How early is too early to arrive at the airport?

The worst that can happen if you're very early is your flight is delayed and you end up getting absolutely bladdered at the airport bar through boredom! That happened to me before.

But if you're a nervous traveler being early is good. Have (one or two!) drinks, food, just chill and you can be one of the first onto the plane if you so wish. Or just hold back till the queues gone down. But you know you'll be at the right place at the right time.

Yup we’re half an hour from Heathrow and an hour and a bit from Gatwick. We nearly always stay the night before for Gatwick if it’s a morning or midday flight or even early afternoon as often the trains can be cancelled or traffic. Heathrow we would do the same for an early one. Mid morning we’d get a taxi but there are back roads if the M4 has issues.

Its so much nicer being in the premier inn knowing you’re there!

I live 8 minutes from the airport and always turn up 3 hours before my flight. I have free lounge access though so it’s nice to sit with a free drink and snacks watching the planes. DH is an aviation geek so is happy to sit with flight radar telling me where all the planes are going and watching for ours coming in.

Exactly.

I really don't understand people's aversion to building in contingency, and at worst, having to sit in the lounge for an extra hour.

Holidays are among the most expensive purchases you'll make, and the most anticipated and looked forward to. Why risk losing it all so that you can sit at home for an extra hour or two, twiddling your thumbs?

I'd rather kill an extra hour at an airport than worry about getting caught in a horrendous traffic jam.

Oh yea, me too!

And it's bedlam at the moment with school holidays/high season.
I've just come through Malaga airport. Very busy.

Short answer - it's better to be bored at the airport than panicked in the car.

Go early, if you hit lucky with the traffic and end up there 1-2 hours before you can check in then go for a pub lunch nearby, that will kill a bit of time and you’ll spend substantially less than on crap airport food!

Another one here who would sooner get to the airport really early rather than be stressing about getting there on time. I would definitely be leaving as soon as I could after your hair appointment.

We live about 45 mins from Gatwick. We have a 7.30 am flight when we go to Greece and more than once we have been held up on the way to the airport even at that time in the morning so we now stay at the Premier Inn opposite the terminal building the night before and factor in the cost of the hotel, dinner and drinks into our holiday spending. The same applies when we go to Southampton when cruising, go down the day before in case of delays or when travelling from Tilbury leave about 3 hours before our boarding time in case of delays at the Dartford Tunnel. Me and DH would much rather sit with a drink and our books waiting than stressing in traffic.

Totally agree!

it’s not difficult to kill time at the airport. Good book and a cup of tea or have dinner (check out best options in advance). Might even be worth booking yourself into a lounge and make to the start of your holiday.

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

Leave after appointment. What would you do in that time after appointment anyway? May as well waste it in the airport. I find afternoon flights I just twiddle my thumbs at home. (I'm 25 mins from Edinburgh airport so nowhere near as bad) I just want to get going. You'll get through security early and relax. Could you look into buying a lounge pass which would make the experience nicer? Treat it as part of the holiday fun. I have only been on the M5 once when I went to Devon on holiday. We got to it at about lunchtime on a Saturday the first weekend in July so before the English school holidays. We were nose to tail for about 2 hours. This was 25 years ago!

It sounds like you can’t go any earlier than 11:30 due to your hair appointment (can’t you change that?) so if you really can’t leave earlier than that then consider alternative routes if the M5 is looking bad.

Most people try to use the A38 around Taunton / Bridgwater but then you just end up stuck on the A roads. One route to consider is going over to Glastonbury and then heading up through Wells and across the Mendips down through Burrington Coombe. Only if the M5 has had an incident though!

Maybe this Friday put your route into Google Maps at 11:30am and see what it says, just to give you a rough idea.

@ikeepdancingonmy you can fill two hours at home feeling twitchy and unable to concentrate or you can get to the airport early, enjoy a coffee and a snack, browse the shops and enjoy your book.

Cutting things fine for airports/ships is fine if someone else is paying for you to rebook.

I’m another who likes to be there early. I’d much rather hang about the airport than be stuck in traffic.

we tend to arrive at the airport 3 hrs before take off. Airport takes 30minutes to get to but I always give us an hour approx in case of traffic.

my dh thinks we go far too early but knows how much airports stress me out so he goes along with it.

You might want to spoil yourself and consider the lounge when airside too. Have a lovely holiday. x

I'd set off after your hair appointment and if it looks like you're going to be really early, stop for a relaxed lunch and walk nearby. Arriving 2-2.5 hours before take off time is more than early enough.

I don't know the area but can see that Weston Super Mare is only half an hour drive away - you could have fish and chips on the beach. Or go for a walk around Cheddar reservoir (this is just me looking at Google maps to see what's nearby).

If it’s going to make you feel less anxious, just go at whatever time you like. Take a book, get a meal there, treat it as part of the holiday!

I don't know the route you're taking or what the roads are like where you are, but I would also leave early to allow for delays. We leave for the airport early every single time. We use Google maps, not because we don't know the way but so that it can tell us of any delays on the road. We have contingency time built in for road delays, baggage drop in delays, security delays. If you're unlucky and get a couple or all three of those then you are definitely running the risk of missing your flight.

We arrive having checked in online, drop off our luggage, get through security and then have time to get a light meal and cups of tea, sit and chill with those, maybe look at the shops, then mosey on through to our gate. We've never been harried or stressed and anxious because we've allowed for hiccups. Like a PP, I consider the airport as part of the holiday (for me, it actually starts when we're loading the car up) so we want it to be nice and sedate.

You can't always avoid delays but you can allow for them, which you want to do anyway. I don't blame you, set off when you like. Don't listen to anyone who who says it's daft!

Knowing what the M5 and Bristol Airport can be like, I think it’s very wise to give yourself as much time as possible.
Take a packed lunch with you in case you can’t check your hold luggage in until a certain time (the last time I travelled from Bristol it was at 6 o’clock in the morning and I was sleep deprived so I can’t recall what’s actually available pre-security!).
There is the Airport Tavern just down the road so you could stop by there if you feel you’re too early and have some lunch.

@Shedmistress Why on earth did you not let your destination hotel know that you were delayed?
Echo all those suggesting leaving earlier and finding somewhere for a nice early lunch, off the motorway and close to the airport.
I have often driven up to Bristol from Exeter. It used to take me an hour with no delays, but I usually factored in 60 minutes' contingency. Have a lovely holiday!

I fly from Bristol airport regularly for work and always leave tonnes of extra time as the surrounding roads really suck. One incident can really screw the whole journey over and that’s not even taking the m5 into consideration.
I have a colleague who actually lives in Bristol and has a 20 min journey to the airport who has missed flights before due to traffic issues.
Easyjet bag drop definitely does open at least 3 hrs before at Bristol too.