What is your cut off for getting an airport hotel?

Running to the gate is the stuff of nightmares for me. But we are all different. Horses for courses and all of that.

Its actually quite exciting and funny - gets the blood pumping for sure. Me and DP were laughing about it. Im sure if we hadnt made it we would have sulked. But flights go all the time so we would have just got on the next one. Wouldnt be the end of the world.

When I told my DM this story she went green with anxiety, lol. Maybe Im just weird.

I agree! Traffic and Manchester Airport itself can be a nightmare. I’m 30 mins ish away and have stayed at the Raddison for early flights and it was so much easier!

I really like Exeter airport!

It's a glorified shed so everything is quick, there's one shop, one cafe, one set of loos

I cba with big airports now unless I have to. The choice of flights is not great though I do admit but I try and make it work if I can.

Well for a start, I’d take the train. I know you then have to get a bus from Temple Meads to the airport but they run every 12 minutes or something.

Can’t imagine spending all that time in an airport
hotel at Bristol. It’s fairly pants round there. I’d stay in the city centre then get the airport bus.

In your circumstances, rather than an airport hotel I’d book a night in Bristol and then have a wander there before your flight. More fun than hanging round the airport

I could have this attitude when I was in the states where catching a plane is more like catching a bus, and there were 10 flights a day between St Louis and Chicago so you literally could get the next one, often at no charge. But I imagine for the vast majority of people, the next flight to the destination may be the next day or longer and would incur huge costs (far more than overpriced food in an airport which you don't have to buy anyway). I'd hazard a guess that flying from Bristol, there is no later flight to get if OP misses the original.

We flew from Bristol last week , stayed overnight as our flight was 05.55

We live about 2.5 hours drive away , I don’t know about public transport there but I’d go the day before and treat it as part of the holiday

Its almost easier to go from LHR as it least we know it’s a stay the night before situation

Different tolerances for things going wrong, I think! I'm always aiming my timings in a way that would make me be at the airport 3 hours early because I'm leaving myself time for there to be an accident on the motorway/train delay on the way (we get plenty of them - my airport train when I was going to Croatia a few years ago was cancelled and I had to wait 45 minutes for the next one) and I can't afford to rebook if I miss a flight.

If I were better off or lived on transport routes to the airport that weren't a nightmare I might have a higher tolerance for risk on it but as it is, I'll take an extra hour or ninety minutes wandering round duty free to eliminate the risk that I'll miss my flight and therefore my trip!

Anyone still at security with 20 minutes to go would miss their Easyjet flight from Bristol - gates close promptly 30 minutes before departure.

And in November, the only flight from Bristol to Rome on a Monday in November is the 15.40 Easyjet one. There are 3 flights the next day, but then you'd have to pay for a new ticket - and pay for a night in a hotel anyway!

I think it's down to logistics rather than precise timing. I'm 1.5 hours drive from Gatwick so if it's a morning flight will stay at airport hotel because of traffic risk + benefit of being less tired. But I'm only 40 mins from Heathrow and there are multiple travel options (drive/taxi/coach/train/tube) so I wouldn't stay over even if a v.early flight.

With a 5 hour coach journey to factor in, yes, it's probably worth the peace of mind. If you're near the terminal though I really wouldn't turn up more than 3 hours before. So if you have to check out at 10am you'll have a couple of hours to kill in the hotel lobby etc. Take a good book!

I’ve never stayed in an airport hotel, I get out of my own bed less than 3hours before a flight to Europe 😂
in your situation though, it’s going to be a long travel day with little room for anything to go wrong so I’d be tempted to be near the airport the night before, have a relaxing morning and an easy journey to the airport.

I'd do the same.

Never. I can’t do it. I just can’t fork out for waiting on a hotel room before the holiday. I couldn’t even unpack or sleep I’d be too stressed.

I know it’s the right and calm, logical thing to do but I don’t have it in me.

We stayed in a hotel the night before , 1.35pm flight, airport 1.5 hours from home driving. I was worried there’d be a crash on the motorway on the way

Yeh I do get that. Im talking gatwick or heathrow, and also (not a stealth boast i swear) Im quite well off so I would just suck it up and make it work. Worse case scenerio wed get a hotel and go the next day, suck up the cost and have a day in london. Not saying I wouldn't be miffed, and its never happened. But if it did it wouldnt be the end of the world for us. No kids in tow either which makes a huge difference of course.

Im just saying for me arriving at the airport 3 hours early is something going wrong for me. Im proper gutted to be there that early. But I also absolute hate airports. Im ND and the noise and sounds and lights drive me batshit crazy so 3 hours there is like torture.

It's your own business what time you arrive at the airport. We travel a lot and for us arriving at the time suggested by the airline always works for us, trying to do it all in an hour or just over always ends up with a delay or hold up at some point, be it security or baggage check or finding out you have a 30 min walk to the plane. I like to have a little drink too.

Regarding the hotel, the deciding factor is if it means being less stressful and if we'll just end up tired. You need to work out what time you need to leave your house, so you have to add an at least an extra hour on top of that for getting ready and sorting last minute things to go into bag/case so you'll be looking at getting up at 6.30am leaving at 7.30am. even if you go with a 2 hour check in you'll have to be up at 7.30am leaving at 8.30am, it's not the middle of the night but it's still early, you probably be excited and won't sleep properly then you have to do a 5 hour public transport journey, that's a right pain, you'll be exhausted so for me a hotel the day before would be a definite yes and start your holiday early and relax nice bit of dinner etc

As you can make the hotel and day in Bath part of the holiday it sounds like a good idea. I would travel on the Sunday morning and then have the afternoon, evening and next morning in Bath.

But if money was tight, or you'd just be hanging around, it really is an unnecessary expense

Plus 3 hours ahead really is way over the top, no matter what airlines say. I've travelled a few times this year and generally aim for 90 mins to 2 hours ahead and this is always plenty of time including getting food, browsing bookshop, toilet stop etc.

On my last flight I was only there about 80 mins before take off, there was a 30 min security queue and it was still loads of time.

Well, quite. Just because someone else finds it funny and exciting to arrive 90 mins before and run to the gate, does not mean you should. Many people would be a nervous wreck which hardly a good start to the holiday.

I admit I am prone to cutting it fine sometimes and you know what, I've missed three planes. That is nothing to be proud of (i do have diagnosed ADHD). Don't be like me.

@joycomesinthemornings
I use a airport hotel, ( not an airport hotel but a hotel quite near an airport which includes transport to an from airport) when we deem it appropriate. This could be for times, so an earlier flight, for tiredness and therefore safety with driving, to break up multiple long haul flights, or for peace of mind.

If you are, like I am, a person who won’t relax till you are at the airport then if you can afford it, get the hotel.

If the train she used to get her there 3 hours before her flight is cancelled when she gets to the station, then she’ll miss the flight anyway as she lives so far away!