Not to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight

Foolish!
I get special assistance, normally arrive 3 hrs before flight time, hand luggage and handbag.
Never risk the unexpected

I flew to Dublin from Bristol last year. It was very busy, long security queues. And they lost my laptop when someone randomly took it out of the tray and put it under a table, took them 20 minutes to find it. So I wouldn't risk an hour!

A few weeks ago I thought I would be OK to change planes at Stansted with an hour to do it. It wasn't and I ended up having to buy another flight and take the train to Heathrow to catch it to get home. Won't do that again!

I've been at the airport 3 hours before a flight and barely had time to grab a bottle of water or nip to the toilet before boarding thanks to horrendous security queues...

On the other hand, yes if absolutely everything goes 100% to plan, you COULD be okay an hour before. It's extremely unlikely though

I used to regularly fly from Bristol and have been stuck in some horrendous queues at security, can also be a long walk to the gate, they seem to only use the ones that are furthest away! Also landed once at midnight and another 6 flights landed at around the same time, it was chaos. Have given up on Bristol now and use Heathrow.

It's Bristol.

1. Pompeii is in better repair....huge building works to build more parking so delays getting in
2. Security can be a mare, even hand luggage only
3. Ryanair and Easyjet fly from gates that are at least a 10 minute walk from the main departure area
4. M5 accident...A38 is the best alternative. M5 is currently stuffed as I type. As it was in Friday

Definitely don't risk it, I have flown a number of times recently from Bristol and security is really slow and the gates are all far away. You will need 2 hours imo

We flew from Bristol last year and thankfully planned to get there in really early. Lucky that we did, as the M5 was closed causing gridlock, and about 10% of the passengers who were due to be on our flight missed it. The pilot put out an announcement about it when we were in the air. Why take the risk just to save yourself a bit of a wait?

We had 1.5 hours wait at Heathrow last week to bag drop.
Arrived so early, with enough time to spend 3 hours in the paid lounge. All checked in, boarding cards printed, just bag drop. It dragged on, and we had 1/2 hour in the lounge after that and security.

1h 15 minimum just incase however even if u got there 45 mins before your flight you can still make it if security isn’t busy !

If folks are going to post detailed discriptions of airport processes including timings they need to mention airport/airline they are referring to because there are massive differences, even within the UK.

The major carriers (well most of them) out of places like Heathrow rely heavily on business and connecting traffic. They are not going to close gates and aircraft doors until almost literally the last minute.

The LoCos have different priorities, mainly around punctuality/ aircraft utilisation, for them it maybe makes more sense to have a more regimented system with big time.buffers and less catering for customer flexibility.

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@Bromptotoo am in the UK and I flew out and back in again earlier this month hand luggage-only. I checked-in on line and printed my boarding pass prior to arrival at the airport at both ends, but each time I still had to exchange my printed copy of the boarding pass for their version on arrival - and there was a gate number printed on it.

I had a very nice breakfast "airside" and checked my app for flight updates, delays etc.

In the UK most of us check on line and print the boarding pass or save it on our phone.

Without checked baggage you then go through security to 'airside' where there's Duty Free and bars/cafes etc.

Days of gate number on boarding pass long gone; you need to watch the screens.

No, when you get to the airport you (usually) check-in and get a boarding card and hand over any bags to be checked-in. Your boarding card will have a gate number and, quite often, the time that the gate closes. The gate is basically the "door" through which you walk to step out of the airport building and onto the plane.

After checking in you go through security to have your hand luggage checked.

I flew recently and boarding at the gate started 50 minutes prior to departure and everyone was boarded and sat down and the plane doors shut by about 25 minutes before departure. At some point between 50 minutes and 25 minutes they will have shut the gate - or closed the door if that helps - and you can't get on the plane after that.

So to arrive at the airport an hour before your flight time means you are effectively arriving 30 mins before the gate closes and if it takes 10 mins to get to the right gate number, then you are actually only allowing 20 mins to check in and get through security.

I really wouldn't... The queues can be dreadful.

Last time I flew there was major building work at airport. Caused loads of lateness.

Depends on the flight time as 6am-8am flights are usually busy at Bristol but later in the day more manageable. Bristol airport has extremely efficient security. Fairly sure I timed it as 6 minutes last time (May). You don't need 2 hours if hand luggage only but to be safe be there 30 mins before the gate closes. That gives time for security, loo, refilling water bottle etc. Don't get distracted by the duty free!

You might make it through in plenty of time, you might not. Sometimes struggled with 2 hours at Manchester.

It’s an Amex gold. We get points back so got a hotel free last year and 4 lounge visits. We are debating keeping it as there is an annual fee and last year was free…

Hahahaha @BashfulClam…..and please tell me which credit card is this?

After everyone watched us shuffle to our seats and then three(!) separate PA announcements about how early they had completed boarding, having to wait for ages highlighted that we weren't actually late 😂

Always worth a shot at a slot improvement if you can get everybody on early, and certainly no ones fault here that it didn't work.out....

Problem is people are often quick to blame the airline, any airline for...well just about anything such as maybe a perception of being late, so I can understand the reason for several PAs...but yes it gets a bit painful if you understood the situation the first tome.

In the past, travelling with Ryanair and Easyjet, I'd be there three hours early. There was a rumour that if you were there early you wouldn't get bounced off the flight if they were over-booked.

I don't know why you'd put yourself under this stress and pressure.
Get there in good time. Have a coffee and mumsnet for a bit.

It wasn’t the cat food man at Manchester was it?!

I just flew out of Gatwick at 6:15 am and got there at 4:50am. I know the routine like the back of my hand, had done online check in and knew exactly where security was, but there wasn’t much spare time. I’d get there at least 1.5 hours before if I were you.