Getting to the airport stupidly early?

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We are flying with Tui on Tuesday from Gatwick Airport. Our flight is at 6.15am. I know you’re supposed to get there 2/3 hours early, but due to the disruption DH wants to get to the airport at 1.30am. Is that a little excessive?! Or Aibu?

You may not be able to check in that early.

I think part of the issue is people getting there so early so there are more people there at any one time. The desks most likely won’t open until 3 hours before so you’ll just be stood for 2 hours

I understand your DH’s point.
im flying next Sunday at 5pm and even though I’m already going to be checked in, I plan on getting to Gatwick for 12pm

I’m not even sure of his logic for getting there that early. I have just checked in online. So surely it’s baggage? I don’t know!

Depending on the airport your flying from it's probably not a bad idea to be there earlier than usual. Some of the stories in the press/social media are awful and being caught up in that would be a stressful start to your holiday....I think I'd be wanting to be there earlier than usual and if it was plain sailing through drop off/security etc you can relax in one of the cafes/bars airside

Part of the problem is people panic arriving toke army and causing congestion. Just go 3 hours before is fine.

Is he worried about the flight disruptions or the rail strike causing more traffic on the roads?

If I had to be at Gatwick that early, unless I lived v. close I'd stay the night at a nearby Premier Inn beforehand.

Why?

It took us two hours with Tui just to check in/bags for a 5pm flight. They had two people on the desk for literally hundreds of people in a queue it was ridiculously slow even with the 'self bag drop' that you still had to join the check in queue for! That was Manchester at the end of May, it could be better now.

Most sane countries don’t let passengers into the airport until 3 hours before their flight. And only passengers are allowed in.

No idea why the UK aren’t doing this.

Even though you’ve checked in online baggage drop may not be open. I flew last week (not from Gatwick) and bag drop did not until 2 hours before my flight.

Check in doesn't normally open until 3 hours before the first departure, the first departure probably won't be until closer to 6am. Plus you'll likely find that security won't open until around 3am either.

How much luggage do you have to check?
My few experiences flying from Gatwick make me understand arriving 2.5-3 hours early, but not 5 hrs early.

Personally I'm rather bored of arriving 2.5 hours early & being stuck (shopping mall) air-side with literally nothing to do for an hour or longer every single time. I just did a google & can't find any info about real arrival times... I suspect a lot of people even now are arriving only 90 minutes before & still easily making their flights.

Do TUI allow you to drop your bags off the evening before?

Spot on.

Airports are requesting people do not arrive earlier. You will not be helping yourself.

I’m sure I’ve had an email from TUI saying to arrive three hours before, up from the previous 2.5 hours. That’s plenty. They’ll pull you from the queue if it’s that bad, but I totally agree much of the issue is caused by people arriving too early.

I am flying with easyJet out of Gatwick in July. My flight is 10 am and I will church in online and arrive to be at the airport at 7 am. I live about an hour from Gatwick and if I get there a bit early than I am able to get a lift from a family member without them being late for work or having to take a train which will still get me there around 7. I will just go and have breakfast whilst I wait for the rest of my party to arrive and checking to open for luggage.

Do you need to drop baggage?

The hold-up is likely to be security/immigration, as that's what will affect the time it takes to get to your gate.

Ask Tui how early you can do bag drop. No point in arriving earlier than that.

You probably won't be able to drop bags that early and security is unlikely to be open either so I can't see this helping you, plus as others have said it's people arriving way too early that's adding to the congestion issues.

arrive 3 hours before departure - you should be fine.

Airports are increasingly asking people not to arrive excessively early. Dublin airport now has an external holding area for people whose flights are more than two or three hours away, depending on destination.

It's only worth doing that if you don't have to check your bags in and can go straight to the security queue. My partner flew from Manchester to Dublin and on to Boston in April and she took the decision, because the stories of carnage in Manchester were already in the news, to to take a hold bag and to rely only on her (quite generous) cabin bag allowance.

She stayed overnight at the Radisson, which is attached to the terminal and went down 3 hours before her flight. It was still an hour and a bit in the security queue but she was able to relax once airside and - of course - there was no arsing about waiting for luggage at either end.

I gather the queues at Gatwick are much better now and we're aiming to be there by about 5am for an 8am flight next Saturday.

Yes it's a bit excessive. But there are no trains so roads are going to be a lot busier.

The thing is, if you arrive at the correct time for you, you make be delayed getting through security and passport control because of those that have turned up early, we returned yesterday, and going out and coming back we allowed extra time, and I'm glad we did. If everyone arrived on time fine, but no one does because it's so unpredictable. Arrive early and have the stress of long queues, arrive on time and have the stress of long queues and running to the gate which we have witnessed.

We flew recently and were told not to arrrive more than 3 hours before our flight. They checked before we could get in the bag drop queue what time our flight was and were turning back people who'd arrived too early.