Not to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight

[Iambouddicca]

Flying to Europe from Bristol. Do I really need 2 hours - travelling light with just an underseat bag on easyJet… just a single traveller too.

I’ve not flown much recently ( and not since Brexit/covid) so I’ve not got a feel for this. Is an hour enough - honestly?

You can check in online and do bag drop the night before at Birmingham depending on your airline.

Security doesn’t open until 3am though.

We had to do the same last year at Bham due to the shit show with queues and security, it took almost 3 and a half hours to get through. Apparently they’ve put plans in place this year to avoid last years shit show.

OP, do try and do it within an hour, then report back here. Your experience good or not so good will be very helpful to others flying from Bristol with hand luggage only 😊

I travelled from there recently. Honestly, it was straightforward- BUT I would rather be through security and have a coffee near my gate than get there later and be panicking in the queue to go through the scanners. It was a good walk to our gate, too, at least 10 minutes, so you might have that to account for as well.

I fly from Bristol multiple times a year. No bag drop is good but

Are you flying in school holiday time?
who you with? If easyjet Their gates are the furthest away from main terminal the furthest is a 15 min walk at steady pace.

I'd not leave an hour there personally - the security queue can be out of the security hall to the escalators. I'd aim for 1.5hrs with no bag drop

This. I just don't get risking your entire holiday for the sake of an hour or so. I have witnessed this before. A woman pleading and begging Easyjet staff as she had arrived too late and they wouldn't let her check in. Just arrive 2 hours before like most people fgs

@Iambouddicca The flight time is the time your flight is due to actually take off. Most gates are closed 30-40 mins before then with you in your seat and the plane doors closed. That gives you 20 mins to get through security and passport control and to the gate. You’d be bonkers.

The only exception is flying internally within the USA. That’s literally like getting on a bus 😂😂

Why is getting there 2 hours before such an issue for you, it's not much different to 1 hour in the great scheme of things. Do you have a fear of flying?

I fly a lot for work. I'll leave an hour if flying from London city as it's mostly business travellers so everything is quick. Gatwick I give 90 min because it's full of families.

I think Bristol you need 90. Peak holiday time. Don't miss your flight for the sake of 30 min.

Don’t risk it op !

Depending on when you are flying an hour might be enough. But you have to allow for traffic getting there, you can be in sight of Bristol airport and still take 30 mins to get there.
I'd aim for an hour and a half, and if time more important than money, I'd get fast track.

I’m usually relaxed about these things, and aim to get there 1.30-2 hours before. However I had a horrendous experience with Qatar at LHR. I had checked in and had one bag to drop. It took 1 hour and 40 minutes. There was one queue. And 2 big flights. And a hell if a lot of passengers with too much baggage. I nearly missed the plane. So did others. I think it was qatars poor management of check in that caused it and they delayed take off to ensure we all got on. Stressful doesn’t begin to describe it.

I usually find 1.5 hours is ample for UK small airports (disclaimer I don't know Bristol at all).

If I allow 1/2 hour for 'things going wrong' that means aimiing for 2 hours arrival before stated departure time anyway, unless I live within 3 miles & the trip is at like 4am when no traffic.

I ruddy hate waiting around in airports, too!!

I flew RyanAir last week out of Spain. We landed 20 minutes early in spite of gate not closing until 5 minutes before stated departure time.

I would be there 2 hours before, then you can chill and have a drink/coffee/snack if the queues aren't massive. It's not worth risking not making it for the sake of saving an hour!

You could spend over an hour just getting through security, it's so much worse than it used to be before covid.

Also, I flew Ryanair recently from Bristol and they closed the gate on time, despite the flight being delayed half an hour. We were sitting in the pre-boarding room and they were turning away people outside. I didn't believe they would actually do that.

I bet more than half the people on the flight will only have hand luggage. You can’t all arrive at the last minute.

Ok. Assuming an hour is fine for 90% of the time, what if you lucked out and hit the 10% where they have staff shortages and you missed your flight?

Bristol airport is relatively small but incredibly busy at this time of year as it’s the main airport for all of the south west region.

I would, but only because Bristol can get backed up at security so unless you have a fast track pass it's not worth the stress. Same applies to parking.

If you're in the short term or multi storey you don't need extra time, but if you're staying in the silver zone there's often a queue to drop your key off then you have to get the bus, which depending on how busy it is might mean you have to wait a while.

If I was flying from Exeter, where those problems don't exist I'd get there an hour before, but definitely allow more time from Bristol.

Might does an awful lot of heavy lifting in that sentence!

and it might and it might not - everything might be with you and you get it or something might go against you pushing it and more than one thing might and then it is impossible.

I have missed flights (connections due to awful queues at US immigration) and just got put on the later flight so was only a matter of 90 minutes later in the end but with Bristol I imagine there isn’t a later flight that day.

what is so important you can’t get there two hours instead so that hour is spent having a coffee rather than at home

My view, I fly a lot, I’d rather wait at the airport all checked in, than wait somewhere else.

Flew from Bristol to Malaga in May half term and I would say we were cutting it fine. You still have to check in on arrival there. Although we had cases so maybe it was different without cases.
we then had barely enough time to grab a coffee before the flight let alone browse duty free.
the gates are a long way from the lounges we set off as it announced the gate on the app (which was before the board) and as we were approaching the gate it gave the final warning messsge.
also what parking are you using. We used silver zone which was quite easy to do but the bus only runs every fifteen minutes so you’d need to time it right if you arrived with a shorter amount of time.

Unless travelling business class so you can use priority security access, you need 2 hours

@RatherBeOnVacation

The flight time is the time your flight is due to actually take off.

Sorry but that is completely incorrect.

The departure time on ticket/timetable is the time the aircraft brakes should be released with the intention of going flying..so aircraft doors normally get closed a couple of minutes before that.

FWIW arrival time is time on gate on arrival (not the landing time).

Bristol has been absolutely bonkers lately. Security took us about 40 mins recently. I wouldn’t risk it…why wouldn’t you just get there in plenty of time, have a coffee and save yourself the stress? I don’t get it

Edited to add that EasyJet and Ryanair were the worst queues at Bristol. If you’re going on a Thursday or Friday it’s completely rammed with hens and stags, and everybody is using the same check in desks…

Bristol ... mmmmaybe

Desks close 40 mins before flight for shorthaul

So one hour might be cutting it fine in case of traffic jams

But check your travel docs, if they say 2 hours, they mean it