If you are flying further than the eu, how early are you supposed to be at the airport

[Lardlizard]

Is it 2 or 3 hours before the flight departs

It usually tells you on the booking email

Oh I can’t see THat, only what time check in opens

Where are you going?

Long haul is usually 3hrs isn't it?

I don't understand how where you are going makes a difference.

Obviously follow what it says on your booking email because if you miss your flight due to delays in the airport, they'll be a lot more sympathetic if you got there at the time they told you to.

However, I do a domestic flight in the UK fairly often and it still takes the same time to get the car parked, get into the airport and get through security, so if I followed the 'turn up an hour before' advice, I'd miss the flight more often than not - last time I was in the security queue for well over an hour, and that's not counting the time it took to park the car and get to the security queue - I only made the flight because it was very late boarding and the boarding bit when I've gone outside the EU but only just, didn't take any longer - but I think it does when you're going long haul and the plane is bigger - I've only ever been on 737 size with one aisle, not the ones with more seats going across and two aisles.

It's typically three hours. It's to give you time to get through baggage drop/check in, security, get to gate an hour before.

I always think three hours seems loads but the above can often leave little time for much else, especially at Heathrow!

Look on the airport website - it's more to do with how long it takes to get from all the different sections and through security than where you are going and that can be much longer at some airports.

Depends if you're only taking handluggage only about an hour but if you're taking check-in baggage then go with what your airline dictates

Thought it was 2 hours but check with airline.

Well the time check in opens is what time you need to be there.

I always thought it was 2 hours

Oh I can’t see THat, only what time check in opens

Surely that's the time then? Not much point being there before.

Not true. Check in opens at Gatwick 4 hours before for a flight to the US. Required to be there 3 hours before.

It's true there is no point going before check in opens.

I'm an oddball who is there before check in opens! So we can get parked etc and not even think about rushing or worry about getting stuck on the motorway. Funnily enough I'm one of the few of my friends that actually enjoys the airport and doesn't find it stressful. That's the point.

But it's fine for the op to get there after check in opens as long as the airline agree

Not till half term,I think 2 hours dh thinks at least three hours
Difference is getting the taxi at 5am or 6am

Flying from Gatwick

Between 2 and 3 hours, absolute minimum is 2 really and we always seem to run a few minutes behind whatever time we plan.
Why not compromise on 5.30am (on the dot though)?

With which airline and where to? That will give you the answers you need. But why would you want to rush? 3 hours before would be my minimum personally.

2 hours for Europe, 3 hours for long haul, I believe. No idea why.

I arrived 3 hours before for a recent flight to New York and after getting breakfast it was time to board, didn't feel like we had been there long!

Gatwick?? At least 3 hours if not more.

2 hours whether long or short haul. If I had fast track security I’d go for even less, maybe 90 mins. Minimum conformance time (I.e. the legal time that you need to have cleared security before your flight) is 45 minutes I think.

Our tickets Heathrow to Bangkok say 2 hours before is recommended. You do need to be very careful to allow for traffic jams etc though as well. Maybe look on airline website might say there though have always thought it was 2 hours for longhaul, 1 hour shorthaul. I think once I asked airline staff and they said it was the same short and longhaul and key was to be at boarding gate at time stated.

Ignoring my last post my DH likes to be at the airport at least 4 hours early. Drives me bloody mad, quite what he thinks we will do at our local airport for 4 hours is beyond me....

Anyway, no matter how early you arrive it doesn’t matter, we duly arrived at Heathrow a few years ago about 3 bloody hours before a domestic flight to Leeds. We missed the fucking flight because ‘D’H insisted on spending about an hour in the Harrods shop (buying tea bags.....) and we missed the announcements. Knob.

We normally aim to get there 2 hours early.

The difference is between domestic and international (with international including EU) but there often doesn't seem to be a difference between domestic and international in UK airports because you don't go through immigration in either case and they make you go through security for domestic.