AIBU to ask if people are arriving at airports four hours early?✈️

No.

@Wipeywipey

We also had a lot of people on our flight going to Heathrow for connecting flights to America, for example, which is another layer of different security to check.

In a way I suspect there's not much difference.

Just like US nationals UK nationals leaving the Schengen area are non EU citizens exiting the zone.

Can't swear to it but it might be that the exit process is exactly the same.

I think the idea is that eventually it will be quicker, once they have you on the system. Presumably people who are flying through within an hour have already had a long photo/fingerprint scan etc so it knows them, but the registering part takes time. We also had a lot of people on our flight going to Heathrow for connecting flights to America, for example, which is another layer of different security to check. The hardest part was watching the EU line sail through while non-EU were standing still for hours at a time.

And coming back was similar, very easy

I flew through Gatwick North to Croatia last week. Arrived into train station around 2 hours before the flight. Had paid for speedy bag drop (easyJet) and fast track security. Had loads of time

^New rules at border control were introduced earlier this year which have sparked chaos for holidaymakers from countries which are not part of the
European Union^

Obviously the DM didn't think being able to enter and leave the EU without going through this were important when they were telling it's readers to vote to leave the EU.

I would give 3 hrs - on our way back a few days ago (back into UK) it took 2.5hrs to get to passport control and we nearly missed our flight. The boarder guards were constantly shouting at people to get back, people pushing in saying their flight was on final boarding - pretty ugly behaviour. We didn't get the same issue at the UK end but when returning I wouldn't risk it.

We are just back from Europe. There was self bag drop going out but we couldn’t do bag drop off until 1.5 hours before flight coming back. We got there 2.5 hours before flight time due to queues with security.

The fact youre quoting the Daily Mail says it all...

So you can either read tabloid rubbish or go with what real people say.

3 hours if you can afford the time (i.e. time better not being spent in bed!), any excess going on grabbing food or a coffee etc. Otherwise I’ve always been fine with 2 hours, with young kids and without

Crete this week stansted departure to heraklion was fine. Fast. No issues.

"It's nothing to do with the UK."

@MPforTitipu
Okay. So tell that to all the people that have ended up missing their UK flights home, causing them huge problems.

Only if I’ve got free lounge entry😉

Personally probably not. I used to arrive an hour before a flight in Bristol or 2 if Thomas cook had a flight about the same time as mine. A large flight of infrequent fliers really slowed things down.

We normally stay at Travelodge Gatwick the night before because I prefer an early flight and we are a 2 hour drive away.
I get to the terminal 2 hours before the flight.

When I used to fly regularly for work, I prided myself on getting to the airport with less than 90 minutes to spare. It almost became a competition between my teammates to see who could arrive the latest and still make their flight.

Travelling with family is a completely different story.

Same here. They're making air travel so stressful it isn't worth doing.

It's nothing to do with the UK.

The EU have brought in the EES system for all non-Schengen/EU passengers (not just British ones). The idea is that once registered on the system - on your entry to a Schengen country for the first time - everyone, on leaving and entering, goes through the same automatic gates: passport on reader, look at camera, gate opens. For some reason some European airports don't seem to have that system working properly.

It doesn't seem to be a Europe-wide problem as many people, me included, have literally passed through passport control in both directions in seconds, in several EU airports. EU and UK passports all used the same Egates.

In the UK I've sailed in and out through the automatic gates (the same ones for UK and EU passports, and some others) just as swiftly at Gatwick and Heathrow.

No, but I live 10 minutes from our local international (small) airport. I usually allow 2 hours from leaving the house to take off, occasionally we've gone back for a forgotten item/taxi been late and we've still had plenty of time.

Larger airports, maybe🤷🏻‍♀️

Ah well, that’s for work. I wouldn’t care about missing the flight if it was for work.

This reminds me of the thread where the op was angry with her friend for getting anxious about arriving at the airport early! I wonder how they got on in Cape Verde (if they even went) as I don't think she ever reported back!

i used to fly every week for work, you soon run out of things to do!!

Yes, same here.

I'm also loathe to book an evening flight as I don’t want to miss a day of the holiday that I have paid for.

Forgive me if you're aware of the background but the problem ATM is the introduction of a system to track non EU citizens/residents entering/leaving the Schengen zone...

So travelling, say France to Spain or Italy is indeed the same as a US domestic because you are going Schengen <> Schengen.

Problem is travelling anywhere Schengen (e.g. France/Spain) to/from anywhere that is not (e.g. UK)....there's now another layer of processing...and some places that's causing problems, and that's why some airlines have issued warnings...