How Early Should You Arrive For Your Flight?

[MULTIZ321]

How Early Should You Arrive For Your Flight?
By Christopher Elliott/ Special for USA Today/ Travel/ usatoday.com

"Want to start an argument? Tell your travel companion you won't be arriving two hours before your flight.

Go on, try it. I'll be right here.

This is the time of year when emptier airport terminals are making a lot of passengers question the conventional wisdom about check-in times. And no, this isn't a frivolous, first-world problem. Vacations have been ruined because of it. Marriages have ended. So let's settle this question once and for all.

As with so many things in travel, there's a simple answer — and a complicated one...."

Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)


Richard

 

[WinniWoman]

We have never needed the two hours ahead but we have always done it just in case. Now, for connecting flights, we do the same -make sure when we book our flights so there is a two hour layover in between- again- just in case.

 

[Jimster]

This question is a non-starter. There is no right answer. It totally depends on two things. 1. What airport are you going to arrive at? and 2. Are you checking a bag? You could add a 3rd quesion: Do you have pre-check?

If you have a checked bag, most big airports REQUIRE that you check your bag 45 minutes before departure. If you don't, you choose betweeen checking your bag and flying. If it is a smaller airport, it may make no difference. If it is a smaller airport and no checked bags, be sure to get there before they close the doors! That's it! Some airlines stop you if you haven't checked in and will surrender your ticket if you are not there 10 minutes before the door closes.

Here is an odd concept! Educate yourself about your particular situation and you can answer this question easily based on those two points above. I have flown well over a million miles and never missed a flight yet. Sometimes i get there two hours in advance sometimes it is more like 30 minutes.

 

[Luanne]

The other thing you want to make note of if you have an early flight is, what time does the airport, and all of the necessary services, open.

Case in point, I had a 6:00 a.m. flight out of Vancouver. United had posted all over their website and on the boarding pass to be sure to allow extra time. So I get to the airport between 4:00 and 4:30 a.m., check in at the United counter. Go to the baggage drop off. It hasn't opened yet. Wait in time, and when they open drop my bag off. Then to Security. They're open. No problems. Go through the Global Entry line to find it's blocked off. Ooops, the agent hadn't opened it yet. Get that opened, go through, and get to Customs. No agents, they're not open yet. Wait for the agents. Get through Customs and to the door that says "Welcome to the USA". Yep, it's closed and locked. Finally someone with a key comes out and lets us through.

 

[happymum]

Similar to Luanne, I have followed an airlines advice to check-in 3 hours early (!!!!) only to have airline staff not show up for another hour. My son was travelling from Toronto last week-end however and the check-in/Customs experience took 2 1/2 hours. Fortunately he had arrived early.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I have TSA precheck/Global Entry and I get to the airport as LATE as humanly possible to NOT overly stress about making the flight. No running for example, but I like to time it that I if I have NO lounge access I will walk up to the gate just as they start calling the boarding. If I have lounge access, then I might go earlier if I am ready to go.

If I check bags I usually arrive airport terminal just a little over 1 hr prior to the flight, if I have carry on only than arriving to airport terminal with less than 1 hr up to 45 mins prior to flight is fine. So if parking is involved than that has to get added to the time.

Where I live I allocate 15-20 mins to drive to airport and 15 mins to shuttle from parking to airport. So I often leave my house less than 2 hours prior to a flight.

I have flown over 2.5 million miles so far on several airlines, so I think I have lots of practice by now.

 

[Luanne]

Similar to Luanne, I have followed an airlines advice to check-in 3 hours early (!!!!) only to have airline staff not show up for another hour. My son was travelling from Toronto last week-end however and the check-in/Customs experience took 2 1/2 hours. Fortunately he had arrived early.

Our daughter flew from Vancouver to Albuquerque (through San Francisco) over the Christmas/New Year's holidays. She had a 6:00 a.m. flight and said the airport was a zoo. She only made her flight on time because she has United Premier status, which expedited her check in, and Global Entry. She said it saved her a couple of hours at least. If she hadn't had those, she wouldn't have made that 6:00 a.m. flight.

 

[Rjbeach2003]

I fly frequently and am fortunate to fly out of PDX, usually not too bad. I have pre-check and most times don't check a bag. I'm a bit nervous about unforeseen happenings, like flat tire on way to airport etc, so I leave home 1 3/4 to 2 hours before flight, depending on what time the flight leaves.

Returning to PDX from various airports around the country after business conferences I often find I can only get to the airport less than one hour from flight time. Haven't missed a flight yet, but have had pre check and carryon.

 

[pedro47]

We also have pre-check, but we still try to arrive one hour before the flight.

 

[artringwald]

We once almost missed our flight out of Kauai even though we arrived 90 minutes early. The computers were down and there was a huge backup at checkin and TSA. Now we always arrive 2 hours early, just in case.

We were at the gate 60 minutes early for a flight out of Portland last Sunday, and the previous flight was just about to close the doors. A family of 4 came strolling up to board 10 minutes before scheduled takeoff. They had already taken them off the passenger list and had to do a lot of keyboard clicking to get them back on. The dad said "but we checking in 40 minutes early". After they boarded, we overhead the 2 gate agents saying they really shouldn't have boarded them. Lesson: make sure you get to the gate 30 minutes early.

 

[Luanne]

Lesson: make sure you get to the gate 30 minutes early.

I thought I remembered seeing something on my boarding passes about how early you were supposed to be in the gate area.

We took a flight out of Kansas City at one point. We knew we didn't have enough time for a sit down meal before catching our next flight so we just grabbed something to go. While we were waiting to board out flight we heard them call a certain passenger's name repeatedly. He finally strolled out of the restaurant to board his flight. Did he really not hear the repeated announcements? Or did he just think they'd wait for him.

 

[WinniWoman]

We actually have almost a 2 hour ride to the airport to start with. If no traffic, maybe 1.5 hours, but our car service allows two hours just in case. But, again, although we do not fly very often, and we most often only take carryons, we still feel like at the bigger airports you ever know what to expect. I so hate waiting around for two hours, but better we are there- also to deal with any issues that come up with the flight, including a cancellation or a late departure when you need to make a connecting flight. Not to mention to maybe get something to eat since the airlines don't feed you anymore.

PS What is Pre-check?

 

[Luanne]

PS What is Pre-check?

TSA Precheck. It allows you to go through a shorter, expedited security line in US airports that have it. You don't have to remove your shoes, or take items out of your carry-ons. People can still get it through random selection, but if you want to be sure you'll get it you need to purchase it, $85 for 5 years.

 

[colatown]

It depends on the airport and maybe what day and how grumpy the TSA is then. I have had to remove shoes, belts, jackets and take liquids from my carry on at TSA Precheck before.

 

[Luanne]

It depends on the airport and maybe what day and how grumpy the TSA is then. I have had to remove shoes, belts, jackets and take liquids from my carry on at TSA Precheck before.

Interesting. You shouldn't have to. I have gone through airports that didn't have a separate line for TSA Precheck, but still allowed you to leave your shoes on. I've never had to remove things when I've been in a true TSA Precheck line. In face most of the time there are NO bins and they are reminding people NOT to take off their shoes.

 

[Rumpled]

I'm on the kinda semi restricted list. Seems someone or someones with my name have done bad things. I always get the extra security checks and often, interviews. Thankfully, I only fly once a year or so.
I cannot get seat assignments or boarding passes ahead of time and must get in the longest check-in line at airports.
I usually try to get there 2-3 hours early.
Precheck and global or whatever aren't worth it considering how little I fly.

Last I checked, I have no redress because I am actually not on the no fly list, I'm on some unmentioned list.

Helps that I have the most common first name and 17th in surnames. Somewhere around 13,000 people in the US share my problem.

 

[dougp26364]

We have never needed the two hours ahead but we have always done it just in case. Now, for connecting flights, we do the same -make sure when we book our flights so there is a two hour layover in between- again- just in case.

We do the same thing. I hate running for the gate, I hate being anxious over TSA lines (we've added Pre-check) and I hate being anxious about a close connection. It doesn't eliminate the risk but it does mitigate it considerably. After all we did miss a connection with a 5 hour layover (really bad storms that day).

Many modern airports have decent dining options, which while expensive beats the heck out of what the airlines offer. It's nice to be able to relax for a little while and take a real bathroom break vs breaking our necks running to the next flight. We also aren't arriving at our destination starving to death as we've already eaten a reasonably decent meal during our travels vs choking down something grabbed quickly while traversing the concourse to our next flight.

 

[Luanne]

I'm on the kinda semi restricted list. Seems someone or someones with my name have done bad things. I always get the extra security checks and often, interviews. Thankfully, I only fly once a year or so.
I cannot get seat assignments or boarding passes ahead of time and must get in the longest check-in line at airports.
I usually try to get there 2-3 hours early.
Precheck and global or whatever aren't worth it considering how little I fly.

Last I checked, I have no redress because I am actually not on the no fly list, I'm on some unmentioned list.

Helps that I have the most common first name and 17th in surnames. Somewhere around 13,000 people in the US share my problem.

If you have this much trouble, most likely you wouldn't be approved for PreCheck or Global Entry.

 

[lvhmbh]

We always arrive at least 2 hours ahead. Our credit cards allow us into multiple lounges so after check in we go and relax. DH knows I'm nervous until I get to the airport so..... I got lots of flack for 3 hours in Aruba but it was a relatively (1 hour) short check in immigration/customs and security so we went to our favorite bar for a nice hot dog. When we got to the gate we heard a guy had 2 hours in line standing. No more flack from my peeps lol!

 

[WinniWoman]

Precheck doesn't pay for us since we rarely fly.

 

[silentg]

Domestic flights. Hour early. If we park to fly, 2 hours. TSA pre still 1 hour. International we allow 2 and a half hours. Usually go thru security then have a meal, then wait at the gate. If we have longer destination we have made flights the following day. Very stressful to take 2 flights on same day. For me, it is more stressful going thru TSA than flying on the plane.
Silentg

 

[Talent312]

I'm on the kinda semi restricted list. Seems someone or someones with my name have done bad things...

So what did you do? <ducking>
It could be worth the trouble of a legal name-change... maybe to "George Washington."

 

[Ty1on]

At least two hours every single time, regardless the time day or night. I don't mind sitting and waiting an hour and a half. I would definitely mind missing a flight because ticketing or security is a zoo.

 

[Luanne]

Precheck doesn't pay for us since we rarely fly.

I don't know how much you'd have to fly to make it worth while. We resisted for a bit since we seemed to be randomly selected for PreCheck on most flights. Then we weren't. Or worse yet, one of us would get it and the other wouldn't. We decided to go ahead and get Global Entry (only $15 more for the 5 years than just PreCheck) in case we did any travel out of the country. Turns out to be a very good thing as our younger daughter is attending grad school in Vancouver BC and we've already been up a few times.

 

[echino]

Get Nexus. It is $50 for 5 years, and it includes Global Entry. If you get a standalone Global Entry (without Nexus), then it's $100 instead of $50 and you lose Canada benefits.