To arrive at the airport at 5am for a 6:20am flight?

[CroccyWoccy]

Trying to figure out logistics for an early morning flight. Can’t get to the airport before 5am without staying the night before. Flight is 6:20am. Only flying with hand luggage, will have checked in online.

Is this doable or do I need to stump up for a hotel?

Sorry for not getting back after you answered my question. I would not chance the first Stansted Express.

Don't forget to print out your boarding pass and measure your luggage size, assuming you are flying with Ryanair.

I got one of those Megabus type things from Liverpool street to Stansted, I think it took about 45 mins, it was uber busy there at 5.30am. We didn't need to rush and made the flight easily.
I think they run earlier than the express train, which I've never used. It's probably cheaper too.

also Think it might be tight. Have you looked at National Express coaches - we’ve often used them for early Stansted flights as they run earlier than Stansted express

I definitely wouldn't cut it that fine. Not worth the risk.

Stansted is heaving at that time of day!

Think it depends on the airline. Ryanair no chance as the check-in queues are horrendous. If you're flying Jet2 or another airline, you may make it. We've paid for fast track security at Stansted which does make a massive difference.

Where in London are you going from? A taxi for an early morning flight is probably cheaper than staying in a hotel the night before.

It also depends on the day of the week and whether it's school holidays.

Yes, Stansted is heaving at that time but, if you're happy to rely on public transport to get you there for 5am....it could be done. Pay for fast track (worth every penny) and know exactly where it is so you can scamper. If it's Ryanair, they leave from the gates furthest away and can be via a slow tram or a long walk - we regularly get an 8am flight and I'd never leave it that tight personally.

You might make it but you have no contingency.

What if the train is late/cancelled? How far does the train drop you off from the terminal? Is 5.20 when you should arrive at the terminal, or is it a walk away?

What if there's a queue at security - we use Leeds Bradford the most and security is usually very quick, but last time we were in the queue for over half an hour and fast track wasn't that much quicker.

What if your bag is kept back for a random extra search, adding on time?

We try to be at airports 2-2.5 hours before departure and do often have a lot of time to wait, but have had a few times where we've been queuing for so long that we do risk missing flights - it once took me over an hour to get through security at Manchester and I only made my flight because the gate was right around the corner from security and they didn't even start boarding until after the stated departure time.

But if you miss the flight is there another one you can get later in the day, or is it game over for your trip?

I think I'd take the hotel option to be honest.

I wouldn't .. can take 45 minutes to get to he terminal 🤣 I also arrived atleast 3 hours before my flight so I'm waiting at the terminal early

Stansted can be very busy, is it a weekend, school holidays? It's tight but just about doable usually however kind of depends how important your trip is too. How about the national express bus?

If money is an issue so taxi/hotel are out of the equation what time does the last train the night before arrive? I'd be tempted to get that and sleep at the airport.

Years since I've been to Stansted though so no idea on the facilities or comfort.

I've managed at Heathrow and Luton on these timings but stansted I arrived 4.30 last time and only just got through for 6.15 departure

Book and pay for FastTrack to get through security quickly.
Do not risk getting caught in the big queues.

Could you try the bus to Stanstead from Stratford instead. Might leave earlier

It’s a risk. I’m not a risk taker.

I guess. Might be road works

Absolutely unreasonable to my mind- 4am at the absolute latest for me for an international flight. 4:30 if its domestic

If you're flying hand luggage only, checked in online and pay for fast track security then you might be okay. I wouldn't personally risk it with Stanstead, if it was Heathrow or Gatwick I might risk it at that time of day..

That would be very early for hand luggage only. And my experience of early flights is there isn't a huge a,isn't open once through security either - so can't even spend 2 hours mooching round the shops. Last time it was only a food court type place open the whole time!

Manchester last week - half term - was really quiet early mornjng.
Dd flew early Saturday mornjng of Easter weekend - so first week of the school holidays for many places. She walked straight through security at 5:30am. No queues anywhere. But also not much open either.

We flew the same day at 2pm and again security queues and bag check were swift and not too busy.

We were surprised. Although there were a fair amount of people around the queues were fast moving and we had no hold ups. We ended up being too quick going through so too early to go in our lunge and had to wait a while.

I haven’t been to Stansted in a long time but that really sounds tight to me even taking into account you’re only travelling with hand luggage. I certainly wouldn’t be relying on the first train but would book a hotel or look at other ways to get there earlier.

We’re going from Gatwick in the summer, 6am flight and staying opposite the terminal. We’ll have hold luggage to check in and we’re planning to be there at least by 3.30.

I always stay the night before with early flights @CroccyWoccy You just can't rely on transport, so the acid test is, if you missed the flight what would the consequences be?

I'm staying over at Gatwick next week for exactly that reason.

Stansted is busy that time of the morning. I’ve just had a look, next Monday there are 17 flights leaving between 6 and 6.30 am. That is a hell of a lot of people all trying to get through security all at once. Stansted only has one terminal, one lot of security and just getting through all the shops is a pain in the arse. It’s a long way to get from security to the gates, even more so if you have to take the train.

Compare that to Heathrow and there are 8 flights, and that’s across all the terminals, which are essentially separate entities.

Stansted is small and crowded.

No. I was at Stansted last month at 4:30 in the morning and it was very busy!

Wow, people are so risk averse! I would never get to an airport more than an hour before the flight if I had no luggage to check. Even then, one hour 30 max. Airports want to scare you into getting there early to spend more money. There's no need.