Not to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight

Depending on when you are flying an hour might be enough. But you have to allow for traffic getting there, you can be in sight of Bristol airport and still take 30 mins to get there.
I'd aim for an hour and a half, and if time more important than money, I'd get fast track.

Don’t risk it op !

I fly a lot for work. I'll leave an hour if flying from London city as it's mostly business travellers so everything is quick. Gatwick I give 90 min because it's full of families.

I think Bristol you need 90. Peak holiday time. Don't miss your flight for the sake of 30 min.

Why is getting there 2 hours before such an issue for you, it's not much different to 1 hour in the great scheme of things. Do you have a fear of flying?

@Iambouddicca The flight time is the time your flight is due to actually take off. Most gates are closed 30-40 mins before then with you in your seat and the plane doors closed. That gives you 20 mins to get through security and passport control and to the gate. You’d be bonkers.

The only exception is flying internally within the USA. That’s literally like getting on a bus 😂😂

This. I just don't get risking your entire holiday for the sake of an hour or so. I have witnessed this before. A woman pleading and begging Easyjet staff as she had arrived too late and they wouldn't let her check in. Just arrive 2 hours before like most people fgs

I fly from Bristol multiple times a year. No bag drop is good but

Are you flying in school holiday time?
who you with? If easyjet Their gates are the furthest away from main terminal the furthest is a 15 min walk at steady pace.

I'd not leave an hour there personally - the security queue can be out of the security hall to the escalators. I'd aim for 1.5hrs with no bag drop

I travelled from there recently. Honestly, it was straightforward- BUT I would rather be through security and have a coffee near my gate than get there later and be panicking in the queue to go through the scanners. It was a good walk to our gate, too, at least 10 minutes, so you might have that to account for as well.

OP, do try and do it within an hour, then report back here. Your experience good or not so good will be very helpful to others flying from Bristol with hand luggage only 😊

You can check in online and do bag drop the night before at Birmingham depending on your airline.

Security doesn’t open until 3am though.

We had to do the same last year at Bham due to the shit show with queues and security, it took almost 3 and a half hours to get through. Apparently they’ve put plans in place this year to avoid last years shit show.

I do 2 hours before any short haul flight. I fly from Birmingham frequently for work and sometimes you're through in 10 minutes and other times you're queuing through security for an hour. It's hit and miss. I'd rather take a book and be there early, sitting at the gate with a coffee than stressing in the queue for security and running to the plane.

In theory, an hour is just enough if you are not checking in luggage. In practice, the recommended two hours is to allow for things going wrong that are beyond your control.
Delays at security happen - queues build up, things break down, they might decide to search your bag.
Delays can also happen while you are travelling to the airport.
The flight won’t wait for you… is it worth the risk?

Surprised check in desk was open that early

Tell me about it

At least that one's now sorted out, but I see Bristol's now a building site ... how wonderful

At least 90 mins… gate usually closes 40 min before departure time.

I got a fright at Edinburgh. Everything including laptops stayed in the bag which meant it had to be hand checked by security. That took an unexpected 15 mins.

Time of day makes a difference as well - first flight of day are usually on time.

I would give it 2 hours

As always it depends on the airport, airline, day,..time of day, holiday season or not.
.......

At many airports, even some the major ones, hitting the terminal carrying hand baggage only with an hour to go would be regarded as quite normal.

As far as Bristol goes it's a case 😶 of listening to the regulars.

What’s the worse case scenario? For people who fly very regularly to major cities the worse case is they have to get the next flight, probably don’t have to pay for it or their employer pays a fee of some sort, and they are late for a meeting.

Is there a later flight if you miss it? Or will you have to wait a day? Does a day matter? If not and you’re happy with that out come rock up with only an hour and see what happens. If you need to be on that flight turn up two hours ahead.

No it is not enough.

last 2 times ive flown Ryanair we've been on the plane with he doors shut 30ish mins before take off time

it also took me 45 mins to get through security in Stansted and the walk is far to the gates

so i'd say you could be pushing it

Birmingham was atrocious last year, people were queuing outside to even get into the airport. Many people missed their flights, it was publicised fairly well in the media at the time.

OP, I'm sure this isn't you, but please don't by that person (like from the classic show Airline) that misses their flight closing and tries to blame everyone in the world but themselves.

Save yourself the stress, get there in plenty of time and chill with a coffee, safe in the knowledge it won't be you rushing around.

This

There's also the question of the journey there with possible delays, plus the frequent IT glitches at the airport, and that's before you get to tthe mess which security so often is ... frankly I couldn't stand the stress of risking it

You risk missing your flight.

I recently flew from Manchester and security took a while to get through. Loads of luggage were being checked and this was very early in the morning (around 5am). I'm glad I gave myself more than two hours.

I’ve almost missed a couple of flights from Bristol because security was mental crazy.