Not to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight

I do three hours but my credit card gives me free lounge access and I like to rip the arse out of that.

How can you keep an eye on queues before you get to the airport? If she’s only turning up an hour before, its too late to do anything about queues.

DS got caught out flying home last week from Lisbon...he arrived too late at the gates. By one minute. They wouldn't let him through.

He got the train 6.23am. Flight departed 9.50am. Train journey was two hours. We insisted he get there night before and crash at the airport but no, he knew better. Had to book him a flight home for later that day!

You also need to factor in delays due to idiots i.e. those who:
Think security regulations dont apply to them and look surprised when asked to remove 12 tins of cat food from their hand luggage ( looking at you Mr.Cat Food last week in Manchester airport!)
Faff around in duty free and then demand to be moved to the front “because we are going to miss our plane”
Need to drink 3 pints at 7am and then realise the bar is nowhere near their gate

Good job she was by the sounds of it thank god.

I honestly think you'd be crazy to only show up and hour before. I've been in too many long queues through security or to get parked to think it's ok.

I think an hour is very risky. Whilst you may well be fine there is a lot which can go wrong. I hate a lot of hanging around and if I'm staying at the airport/am very nearby and only have under seat luggage/checked in online then we aim to be walking into the airport 1 hr 45 mins before. We're crap at timekeeping though so often it's more like 1 hr 30m and that really doesn't leave much spare time. Queue and go through security, faff about getting everything together, grab a coffee and pastry, fill water bottle, go toilet. Head to gate. By that time gate is usually already boarding. Last year our Easyjet flight to Santorini was announcing "last call" as we arrived at the gate. Remember that if you don't have hold luggage then they don't need to hold the flight to remove it. They can just shut the doors and go if you're not there. And they're more likely to have given your seat away to someone on standby (though I've never had that happen).

On our way back from Catania last month the gate changed while we were coffee-faffing thinking it was right there. We had to do a very fast walk to get to the further gate and we were last into the plane apart from three people who RAN onto the plane a few mins later.

It won't surprise you to hear i have missed three flights in my life. Don't be me! It's so much better to be bored for an hour than miss your plane altogether.

But presumably you aren’t even allowed to drop your bags off until eg 2 hours before the flight (easyJet’s rule - I have seen people being turned away).

So what are you queuing for - to get in the airport?

Might be a bit self-perpetuating, more people arriving earlier in fear, creating more backlog, more people hanging around in departures unable to check in etc

honestly an hour should be fine if you’re travelling light and know where you’re going. just keep an eye on queues

If it’s Bristol and an early morning flight I would get there two hours before. Can be absolute carnage there getting through security. We went to Lisbon once from there. Queues going outside the building. Only had hand luggage. They luckily held the flight as so many people stuck in security still after the gates had closed. It’s that bad that we won’t use Bristol any more for an early flight. Later in the morning and afternoon probably I’d give it 90 minutes.

Bristol is my least favourite airport due to all the unknowns and contingencies that need to be allowed for.

DH says similar - he flys with work from Bristol couple times a year it's different every time.

Yes! We nearly missed our 6am flight from Bristol as the queues were out the door. Had to run, Home Alone style to get to the gate in time and had to pay for the speedy security. We haven’t flown from there since. We normally always fly from Gatwick which is a lot more organised IMO or the south coast airports (where you can arrive and be at your gate within 10 minutes!). Id allow plenty of time from Bristol :-)

I flew from Bristol to Cyprus in April and was there 3 hours before. Checked in and spent approx 45 mins - 1 hour at security and the gates closed 45 mins before flight. This was Easy jet. Definitely at least 2 hours you'll need

Birmingham airport is notoriously bad. I have gone hours before a flight too, otherwise the risk is high that you’ll miss the flight.

The infrastructure around Bristol Airport is a fucking nightmare. The ingenious plan of expanding the airport hasn’t actually expanded to the surrounding single-carriage road with mini roundabouts either side of it, and all the flights seem to come in and leave at the same time so there are queues on the road at all hours it seems especially if you’re travelling southwards towards it. I wouldn’t chance it op.

I personally wouldn’t risk it because if security is busy you might not get to the gate on time.

Just to add about silver zone, it says buses every 15 minutes, but we queued at least 15 to hand in our keys in the first place, then queued again for buses and a few left full before we got on, so I'd say it was more like 45 minutes minimum from parking to airport building. Obviously it could be less if quieter.

Better early and having a coffee than late, running through the airport and missing the flight? We always aim to arrive at least 3hrs before departure because life never works out to plan and so many things can screw it up…traffic on the roads, roads closed due to accidents, public transport issues, long queues at airport…if you allow extra time, less stress..

Honestly Bristol Airport is a nightmare. 9 times out of 10 security is backed up like crazy. I remember getting a Ryanair flight from Bristol and thinking at least the airport will be quiet gliding at this ungodly hour but nope, still a ridiculously long slow security queue at 5am.

That might be ok as long as you mean actually setting foot in the terminal an hour before. As others have said, getting there can be a nightmare, and the road layout keep changing during the works.

I find flying alone with just under seat baggage really efficient. We are the non-faffers! If I was going with other people I'd allow more time as its usually those other people who slow everything down.

I recently flew from Bristol with 1h 15 before my flight and I had a checked bag… that was a bit too rushed for me tbh. I think 1h30 with nothing to check in is fine. But make sure you’re allowing yourself enough time to get to the airport as it doesn’t leave a lot of contingency. I prefer to allow 2 hours just so I’m not rushed.

Probably called it the wrong thing, but you have to go through security, have your luggage scanned, passport and boarding pass checked. That took us nearly 2hrs last summer… the queue was endless even with some people using the biometric passports.

Hi OP, me and DH flew from Bristol to Europe a few weeks ago with just carry on bags. We had a 6am flight, got to the airport for 4am and only had about 20 minutes leeway to grab breakfast in the end. We were surprised at how quickly the time disappeared, but not sure how typical our experience was.

Well, if you disregard their advise it's at your own risk.. as long as you are happy with the risk of missing your flight....

I fly 3 times a year out of Bristol and I wouldn’t chance it to be honest. The queues for security are lengthy and slow and the walk to whatever gate your assigned can be surprisingly lengthy. Get there the 2 hours before hand and don’t leave it to chance.

I’ve often been caught out (DH seems to think planes will wait for him) and have had to cancel a food order, sprint to the gate etc. you really do need the 2 hours.