[Closed] How late would you dare arrive for a flight?

depends on the airport, if that was prestwick, about 5.30/5.45 would do fine.

but basically figure out how long it takes to navigate the airport, factor in queues and be at the gate 45 mins before take off.

Gate Close + 30 Mins for me I'm not that brave and happy to have a cup of tea while people look stressed - also depends on the certainty of the travel time

There is absolutely no way of knowing what the queue for security would be like, so I wouldn't be very brave at all!

Missed a train connection on my way to Chi?in?u the other week so called Air Moldova and they gave me the mobile number of the check-in desk. They agreed to stay open till 55 minutes before boarding and a quick sprint from the Stansted Airport train station to the desk got me on the flight.

Did have a worrying time in security as I got held back due to a forgotten 10mm spanner in my bag. A further sprint got me to boarding gate in time.

Was a bit warm on the flight!!

Rachel

I'm not brave at all, and I like cooked breakfasts, so i'd go with the good old 'arrive 2hrs before' and stop to fill my face with sausages.

I'm not brave at all, and I like cooked breakfasts, so i'd go with the good old 'arrive 2hrs before' and stop to fill my face with sausages

I make that flight a few times a year & I wouldn't be too 'ambitious' particularly on a Saturday

Brum has a lot of tourist flights and non-regular flyers are always surprised by the baggage control.

I wouldn't be brave at all if it's just to get an extra 30 mins in bed 🙂

that time of day, that airport, I'd be coming in the doors 0530 latest

I've parked at bristol 45 mins before my flight and made it.

I wouldn't recommend it though. I thought I was on the KLM flight to schipol which goes an hour later than the easyjet flight...

I’d rather be having a coffee in the airport (or an airport breakfast beer if on holidays 😀 ). For a flight that early, you’re getting up at stupid o’clock anyway. For me I’d be walking through the airport door at 0430. 0500 latest. From what I’ve seen, at quiet times, the queue can be just as long as there will be fewer staff running it.

I would want to be there by 5.30.

Depends on the carrier & the airport, I reckon.

I used to fly VLM from London City airport to Antwerp quite frequently. An hour was plenty, unless you wanted breakfast.

Flying from Stansted to Aachen with Ryan Air though; 2 hrs can be a bit dicey depending on all the queues, so I tend to arrive in plenty of time & then get some food & spend ages choosing a magazine etc.

15 minutes once at Sao Paulo with luggage. All checks ins closed and deserted, they took us into an office checked us in got our luggage on the plane and us onboard with hot towel and champagne. Not to be recommended!

We'd checked and checked again with the local ground handler about our transfer time to the airport as it was Rio carnival and traffic is even worse than normal then as everyone heads out of Sao Paulo but they kept reassuring us that we would be fine.

(or an airport breakfast beer if on holidays

I've gave them up completely, nothing worse than waiting for the seat belt light to go off and 20 people queuing before ye! 😆

Given they have about 15 flights leaving between 6 and 7 I'd give it some respect

OK, follow-up question, anywhere to sleep at Brum airport for a few hours? The story is that I'm out on the beer in Brum the night before the flight, a 4am arrival is fast entering "sod it, I'll just stay out and grab a nap somewhere" territory.

Remember you get 'auto-fast-tracked' through check-in/bag-drop and security queues when a flight is closing so long as you announce yourself to someone who looks like they give-a-poo. Second flight of the day counts for nowt from a holiday airport as everyone goes early for the Costa flights so you'll be in the thick of it.

I used to play it fine but I can't be arsed anymore especially as I only ever fly with the family these days. Quite happy to drink over priced coffee and watch the planes.

At least with a scheduled airline you're far more likely to be at a gate that is 5 minutes walk from the Burger King.

ah, you're one of those goons! factor in getting kicked off the flight and paying for another once you sober up! 😆

We arrived at Florence airport at 20 past three for a ‘17:30’ flight home. The flight was [i]actually[/i] at ‘15:30’ and the weekend boozing at a wedding may have confused me.

We actually made it, but that was a stomach churning sprint through an unfamiliar airport if ever there was one. My OH absolutely hates rushing/being late so that went down well!
My recommendation is give it more than 10 minutes though.

Pay for access to the lounge? Got to be worth it - and can get a shower

or an airport breakfast beer if on holidays

Ha ha yeah - I'm the world's biggest snob but I'll still have a breakfast livener if I'm off on holiday 😆

Lunge - check out the airport hotels. At Birmingham they are literally about 20 yards from the check in desks.

2Hrs for me, I don't need the stress of it.

Misread the take-off time for check-in time once for a VERY important flight for my wife and Daughter once, I don't think I've ever been so stressed in my life.

We arrived at Geneva airport, virtually threw the pair of them out at the kiss and goodbye lane (or whatever it's called) - my Son, being the Lad he is didn't want to leave them to it and ran in with them to help out. I parked, got in, found him, back to the carpark and left - my Wife left the ground before I left the carpark. In fairness to Easyjet - they were excellent that day.

ah, you're one of those goons! factor in getting kicked off the flight and paying for another once you sober up

Pay for access to the lounge? Got to be worth it - and can get a shower

check out the airport hotels

I woke up at 7:05am and made a 7:50am flight, which included a 20 minute journey to the airport. Had to barge past everyone at security though!

I'm normally a 2 hours before flight type of guy, but for what you're describing I'd be prepared to risk arriving 90 mins before..

last time i had a really early flight security took ages as there was 1 line/ 2 staff.

can't chance it...

I always look at the number of flights around my departure time.

5 flights in the hour before mine and none in the hour after? Chill out and cut it a bit finer (maybe 1h15 for an internal flight with no stuff). By the time I allow for travel to the airport with an additional buffer it's more like 1h30.

Lots of flights before and after, busy airport and travelling with bikes? Be there 3 hrs+ before departure.

In your situation, I'd look at whether the airport is going to b busy for flights following yours and anticipate the queues through security that they will generate and how they will impact your processing.

Well there was that one time I got caught in traffic on the way to Helsinki, the woman checked me in and then shouted 'RUN!' So I did, and just made it.

Best one though was a weekend back in the UK to do a Polaris challenge in the West Lakes. Finished, sitting around chatting, relaxing, eating the free chilli then suddenly remembered I had a flight to catch, which would have been tight had we been on the ball. Threw everything in my mate's Subaru and made full use of its available horsepowers on the M6.

In the week, 5.30 for a 6.30 flight (hand luggage only) at my usual small airports that I know well. At the weekend, a bit earlier, as its full of holiday makers (and at this year, older timeshare folk) who have no idea how to get through security quickly....

Yes I know I am in a hoody and jeans, but grumpy business traveler coming through here....

I did once get to the airport 8 mins before boarding was due to open (first leg of 3 to get to Alaska) as I was waiting for our mortgage agreement documents to arrive (they didnt) and that was WAYYY to much stress.

I used to fly a fair bit. I think an hour beforehand is perfect and that even works in the big airports. I also think you won't miss a flight if you get there 45 minutes early but you have to keep moving and ignore any shops etc.

An hour is fine, and don't stress over being a bit under.

[s]I'm not brave at all[/s] if my 90 mile route to the airport gets blocked by an accident it's a long, long detour, and I like cooked breakfasts, so i'd go with the good old 'arrive 2hrs before' and stop to fill my face with sausages.

I've got to gatwick 20 mins before an easyjet flight was meant to leave before (not intentionally) just got to the gate in time (phew).

45 mins is plenty imo, I used to regularly cut it that fine, but lounge access makes airports marginally less hateful places to hang out so I often leave enough time for a bacon sarnie and a couple of beers now 🙂

The latest I have arrived for a flight was short enough that I slid underneath barriers at Stansted security and ran through the departure lounge to get to the gate before it closed.

Of course, being a Ryanair flight, it was delayed by an hour, they just had not updated the flight details. There was no excuse though, arriving at the terminal about 20 minutes before the gate closed was foolish.

In the “old days” prior to all the terrorism security checks and when flying business and checked in on line I have got away with 30 mins but quite stressful

In a small airport today I would do 1 hour if already checked in online. Big airports I allow 2 hours min due to slowness of security.

I think Ryan Air / Easyjet limit is 40-45 mins and they will close even if you are in the queue.

Airports can be surprisingly busy at 5am !

I have missed flights before due to time between check in and gate

In fairness to Easyjet - they were excellent that day.

We once dawdled down to the gate which became less of a dawdle and almost a run when we realised it was miles away! They literally shut the gate behind us and were stopping people coming through and boarding the bus which was 25m away. There was still 30mins to take off. Two young spanish girls right behind us burst into tears and they let them in....just, but others they wouldn't! That was Easyjet and I'm now careful to always leave plenty of time for arrival these days. Just not worth the stress!

If it's personal I go down early.

If it's for work and it's outbound. 1 hr.

If it's for work and inbound (way home) I'm at the airport for the check in opening.

My daughter phoned me from the airport distraught after been refused on to an easyJet flight despite having arrived at the gate in plenty of time, and people behind her were allowed on. Fortunately she was able to get another flight half an hour later, this being the correct one to the correct destination, not the earlier one going to a different destination. Apparently, how is anyone supposed to know that there's more than one airport in London 🙄

A chap I know had a flight leaving Manchester at 3pm on a Sunday, he drove over the day before and stayed in a hotel as he ‘didn’t want to risk the traffic’

He lives in Harrogate.

who have no idea how to get through security quickly...

what is wrong with these people.

You have been in a queue for 20 minutes walking past signs that say you have to take off your shoes and belt.

Then a man comes round and tells you 'you will have to remove your shoes and belt, please get ready'.

Why the **** are you at the front of the queue having sent your try down the conveyer in your shoes & belt! 😡

about right Trail Rat but the outbound traffic tends to die down faster than I ever expect an I get there 90 mins early anyway.
The depart on time early closes are getting stricter here which does make me a little more wary.

MIL would have everyone there at least a day before departure time "just in case" 🙄

Lol, my mother was in a panic that we were going to be late for a flight, leaving Huddersfield 3 hours before the flight departed Leeds Bradford. Amazingly, we made it just in time. To see check in open.

A chap I know had a flight leaving Manchester at 3pm on a Sunday, he drove over the day before and stayed in a hotel as he ‘didn’t want to risk the traffic’

Probably a wise move at the moment. I travel from Manchester a lot with work and have the routine down to a fine art, but the other week going on. Holiday with the family I allowed an extra 1hr and we literally only just made it. The road works caught me by surprise and a 1hr door to door journey took us 2.5 hrs!

Always worth building in some buffer for those unexpected things that can catch you out en route.

A chap I know had a flight leaving Manchester at 3pm on a Sunday, he drove over the day before and stayed in a hotel

To be fair that's probably leaving only just enough time to get through security at Manchester these days ...

Always give myself an extra hour if it's Manchester - they tend to do a bag search for anything including empty nalgene drink bottles (which I informed should have been placed in a separate tray with the lid removed to prove it was empty) as you can incur 45 min delay if your bag is searched.

Doncaster/Robin Hood however is a total breeze. Park 100m from departures, swan through security and away you go ...

Security is the issue these days where ever you fly.

East Mids was the worst Ive had.

Actually, this can be one of those times when checking in luggage can be an advantage. It'll get loaded onto the plane whilst you get stuck going through security etc

Once it looks like you're running g late they have to find and offload your bag.

45 mins is plenty imo

I've just got back from a couple of weeks in the US. Coming home I was through bag check-in and security in about ten minutes. Going out there though, despite using every advanced online check-in and automatic boarding machine under the sun it still took me an hour to check in one bag and another half an hour to clear security. If you're going to the US from Manchester at least then you've got Buckley's of doing it reliably in 45 minutes.

As for staying overnight the previous night, I've had good experiences this last couple of weeks with my first taste of AirBnB, might be worth a look.

I hate airport security. I don't know if I just look like a wrong un, but several of my airport attendances in the last five years have included a swab of my hands and/or bag for firearms residue. And on two occasions they've been positive, causing moderate delays. Once because the nugget doing the tests hadn't washed his hands after the previous one, and once from, I assume, handling firearms. Oh how they chuckle when they fill the form in and ask my job. Not funny for me, I might miss a meal.

I've travelled from Leeds Bradford before now with the bikes, checked in and got rid of the bikes, then driven back to my parents to drop off the car and walked back to the airport to go through security. Works well, unless your friend leaves his passport in his car - muppet 🙂

Rachel

Live next door to Hongers airport so can leave my apartment and be airside in 25 minutes with hand luggage, digital boarding pass and using my HKID to get through immigration. For UK flights with hand luggage and pre-checkin I would leave at least 60 minutes for airports like Southampton and Bristol, at least 90 for Manchester or Birmingham, for the biggies like Gatwick or Heathrow all bets are off due to security, especially if using LHR T3.

Arrive when you want to. Whether you get on depends on what time you choose....

On my flights, if we were short of one passenger who hadn't had any checked hold baggage in, we'd depart on time-notwithstanding all the other factors that cause delays!! If you had hold baggage and were late, I'd ask for it to be offloaded.

I fly the bloody things and don't cut it under an hour from arriving at the airport.

Once it looks like you're running g late they have to find and offload your bag.

Don't rely on this. It'll likely stop them leaving 15 mins early but if in general if the hold is opened to look for your bag, you won't fly even if you turn up at the gate before they've found it.

Yup agree^^^, there's a penalty for offloading the bag, but if you hang around waiting for the wayward SLF to turn up, and then have to offload, you've cost more time anyhoo so its best to crack on with finding the bag.

I read this as "how late would you dare arrive for a fight". Answer: very late, certainly after all opponents have given up and gone home.

Can't recall ever having missed a flight though I have had a few sprints between connections. (Worst being a work trip back from Madrid, delayed departure, then change at Schipol, the gate I wanted being about 4m vertically from the one I came in on, but more like 1km horizontally involving bombing through security to go down a level.

He lives in Harrogate.

My mother likewise. Family trip to Toronto rellos. Nice and early to the airport for the return flight, which had actually left the day before as per tickets...

I cunningly avoided a delay by not going in the security line behind the middle-eastern looking family, but then time slipped away as the chap in front of me had to explain to the personnel why he was wearing three pairs of trousers. There's probably a moral there.

1 hour for a short haul, 2 hours for a long haul, never in a million years for Ryanair.

About 3 years back I did manage 11minutes for an EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Geneva...admittedly it was paperless tickets online check in , hand luggage only and a flat sprint across the airport from security (with the now de rigeur shoes off and a quick wham-bam-thank-you-man shake down) to the far side of the south terminal gate . I wasn't last on board the plane either...

No check-in luggage, online printed boarding pass, and straight to the gate, I've been under 30 minutes after polite explanation.

At LHR, I've still been in bed having not packed 90 minutes before the flight (I live 10 min away mind).

Travelling with the family - 2 hrs minimum!

It's a bit longer now than it used to be, but the desks can spot a seasoned prepared traveller who knows the drill a mile off.

Not intentionally but 25mins for a transatlantic back from Detroit Metro to LHR. Got to the check in desk extremely late (they were just packing up for the evening) and they held the gate and plane doors for me. Got escorted through security and taken on buggy to gate. One of very few advantages of being a Delta Million Miler - they pulled out all the stops - but does mean living you are living your life on aeroplanes 🙁

Latest I'd leave it is about 3 hours before takeoff.

For UK flights with hand luggage and pre-checkin I would leave at least 60 minutes for airports like Southampton

Work trip to Portsmouth. Organisers flew a group of us into and out of Southampton. They hadn't factored in the time to take a taxi from Portsmouth to Southampton Airport.

Arrived at check in with 15 mins to spare after offering significant cash incentives to the uber driver to get us there.

Come to think of it, another group of us did the same years ago flying back from London City to Manchester. We were half cut on this occasion and the DLR hadn't been built out to the airport....

Lots of flights before and after, busy airport and travelling with bikes? Be there 3 hrs+ before departure.

Must be a troll. Or my mum.

The 'official' answer is to have checked in before the arriving flight lands as they have to make up the passenger manifest.

The unofficial answer from me when I worked for a company that ran an airline is simply the time to park my car walk up the steps - they held the plane for me. But it was a small airport. Sometimes I've been the only passenger and we started once I'd sat down.

I used to fly a lot for work, & reckoned that the stress of planning to get through quickly wasn't worth it, so 90 mins minimum before departure. Then coffee and a nibble.

My brother-in-law and wife managed to miss a flight from LGW this summer, after allowing 90mins to get through. They complained that the queues were too long....

I always add the couple of quid for fast track security onto my ticket for work trips.

I flew from Manchester twice in the past 2 months, both weekday morning flights, but the security queue was totally different for each flight- for one I was queuing for at least half an hour, for the other, I waited about 2 minutes. Totally unpredictable.

Don't risk it. Too many factors to build in for contingency at Birmingham airport.

M42 snarl up (I've been delayed with m5 accident at 5am heading to the airport.
The security chaos when several hundred travellers appear all together for a flight to Islamabad 😯

Arrive early. Chill.

The flight is the least of my worries, it's getting to the airport!

Therefore I usually arrive about 3hrs before check-in even opens.

at least 2 hours for me. I get incredible anxiety in airports - about the only time / place I do. Last time I flew from Edinburgh the whole process of hurry up and wait ie baggage check security passport check etc took over an hour

In the brexit day and age, flying to or from the UK I'd get to da CHOPPA at least 2 hours early.

That's for hand baggage only, if I have hold luggage, I'd factor in another hour.

Then have a cheeky pint or two.

No point getting stressed and rushing to the airport.

1 hour from entering the airport to departing and I even had time for a bacon sarny. Lovely.