How would you manage these airport timings? (Birmingham airport)

[NervousFlyer2022]

Doing shorthaul to Europe next week with my 12 year old and 14 year old and the flight time is 615am. Seeing the stuff about chaos at the airports has made me feel rather panicky and I'm hoping someone can pull me off the ceiling...

I live a 30 minute drive from the airport and will probably drive there and park so not risking taxi being late etc.

The Q is if I have to arrive two hours before (415) - and possibly more to account for delays at airport... and taking into account parking and shuttle (say 45 mins) And prior to that rousing very sleepy kids and getting us out the house It's going to be getting on for 2am to get up.

We aren't the type of family to troop off to bed at 8pm and at the weekends its usually getting on for midnight.

Do we just sleep in the day before and pile through awake/sleep on the plane although it's only a couple of hours flight, or settle for an hour or two's grabbed sleep on the flight day?

I've not been at an airport in years and years, far less as a lone parent am anxious enough about the journey which I know is stupid when it's a lovely thing and people have worse things to worry about but if anyone who's experienced in travel could give me a steer on how they'd do it that would be ace.

Also if anyones been short haul through Brum airport recently I'd love to know how well it's coping with staff shortage etc. Thanks!

I would have a lazy day beforehand and try and have a sleep in the afternoon or early evening and then not bother going to bed later.

For me it's easier not going to sleep at all at bedtime rather than trying to get up in the middle of the deepest sleep of the night. But it depends on you and your kids.

I've got an 8am take off from Manchester and am not bothering to sleep the night before. Using public transport to get to the airport and will be there 5 hours before take off - yeuk 😒😒.

Thanks, I'm inclined to power through... we have a taxi transfer at the other end that'll be another hour where we can always catch up a bit then plus whatever we grabbed on plane... and oh that's rubbish timings for you - hopefully will be worth it when you get there! Not a fan of Manchester airport at the best of times, hope things will have shaken out a bit by the time you're going.

I tweeted Tui and they advised me to arrive 3hrs before the flight to allow for any delays as things adjust to normal.
Fingers crossed for smooth journeys

We're travelling on Thursday and our airline has advised a minimum of 3 hrs before departure due to the queues. I will be aiming for 4 hrs early, it's better to wait in the departure lounge with your gate in sight than to be stuck in a line at security.

I flew from Birmingham last week for a 7:00 flight. Arrived at security at around 4:00- 4:15 after hearing the news about Manchester and there was barely any queue at all, pretty much straight through. A friend who I was meeting at the airport had the same experience about 45 minutes later. We just powered through the day and had an early night. Can you sleep on the plane. Arriving back in the middle of the day was similarly painless.

Good to know others have not had delays, I agree being at the gate early is better as you can sit down on something other than your suitcase!

I flew from Birm Int last week for a short haul. My flight was in the evening 6pm, but I found...

a) there are roadworks going on around the airport and poor signage so it was harder to find the car park entrance than it should have been. There was also poor parking signage so allow a bit of extra time to find your way from the park to the airport.

b) I was checked in and bag drop was quick. Security queues were long but they moved fairly quickly. I arrived at the door to the airport 2 hours before my flight and had about 15 mins free for a coffee once through security, before boarding started.

Birmingham is usually really good to be fair to them. I would aim for 3 hours to be safe but not worry