How early is too early to arrive at the airport?

You allow as much time as you want.
Take a good book.
And try and relax.

Not everyone can arrive the perfect two or three hours before the flight. I once had a 5 hour gap between flights from Argentina and Brazil and then Brazil and London so spent nearly three hours in a lounge. Also often after a cruise I do an excursion but still end up with about four hours at an airport.

Arrive BRS 2.5 hours before departure
45 minutes contingency for traffic and parking
2 hour drive

So set off 5h15 before flight time.

I'd say 12:15 was reasonable if you're. Coming northbound since you can always skip M5 and do A38.

If they close M5 like they have done recently with 7hr delays, you're screwed whatever time you leave so don't consider these kind of what-if scenarios

Edited to add:

Easyjet at BRS do their usual one queue for everyone and it's the usual mayhem, but you can queue jump if you're very close to closure...

Yep, agreed with you and others: it's rare but it happens.

Terminals will have a designed capacity and there's sometimes a need to restrict flow in to reduce numbers, especially airside - that's one of several reasons why there's often a limit on earliest bag drop.

When I traveled a lot I used to leave at the last minute. That's because someone else was paying if I missed it, plus all that extra time waiting around adds up.

Now I travel less and normally on my own money I tend to get there a lot earlier. I don't like the stress of waiting in traffic jams wondering if I am going to make it.

I'd rather get there an hour earlier and relax in Starbucks with a coffee. That extra hour or so doesn't make a big difference if it is only 2 or 3 times a year.

I'm not that desperate to save a couple of hours of time. Normally it would just be an extra hour in bed anyway. Easily recouperated if you are lazing around on holiday for a week.

I feel like airport time absolutely flies personally. I’d rather have an extra hour to kill looking at books and having a coffee than rushing.

M5 northbound is no better at the moment there have been loads of holdups around Weston.

If you’re such an experienced traveller then why the angst? How don’t you already know what you are personally comfortable with?

You can’t get through security if you’re too early at Manchester. Of course crowded airports are a thing.

That said, I’d go at 11.30 because you already know the roads are unpredictable and then I’d have a nice lunch near the airport.

I would much rather be sat with a coffee at the airport for an extra hour than be sat panicking in traffic!

Yes this. The worst case of leaving it late is that you miss your flight. The worst case of being early is that you sit in an airport for a bit. I’d always err on the side of being early and if that means waiting with a coffee for a bit that’s no hardship.

Yes that's crazy. And just contributes to airports being too crowded.

@pinkspeakers you have clearly never driven on the M5 on a Friday afternoon. I was on the M5 near Bristol last week, midweek and had to divert off due to a traffic accident.

The alternative is being stuck in traffic getting anxious about missing a flight. I know which I would prefer.

I'm very surprised. I usually find London airports too crowded for my comfort. Which is another good reason for me not to spend more time than necessary there (other reasons = more sleep if it's an early flight, more time to eat lunch before I go, time to send last work emails, time to clean out fridge, time to sit in the fresh air of our garden, the list is endless really - all far more enjoyable/productive than sitting in an airport!).

I leave enough time, but not too much. I'm not the sort of person who is going to be anxious about the journey if I'm not at the airport. I realise that some people are.

You are allowed to sit in a restaurant or cafe at the airport and people watch, or browse the shops. If you are an anxious traveller get there early and have lunch and read a book. What difference does it make? I'd not risk the motorway Friday rush hour, which starts early on a Friday, never mind a bank holiday weekend, and I'm not a particularly anxious traveller.

We were all going away a couple of years ago and there was a bad accident at the Gatwick exit and we literally made the gate by the skin of our teeth as it was closing - after a panicked queue for the airport bus, trying to get people to allow us to go in front at security, which had a technical issue, and a literal 2 mile sprint to the gate. Anything is preferable to that and now I leave plenty of time (even though I am 20.minutes from the airport) and have a pleasant drink in the nice bar or tuck myself away round the corner in departures and read a book.

I agree entirely. I am very much in the camp of better to be too early and have to wait then too late and miss your flight. DH and DD used to laugh at me but have quietly come round to my wat of thinking.

DD is an adult now and will, through choice, often get to the airport a good 3 hours ahead. Fortunately her usual travelling companion is of a similar mindset.

We live about 30 - 40 minutes from a major airport (Manchester), but the last two long haul flights DH and I did we decided to stay in the airport hotel the night before rather than risk an early morning journey in a taxi who potentially doesn't come on time or gets held up in traffic. It's a 10 minute stroll down a covered walkway from the airport hotel to T2 check in so that makes me feel very much more in control

Just because the OP has never heard of this, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Stansted Airport urges passengers not to turn up too early - BBC News

I have sometimes found airports to be too crowded to find a seat, but I was surprised the time we suffered a near 3 hour delay coming back from Menorca, which is a fairly small airport. Another flight to the UK was also delayed by a similar time and I remember saying to DP 'there's 400 people too many in this airport, where are they all'? Because despite there being 2 plane loads of passengers waiting for delayed flights it didn't seem overcrowded, there was somewhere to sit, and we could get food and drink without too long a queue.

I’ve only experienced one crowded airport and that was in Asia, other than that it’s just normal airport activity of people waiting for their flight.

And people are there at the “wrong” time. Staffing is set based on expected need which gets messed up if a lot of people are showing up much earlier than the normal window. Some airlines/airports, won’t check you in before three hours (or a different set limit).

I’m one to build in contingencies, but you are correct that airports have asked or forced people not to show up too early (as things opened up in 2022, Schipol restricted entry, for example).

You've never found it hard to find somewhere comfortable to sit down while you wait in departures?? Where do you fly from? I admit I only really know the London airports in the UK.

And it is a logical necessity that the longer time people spend on average in an airport, the more people will be there on average at any one time.

Actually some airports have on occasion asked people not to turn up 'too early' due to capacity issues. If they're trying to deal with the people who's flight leaves in 2 hours time at the same time as those who are flying in 4 hours, there's too many people in the airport and it can get overcrowded at busy times of year.

The M5 is shut almost daily on the sections south of Bristol at the moment. Various reasons, but seems to happen almost every day. I agree, I would rather leave early and be bored for a while.