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How Early Should You Arrive For Your Flight?

bobpark56

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If you run into a traffic jam, you will wish you had left earlier.
 

vacationhopeful

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Been flying by myself since early 1970. Changing planes in cities I have never been to ever since. And regularly since 9/11 changes.

The old days are gone ... no more running fast from curb to gate in 10 minutes or less. I did get slightly slightly older (;) .. but TSA became a bigger influence on my 'to the gate' full gait run).

2 hours to before for my drop off at the curb. And my use of these valuable minutes, include getting food for the plane fight and checking status of the gate to IF the flight is overbooked (loot offered and NEXT flight to my destination) and any delays/origination of my flight to gate (weather). And the password for the airport's internet (and NO, I refuse to pay for it).
 

klpca

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I always insist on two hours and it drives my family nuts. One time a passport was left at home - discovered about halfway to the airport. We had time to go back, retrieve the passport, and get to the airport and make it on time. And that's why I insist. I've run through the airport before because I come from a long line of procrastinators and magical thinkers (there won't be any line! If there's a line someone will let us cut in! etc). With the extra time that we allow, we always have time to grab a bite to eat at the airport, hit the atm for some cash, and just sit and take a break. Everyone has a different tolerance level for stress. Mine is kind of low. ;)
 

cubigbird

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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.

Can you get Nexus if you don't live near a border state? Is there any point other than to save the $50?
 

Luanne

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Can you get Nexus if you don't live near a border state? Is there any point other than to save the $50?
Sure you can. You just need to go to one of the centers where they do interviews, and those are all near the border.
 

MuranoJo

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Can't you just check in on line the night before?

You are right. But I was thinking of the entire security check as part of the check-in as well. But if you have GE or TSA Precheck, that will certainly help.

I have to admit I'm way more conservative these days with allotting time @ the airport--we had a couple of nasty trips internationally in the past two years where we just didn't allow enough comfortable time for customs. (No, we didn't have GE.) In one case, we missed our flight and the trip was exhausting as it was prior to that. It took a whole year for me to convince DH to give it another try.
 

Joe33426

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Resurrecting this thread to see if anyone has advice for LGA...
Our flight leaves at 4PM on a Saturday, and we are checking bags.
I may be overly cautious, but I'm thinking:
-- 1 hr by taxi from midtown-Manhattan to LGA (1:30-2:30).
-- 1 hr for bag drop to gate (2:30-3:30).
Seem reasonable?
.

Although the traffic probably won't be as bad as on a weekday, I think that you're smart leaving around 1:30 from midtown. With all the construction at LGA, it's really a mess. Although departures has never caused me a problem so far this year (I've had a couple outbound flights this year) but usually fly out of JFK because of the construction. I'm about 1/2 way between the 2 airports. Arrivals at LGA is truly a mess, and it seems that they're moving Uber pickups away from the terminal.

http://laguardiaairport.com/traveladvisories/

If you have Amex Plat, there is a Centurion lounge in Terminal B before security that's pretty great. I try to pick up a drink and a meal before my flight if time permits.

Adding to the discussion in general, I think the time through security depends a lot on the airport and the time of day and particular day. For example, on Friday I was at JFK and it was a mob scene. Tons of families traveling for spring break. Pre-check at T5 was slammed, what is usually 5 minutes through security was more like 15-20 minutes, still not bad. The regular security line was HUGE. I would have hated being in that line.
 

jackio

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Thank you Joe, for that update. We are flying out of LGA on Tuesday. I am going to try the long term parking and shuttle it to terminal B. I guess I will arrive about 2.5 hrs ahead as they advise it is a 15 to 20 minute shuttle ride.
 

WinniWoman

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Our flight this June on a Saturday leaves at 10:40 am from LaGuardia to Denver.We are generally about 1.5-2 hours from the airport. The car service we are using is picking us up at 6:45am. When I mentioned I thought maybe we should allow extra time because of the construction, they insisted that it would be fine as they are down there every week. They did say that coming back they will have to pick us up curbside as there is no place for their driver to park.

I am going to check in the night before. I am still nervous, though.
 

WinniWoman

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You are right. But I was thinking of the entire security check as part of the check-in as well. But if you have GE or TSA Precheck, that will certainly help.

I have to admit I'm way more conservative these days with allotting time @ the airport--we had a couple of nasty trips internationally in the past two years where we just didn't allow enough comfortable time for customs. (No, we didn't have GE.) In one case, we missed our flight and the trip was exhausting as it was prior to that. It took a whole year for me to convince DH to give it another try.


We rarely if ever fly, so don't have GE or TSA Precheck. I was surprised years ago when we went to Scotland that customs was a breeze as everyone said to allow more time. Coming home we got to the airport very early (in the pouring rain- could barely see to drive). Then ended up sitting around anyway because the flight was delayed.

Murphy's Law. If we had gotten there later the plane would have been on time.
 

Talent312

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Coming home, we got to the airport very early (in the pouring rain- could barely see to drive). Then ended up sitting around anyway because the flight was delayed.

That reminds me of the time we flew from Orlando to London. A serious thunderstorm delayed takeoff by 3 hours... not a spare charging station to be had. We called London to delay delivery of our grocery order. The delivery chap showed up at the flat just as we did. One could say it was a happy ending.

.
 

Joe33426

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Our flight this June on a Saturday leaves at 10:40 am from LaGuardia to Denver.We are generally about 1.5-2 hours from the airport. The car service we are using is picking us up at 6:45am. When I mentioned I thought maybe we should allow extra time because of the construction, they insisted that it would be fine as they are down there every week. They did say that coming back they will have to pick us up curbside as there is no place for their driver to park. I am going to check in the night before. I am still nervous, though.

You'll be fine! Try not to worry! Your car service knows better than anyone because I'm sure they are at the airport all the time. Who better to trust, than your car service.
Have a great time in CO and don't let the whole airport, flight, etc. get you down. You're going to have an awesome vacation, much better than Portsmouth, NH.
 

normab

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Both DH and I were frequent fliers while we worked, and spent lots of time in airports. Luckily we both like to get to the airport two hours ahead of time, and go to the lounge if there's one available, (we also have coverage with a credit card), and just chill before the flight. If there's no lounge, we just gets seats, and log into the Wi-Fi for a while. Sometimes we grab a bite to eat depending on the situation.

We also like to have two hours in between flights that connecting at airline hubs. They're just too large and it can be difficult to get to the second flight if your first flight is running late.

I'm really grateful :clap: that my DH and I are on the same page because it would be super stressful :( for me if he were always running late........
 

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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.
My husband had a similar first time experience in January when travelling to the US from Canada. He, like Rumpled, was unable to check in or get his boarding pass online. Mine was fine. At the airport his boarding pass had SSSS on it which is Secondary Security Screening Selectee (aka. Super Stupid Seniors Screening) and his screening included full pat down and every item in carry on swabbed. When changing planes in Seattle nudey scan, pat down then taken aside and another pat down including genitals and full swab on bag contents again. Fortunately we had 2.5 hours between flights and needed all of it. We had booked the flights with an airline rep as using a companion ticket and they had missed his middle name and Global Entry/Nexus number on the reservation. With that added on the reservation no difficulties going home. He too has a very common name. Rumpled, you can apply for a redress number if you wish to travel more and once achieved could get Global Entry. I know in Canada a booking needs a middle name but I guess maybe not in the States. That screening is very invasive if it happens every time you fly. Ugh!
 

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Same like a previous poster who said two hours. That two hour window is our ideal time too, so we don't have to stress about missing our flight. My husband and I usually "try" to time it to arrive at the airport check in counter (factoring in weather, traffic, if returning a rental car, etc.) 2 hours before boarding time.

If we leave out of LAX we allow at least one hour for traffic, 15 minutes to drop off the rental car at their off site lot and take the rental car shuttle bus to airport and get to the airline check in counter. He travels more for work and knows most of the various airports layouts, so can find his way through the terminals quicker. We both have the TSA/Global Entry and he has elite status on some airlines so that helps with getting checked in at the airline counter and going through security a little quicker. We can usually hang out at the airline lounge until boarding begins, so that helps with the wait times.

Sometimes, it's been way less than two hours as we've cut it close by not leaving on time or unpredictable crowds & traffic at the airport. On one of the recent trips, LAX was so packed with traffic that the car rental shuttle bus was barely moving and finally got to the first terminal. Of course our airline terminal was the last terminal, way on the other side of the LAX "horse shoe" designed terminal and we were afraid that with all the traffic and the other passengers stops at all the other terminals before ours, we'd be late. So we got off at the first terminal and walked/ran across the bridge, through the parking lots and to the opposite side of the first terminal; we figured it was much faster than staying on the shuttle bus. Good thing we usually try to travel light and had just wheel our carry on rollaboards!

For international flights, we're more cautious. And if we're in a foreign country, we usually try to get there sometimes 3 hours early. But it helps that we get lounge access most of the times there, so that helps make the time spent waiting a lot more comfortable.

The other thing to remember is that some LCC (low cost carrier) airlines like Air Asia actually have on their tickets/website that you must be checked in at least 45 or 60 minutes prior to boarding or else they won't let you board or if you have baggage to check in. I read on some other sites that some passengers said they weren't allowed to board if they missed the specified Air Asia check in time, even if the plane hadn't left or closed their doors so they had to buy new tickets, no refund. Be careful and make sure you read the rules before you buy the tickets and plan accordingly. Build enough time in your schedule to get to the airport for check in. And plan your flights to have enough time if you are connecting on an Air Asia or other carrier flights with similar rules.
 

Talent312

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For an 8AM flight from Orlando-LAX-Vancouver, we elected to stay the night b4 at the airport Hyatt, instead of doing a park'n shuttle. The hotel is inside the terminal so we can simply go downstairs at 6AM.

Anytime there's a shuttle involved, it shouldn't take more that 15 min, but I add 30 just in case.

.
 

Larry M

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So obviously it matters if you need time to
- park and walk
- check bags
- go through long security lines (more likely at large airports)MO

But it also matters what airline you're flying. For example, if you're lying Southwest and you miss your flight they are really nice about getting you on to the next flight as standby. They don't charge you extra and they don't berate you. But other airlines are not as friendly. So... you don't want to miss your flight but sometimes it's a bigger deal to miss it than other times.
We love Southwest and will continue to prefer them due to their flexible policies including no change fees, checked baggage fees, and boarding practice.

However they make a profit by running their planes 100%full. We were returning from Fiji to North Carolina--Fiji to LAX by Fiji Airways, then LAX to RDU by Southwest. We were scheduled to land in LA just after 6:00AM and leave around 9:30. The plane used for the short Nadi-Auckland run had been out of service for three days and the passengers were getting grumpy so Fiji Airways co-opted our 747 for a "quick" run to Auckland. "It's just three hours."

If we had been looking on the approach to LAX probably could have seen our next flight taking off.

We complied with the Southwest rules, staying at the airport from 4:30 am to the evening and agreeing to ride any eastbound flights with seats, regardless of destination but it still took me 55 hours to get home including a motel night in LA, sleeping overnight in the airport in St Louis, and four hops in between. Details upon request.
 

AnnaS

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We don't fly often but when we do, we get there two hours early. Always worry about accidents/traffic, etc. Another incident that has happened twice, our driver never came. After a call, someone was sent out immediately. since we leave early enough, we did not have too worry too much!!! Not happy, but got there in time!
 

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Well, we've everyone's anecdote about travel, but of course we haven't answer the question BECAUSE IT IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON A HOST OF VARIABLES. In short, this is a question without an answer.
 

rapmarks

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I think I posted a similar question last year. We live fifteen minutes tops from airport, we were taking an eight o'clock flight from Florida middle and f may. Our very type A friends who were driving us insisted we leave at 4:15. By 4:45 we had arrived, checked bags, and gone through security. Three hours to sit there for our flight. Well darn, southwest discontinued this flight so now we are looking at flying with stops, and either long waits or changing planes within forty minutes and a two and a half hour ride home. Also paying double what it cost last year.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Talent312

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In short, this is a question without an answer.

Cop out. There may not be any one defining answer that covers all situations, but general guidelines can be formulated based on whether the flight is domestic or international, the TSA factor, whether one is checking bags, and car-to-terminal time.
.
 

Jimster

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Cop out. There may not be any one defining answer that covers all situations, but general guidelines can be formulated based on whether the flight is domestic or international, the TSA factor, whether one is checking bags, and car-to-terminal time.
.

With all due respect, it is not a cop out. You need to include in your list which airport we are talking about- hence you add about another 300 variables. You don't have the same problems in BOZ as you have at JFK. You have about as many guidelines here as you do in picking lottery numbers.

Then if that is not enough, add your class of service, your status, the number of people in your party, the proximity of the parking or rental facility to the terminal, the location of your gate, the airline you are flying, your degree of conservatism vs risk-taker, whether you need special services such as a wheelchair and the list goes on and on. If you want a guideline, use the one the airlines give youi- 2 hours domestically and 3 hours for international, but any frequent flyer will tell you that depends on the factors listed and many more. This whole thread is a series of anecdotal comments which might give some insights but it not helpful in a final determination of what is a good time to leave to a particular airport.
 
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LisaRex

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I appreciate airports that post their TSA wait lines online. It gives you a pretty good indicator of when you need to arrive. But, generally speaking, I arrive 2 hours before my flight. I have GOES/pre-check now but I'll still arrive 2 hours beforehand if it's a fabulous destination. Work? 90 minutes.
 

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I usually get to the airport in Jacksonville about 15 minutes before boarding starts when I'm flying alone (no bags to check - I do two carry-on bags). If my wife is along, probably an hour before boarding because she will bring a bag to check & worries about being late..

2 years ago on one of my trips to Vegas I told my wife she could bring along the two grandkids if she wanted. At JAX, at that time, only Delta had curbside baggage and we were on United so we had to go inside to check the bags. There was some problem with the kiosks that morning & the line was not moving at all. It was just under 45 minutes till flight when we got someone to help us & they told me we were too late to check the bags. So I told him to put them on the next flight, which they refused - "we CAN'T do that. No, you WON'T do that, there's nothing that says we can't fly domestically without the bags. Well, you won't make the flight anyway. Yes we will, we have Pre-Check and we'll easily breeze right through..." They wouldn't do anything for us so we missed the flight. There were at least 15 people yelling at them at the check-in counter who missed their flight because of their check-in problem that morning. It took TWO hours for them to rebook us on another flight - we originally were supposed to get to Vegas at 10AM and now we were going to get there at 10PM. And on the flights they rebooked us on, the two girls were on Standby! Are you kidding me? Took even longer now to rebook us again where we all had seats... The new routing was through Washington Dulles and the flight stopped in Chicago. We went back home (original flight out was at 6AM and the new one wasn't until 2PM) and when we got home I noticed that the boarding passes for the girls said IAD-ORD and my wife's & mine said IAD-LAS. I went online & found that the IAD-LAS flight didn't just stop in Chicago, it changed planes there even though it was the same flight number. So I told them to get in the car & we're going back early...took them quite awhile again to fix the tickets for the girls...the IAD-ORD flight was really late and I was afraid we'd miss the continuation of it in Chicago since we had to change planes in Chicago and they wouldn't think twice about leaving on time for the continuation if we were late getting into ORD. Luckily, the plane for the continuation was just across from where we landed and we made it.

And this was just the start of the trip. I'll try to keep this part short, but on the return, we had two cars since I spent my time gambling & my wife went elsewhere with the girls. On the way back to the airport, from the HGVC Strip location at Sahara, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw their car getting creamed by an 18-wheeler, spinning like a top in front of the truck. I got off I-15 at Flamingo & went back. They had been pushed to the shoulder by then. I expected them to need to go the hospital but they were all OK. The ten-year-old was bawling in the backseat......but it was because she couldn't find her cellphone! Only one side of the car was smashed in (driver's side) We obviously missed our flight by the time we got to the airport. Return was on American and they couldn't rebook us until the following day so I called the front desk at HGVC and asked if we could return for another night since we still had several nights remaining on our reservation. They said sure so we took a taxi back to HGVC and stayed another night in our original rooms. The AA agent told me that because we missed our flight she'd have to refare our tickets & it was going to be expensive. She went in the back room & luckily took pity on us & didn't charge me anything..The flights back the next day went fine. But the girls refused to go in the car with grandma for at least 2 or 3 months after that. And they say that they will never go to Las Vegas ever again..

And, six months after that, Budget Rent-A-Car sent a letter saying we owed them $6000 more than what they settled on with our insurance company. Our insurance said that commercial truck insurance companies never pay anything so they paid on the claim. Turns out (I found out a year later) they the trucker's insurance did pay for it; the cops on the scene said it was 100% the trucker's fault (truck decided to change lanes and clipped the rear of the rental car & threw it in front of the truck). I sent Budget a letter telling them to go to hell & they could try suing us if they wanted but they'd lose in court -- by my figures, they were overpaid by our insurance company..
 
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