great job of putting right the years of neglect by the local council. Infrastructure, runway,taxiway,apron etc, are far more important than cosmetics on internal walls in the terminal.
Let's talk about the road links to Luton airport. Try driving south on the M1 to arrive at LTN for 0900. Pure chaos, at least it is consistent.