And that's why we try to get to the airport early. Just in case. Have you had issues that could have made you late for check in?

[cakeorwine]

Nice week away, Flight was in the afternoon - an hour from the town to the airport. Spent morning pottering around and we left the luggage in a locker.

Got to the lockers to retrieve them. Put the coins in but no joy. Tried again. No joy. Slight panic rising - but there was a phone number to contact. Had to Google the country code but after 3 attempts got through. Someone arrived in 30 minutes and fixed it.

Luckily - I am one of those people who leave plenty of time to get to the airport just in case something happens! So this didn't affect us - but if we had been cutting it, then I think there would have been more stress.

Anyone else had similar issues - and did it cause an issue and stress, or are you the kind of person who leaves plenty of time

We're flying in a fortnight. Flight is at 4 o clock. We'll be at the airport waiting for bag check to open. DD is chomping at the bit to go, DH and I are hoping for a pre flight drink in the Spoons!

Early every time for me, but dh has always liked cutting it fine - IMO it’s a game with him. I swear he positively enjoys having to run to the gate while the ‘last call’ lights are flashing.

On one ‘memorable‘ occasion, when he refused yet again to leave in plenty of time for a fairly early flight (rush hour traffic) we found a major road to the airport actually closed, and having taken back roads (pre sat nav) made the flight only by the skin of our teeth.

Following year, similar morning departure, I put my foot down - we drove down the night before and stayed at an airport hotel. So civilised - no morning rush.

4am? It's never too early for an airport drink - time ceases to have meaning once you've been through security! 🙂

I wonder what the ideal time is? Say for a domestic U.K. flight? Thing is you never know how long security is going to take

I get to the airport on time i.e. 90min to 2 hours before the flight. The contingency is built in to these times, I can't see the point of adding an extra hour or two.

The people who say they go earlier so the experience is calm are normally the source of the stress in my experience - flapping and fretting and getting wound up over nothing.

Car broke down and had to be towed just as we were pulling in to the airport.
We were early as I'm a worrier so we had time to sort it and still get on the flight in time.

I'm not a 'flapper'. I just like the excited buzz in the departure lounges.

Me too. This is why I take charge of travel arrangements and am usually less than accurate when I tell him what time we need to be at the airport!

On occasions I have had to remind him of that Ronald Dahl story where the slow husband got stuck in the lift...

Screaming kids more like. Who will then spend three hours booting the back of your seat on the plane.

I'd sleep at the airport if I could! But what I won't do is queue for a flight where I have a seat. I just like the comfort of being there. We do girls trips and half the girls will queue for an hour to get their bag in a space above their head. I always laugh when I sit for that hour drinking a coffee then walk on the flight, sit next to them and put my bag in the overhead locker. Every year😂

Years ago we were due to take a flight from Heathrow at around 10pm and had left mid afternoon for a 90-120 min journey so that we had plenty of time for a meal before the flight. There was an accident in our nearest town, and we were deep in gridlocked traffic for a couple of hours.

We did make it, but our planned relaxing meal turned into a fast food burger. So yes, I always leave stupidly early.

Overslept on Xmas Eve due to insane shift the night before. Shot down the motorway at very high speeds, safe in the knowledge it was shift handover time for the roads policing unit 😂.

Dumped car in illegal parking zone, checked in to the sounds of tannoy and of my car being threatened with a tow, ran to the car, apologised to security, parked it in the nearest park and ride, fortunately made a bus with a second to spare, ran through the airport to the last calls for my name and my flight and security kindly pushed me through a short exit so I didn't have to go through the duty free, sprinted for the gate where the staff were waving at me to hurry up, ran to the plane and hyperventilated for 15mins.

If it had been any airport but Southampton and therefore tiny distances between each stage there I'd have been screwed. And any airline but British Airways tbh - they were so nice about it. Plus if I wasn't prepared to drive like a psycho on the motorway.... Final flight to get home for Christmas, so would have been an absolute nightmare!

When I fly with aged and disabled parent we only need to get there 90 minutes before the flight even with hold luggage (at our local airport) as you skip every queue. Can't push your luck with timings though as they usually board the wheelchairs first, via the magic levitating minibus.

I always stay at the airport the night before a flight. I have a 3yo and 1yo - it's just easier to be there with the little ones.

I hate hanging around . We live 10 mins from the airport and leave home around 90 mins before the flight time. Always check that number of flights leaving is standard.

10 mins in the car , 10 to park up. 30 mins to get through the security , 10 mins contingency. Job done.

I'm always early, would rather get checked in and through security in good time, can potter around or go get a drink then.

I like to be early but dh thinks I’m crazy and likes to cut it fine. Every time we go away he always proclaims that he’s never missed a flight. Pisses me off so much as I am an anxious person anyway! I don’t want to get there ridiculously early, just 2-2.5 hours before the flight.

Recently in UK, the taxi didn't get to me as he got stuck on the main road due to an accident. They sent a back up that took 45 minutes to arrive, and then 20 minutes down the road, there was an accident in front of us that closed that road for 40 minutes.

Nearly missed my flight

Have only once missed a flight, due to a coach fire on the motorway. We had left plenty of time, but if we had been 10 minutes either way we'd have been fine. The coach was on the sliproad off the M25 onto the M27, minutes earlier we'd have made it past, minutes later the slip road would have been full and we'd have sailed past on the M25 to the next junction. Instead we sat in desperation as they closed the sliproad and police/fire engines squeezed up the middle. We sat for 3 hours trying to phone the airline, insurance etc.
We got to the airport after the flight left, went to the helpdesk - no other flights from Gatwick that day. The agent found us one from Stansted the following day, as she booked for us the price jumped by £400!!! We had to train it home as we had to leave the car there for the return journey. Booked a taxi next morning to Stansted. So, so stressful, but we had a lovely holiday in Mallorca which was actually worth it.
Fortunately insurance covered most of the astronomical cost - about £1600, less £200 excess.

Have run for the gate once, arrived at airport just under 3 hours before flight, dd was ssss so we had to queue for check in, queue was so long they were calling people forward for the next flight and police were managing the queue. I think we queued for nearly 2 hours.

They had to reopen luggage check in for us, we were delayed at security and again at the gate (which we ran to) due to the ssss boarding card, and were last on the plane. No time for breakfast and we were starving by the time we landed. It was the first Saturday of the Easter holidays after US air travel had restarted after covid. I have never had a more stressful travel day. I’m normally always at the airport with loads of time.

It depends on the airport and how near I am. I never trust left luggage lockers and will use a hotel luggage room instead, even if it has to be a journey back to the hotel.

You sound like dick. Driving like a psycho and putting other road users in danger because you don't know how to set an alarm clock properly, but 'police changeover time so its ok' 🙄. Then parking illegally. You are not above the law and this is a prime example why it is better to allow more time

We always get through security in good time and keep an eye on the gates, knowing that even when it says last call or gate closed, there's always a massive queue we can just join the back of, usually to go through and join another queue downstairs/round the corner.

Once we'd just got another drink in the bar and were finishing our lunch about an hour before our departure when the tannoy announced 'last call for passengers Mr and Mrs Bjork for boarding'.

Confused, we rushed what we could of our food and and drink and went to the gate. We were indeed last although the plane was only about one third full. It was a fairly small Spanish airport and it was the last flight before a 2 hour break in the afternoon and it looked like the ground staff must have thought 'if we can get this one on it's way a bit sooner, we can have a longer siesta than normal' and indeed we did take off over half an hour earlier than scheduled.

Like you OP, we also try to get there early, especially when we have to cross the M62. Rather be 3 hours early than 3 minutes late as they say. But I do always chance my arm when returning from the Isle of Man, which is a very small quiet airport. There, as long as you're there around half an hour before take off time you can drop off the hire car, get a drink, use the loo and still be ready to get on before boarding starts.

The last time I flew with my elderly parents my DM decided she had to go to the loo just as boarding started.

No, she couldn't wait to go on the plane.

She did make it back in time, but OMG I've never felt so stressed.

I know our local airport very well and it's 15 minutes to drive there, so we used to book a parking space ahead of time, park and enter about an hour before and go straight to the gate for short haul flights.

Unfortunately we now have to go through the additional non EU passport check these days which adds an extra hour of queuing sometimes, so we've had to adjust after one very sticky arrival where our names were being called out over the tannoy system and the queue wasn't moving.