Arriving at airport 2 hours prior to check in opening

[phoenix1973]

My oh insists on this....in case we get a puncture and miss our flight.
I hate it. Theres no seats so we're paying costa to rent seats.
Aibu?

I love getting to airport early for our annual escape not so much if it's for business I grant you
We've been luck to have flown Emirates business class from Manchester twice now and it's a brilliant start to our hols ...check in on line, chauffeur car collects you, no hassle with check in, fast track through security and straight to business class lounge limitlaee food and drink
Admittedly we're now in our mid 50's and had our fair share of family holidays driving 7 hrs to visit relatives, so this is our time to kick back

When we used to go on holiday with the dcs we used to joke that our dd got us to leave the house before the plane had actually been built!

I go with the staying over at a close by hotel the night before (to avoid the potential road/traffic issues) and g trying there at the adviser time - so 2 hours normally. Then by the time we've gone through bag check (we check in online so always have seats allocated by then) and customs we've enough time for a drink, a magazine purchase and then boarding. If it's early we will sometimes have a quick breakfast at the airport, sometimes at the hotel instead. If going with no checked luggage we go there later.

DH flies to the same place every week for work. He has the timing down to a fine art. 10 min taxi to airport, arrives one hour before departure, straight through security and on to the plane. Same on the return.

5

Jet2 didn't send too small a plane. They overbooked the regular plane.

Jet2 fly 3 destinations to Barcelona, all of them on the 737. They don't have smaller planes. Airlines are constantly overbooking and creating themselves and other people massive headaches.

I'd rather be waiting at the airport then stuck on a motorway somewhere missing my flight.
I've always been bought up to be there earlier then the 2 hours. Punctures happen, accidents happen.
I agree with your OH

So now im getting worried. We normally arrive 1.5hrs before take off as flying from belfast. Never too busy. We will be flying back from gatwick in july. 8pm flight. How long before shud we aim for. Also hire car to bring back

Kazzyhoward you describe Manchester very well. There is no way I would only leave an hour to get through security there. As DD is still at school we have to go during school holidays as well.

I’m anal about timekeeping but even I wouldn’t get to an airport 4 hrs prior to the flight. We usually arrive approx 2 hrs before, but have been stuck in traffic and I’ve started to panic - the 2 hrs is enough of a buffer if you’ve checked in online though for Europe at least. The security is usually the hold up.
Never missed a flight but have missed the Eurostar!

I've only ever missed one flight and i was sat at the airport first in line for check in, proudly walked up to the desk handed over my passport and was told i'd missed the flight by a whole 24 hours
I'm going away next week and am aiming to get there as check in opens.

Depends where I'm going and who is with me. European flights I think of like trains. 1 hour is enough, real international flights 3 hours, 2 is pushing it. I used to get there 4 hours ahead when my kids were little, I once missed a transatlantic flight, it was horrific and I promised never again

Thing is, even if there is a long line at check in, when it's near to the time the flight is closing the staff shout out "anyone going to xx" and bring those people to the front of the line so they don't miss it. Then if there is a delay in security, well once you've checked in and they have put your bags on the flight, they won't just leave without you as you have to fly on the plane with your bags for terrorism reasons. So they will wait for you a bit, and if you don't show they have to get your bag off the flight which would take ages giving you even more time. Not that I would try to do this and hold everyone up! But if some unlikely thing did happen you would be fine.

Sometimes it takes 1 hour 45 mins to get through the security checks at the airport ! I have also been delayed by accidents on the motorway

We always fly from Leeds/Bradford airport.

There is a pub and a WH Smith. So if you're early there is aboslutely nothing to do.

So we always cut it fine and turn up at the last minute.

We fly from Leeds or Manchester and aim to arrive 2-2.5 hours before take off.

Allows a little spare time in case or crash, puncture, breakdown, roadworks etc, trouble finding a parking space, bag drop off or security queues, although we tend to use the Meet and Greet parking these days after a bad experience with Jetparks at Manchester where you have to find your own space in a massive car park and get the bus in and it took over an hour to find a space, get on the bus, drop off bags and get through security.

We were a bit late anyway due to traffic on the motorway. We didn't miss the flight but we needed to get food in the airport and didn't really have time for anything other than grabbing a Boots meal deal, which was disappointing when we were looking forward to a leisurely hot meal and a pint to start the holiday.

The poster saying about Jet2 sending a too small a plane could be correct, they do have different sized planes, or have done in the past, seating 148, 189 or 235 passengers. I've certainly been on bigger and smaller planes with them.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet2.com#Fleet

4 hours before take off is a bit unnecessary unless there are particular circumstances, but for those who arrive at the last minute, insurance companies wouldn't help them in the case of missed flights like a PP mentioned, as they would expect you to leave more time than that. It depends what sort of flight you are on as to how expensive and inconvenient missing a flight would be. If you were going on holiday, you might be able to get a later flight, but it is likely to be very expensive.

If you were going on a short business trip, the event could have happened by the time you get a later flight. Sometimes there is only 1 flight a day or a few a week from regional airports, which would obviously be more of a problem than flights between major airports that have several flights a day.

You have to be there before check in/luggage drop closes, if you need them. Otherwise before the boarding closes

If flying in the US or from the US, you would have to get to the airport a good deal earlier because security backlogs are unpredictable.

The poster saying about Jet2 sending a too small a plane could be correct, they do have different sized planes, or have done in the past, seating 148, 189 or 235 passengers. I've certainly been on bigger and smaller planes with them.

They only fly one variant to Barcelona though.

Different aircraft cover certain destinations. They also lease aircraft in during the summer season, so have many more variants, however, it's the small 737 aircraft that is scheduled for all UK to Barcelona flights. Technically they can't send a smaller aircraft. They can, have and do send bigger, but they can't send a smaller one. They overbook the flights. Very very common in the industry.

My dh - also er 'highly strung' is the opposite- his thing is: don't get there early because airports are a target for terror attacks.
There, I just thought I'd add that in the mix, sigh.

They overbook the flights. Very very common in the industry

It is commonly stated that, with the exception of Easyjet, budget airlines that are flying to mainly holiday destinations don't overbook flights.

I know it happens on the airlines that are traditionally non budget (although their business model these days is more aligned with budget) and with these, you generally can't check in more than 24-48 hours before the flight, which is different to jet2, Ryanair etc where you can check in 28 days in advance, you can also pay for your seat number when you book.

Given that, by the time people get to the airport, everyone, or just about everyone will have already checked in and have a boarding pass with a seat number on, I don't understand how overbooking would work?

They would have to give more than one person the same seat number and then change things around if both people turn up, but of course, until check in closes, they don't know who isn't going to turn up, so wouldn't know which seat to give them anyway.

Gosh, surprised at everyone who thinks two hours is a long time!

For a flight I'd be aiming for three or four hours beforehand, then you can chill a bit, window shop, or sit with a book and listen to music. I've been involved in traffic jams and train delays that have taken ages to resolve so it just seems sensible to me to give a bit more leeway when you're talking about something as expensive as a flight that will happen whether you're there or not.

"Today 07:16 Helmetbymidnight

My dh - also er 'highly strung' is the opposite- his thing is: don't get there early because airports are a target for terror attacks.
There, I just thought I'd add that in the mix, sigh."

It must be awful to be afraid to go about your business because of the relatively small chance you'll be caught up in a terrorist incident.

We always get there well ahead of the 'official' check in time. We have a 7am flight this coming Thursday. I'll be at LGW by 4am at the very latest. We live 90 mins from Gatwick but plan to leave at 2am.
I've booked the number 1 Lounge (as I hate the departure lounge at Gatwick at the best of times) so we'll chill in there for at least two hours. I can never really relax and look forward to a break until I've bag dropped and gone through security.

We've arrived at Heathrow 7 hours before departure a couple of times. It is, however, when we have been flying first class to US West Coast and we've wanted to utilise the Concorde Room to its fullest.

That boast wasn't even stealthy.

I love getting to the airport as soon as check in opens. No stresses about queues etc as we've plenty of time, look round WH Smith's and buy a magazine for the plane, longing look at the gin and wine selection in duty free then buying unnecessary flip flops in accessorize. It's the start of the holiday for me.

For a flight I'd be aiming for three or four hours beforehand, then you can chill a bit, window shop, or sit with a book and listen to music

The problem is, my DC are 4 and 2 (we fly a lot as have relatives abroad) and being at the airport really isn’t relaxing.
We only live 10 mins from the airport and always check in online so leave minimal time as possible actually at the airport. It works for us!

Judging from the posts on here it very much depends on the airport. Humberside - get there just before check in closes. Manchester - get there as check in opens. LBA - something in between.