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?

If it’s Bristol and an early morning flight I would get there two hours before. Can be absolute carnage there getting through security. We went to Lisbon once from there. Queues going outside the building. Only had hand luggage. They luckily held the flight as so many people stuck in security still after the gates had closed. It’s that bad that we won’t use Bristol any more for an early flight. Later in the morning and afternoon probably I’d give it 90 minutes.

honestly an hour should be fine if you’re travelling light and know where you’re going. just keep an eye on queues

But presumably you aren’t even allowed to drop your bags off until eg 2 hours before the flight (easyJet’s rule - I have seen people being turned away).

So what are you queuing for - to get in the airport?

Might be a bit self-perpetuating, more people arriving earlier in fear, creating more backlog, more people hanging around in departures unable to check in etc

I think an hour is very risky. Whilst you may well be fine there is a lot which can go wrong. I hate a lot of hanging around and if I'm staying at the airport/am very nearby and only have under seat luggage/checked in online then we aim to be walking into the airport 1 hr 45 mins before. We're crap at timekeeping though so often it's more like 1 hr 30m and that really doesn't leave much spare time. Queue and go through security, faff about getting everything together, grab a coffee and pastry, fill water bottle, go toilet. Head to gate. By that time gate is usually already boarding. Last year our Easyjet flight to Santorini was announcing "last call" as we arrived at the gate. Remember that if you don't have hold luggage then they don't need to hold the flight to remove it. They can just shut the doors and go if you're not there. And they're more likely to have given your seat away to someone on standby (though I've never had that happen).

On our way back from Catania last month the gate changed while we were coffee-faffing thinking it was right there. We had to do a very fast walk to get to the further gate and we were last into the plane apart from three people who RAN onto the plane a few mins later.

It won't surprise you to hear i have missed three flights in my life. Don't be me! It's so much better to be bored for an hour than miss your plane altogether.

I honestly think you'd be crazy to only show up and hour before. I've been in too many long queues through security or to get parked to think it's ok.

Good job she was by the sounds of it thank god.

You also need to factor in delays due to idiots i.e. those who:
Think security regulations dont apply to them and look surprised when asked to remove 12 tins of cat food from their hand luggage ( looking at you Mr.Cat Food last week in Manchester airport!)
Faff around in duty free and then demand to be moved to the front “because we are going to miss our plane”
Need to drink 3 pints at 7am and then realise the bar is nowhere near their gate

DS got caught out flying home last week from Lisbon...he arrived too late at the gates. By one minute. They wouldn't let him through.

He got the train 6.23am. Flight departed 9.50am. Train journey was two hours. We insisted he get there night before and crash at the airport but no, he knew better. Had to book him a flight home for later that day!

How can you keep an eye on queues before you get to the airport? If she’s only turning up an hour before, its too late to do anything about queues.

I do three hours but my credit card gives me free lounge access and I like to rip the arse out of that.

He's learned a harsh and expensive lesson. He only seems to learn the hard way unfortunately 😔

It amazes me how some get so wound up by some threads. If everyone was to read the initial post to start with the poster was asking the question if an hour was enough.

Poster I personally don’t think an hour is enough just in case there are any kind of hold ups along the way.

Have a great Flight.

You can see the queue status on X. Follow at Bristolairport.

I have never been two hours early. I like to have more than an hour, unless there's something up. You can check the length of the lines online and expected queuing durations.

Well everyone is saying it won't be but go for it, the risk is you miss your flight.

I would urge you to arrive there two hours beforehand. An hour is pushing it and you could well miss your flight. You forget also that the departure gate closes around 30 minutes or so prior to departure and if you are late they will not let you onboard.

I would allow 90 minutes for Bristol.

It's not! I regularly fly from Bristol and security can be horrendous. Also the gates close 30-40 mins before the flight time.

It is an avoidable and silly risk to take, but if you have enough flexibility to accommodate a rescheduled flight, financially and practically, then for it. Let us know how it goes!

Depends on how you are planning to get to the airport, and what time your flight is and what time of year. If you live next door to the airport and are walking (or are staying in the hotel on site and wondering what time you need to get up), and are flying off-season, an hour will be enough. I fly from Bristol quite frequently, but hate it during the summer because all of exact timings go haywire as they have many many more flights than normal to cater for holidays which also means more people to get through the system. I have also encountered closed roads when driving (unplanned, car crash on rural roads) and delayed trains to BTM when going by train. I tend to leave at least 2h30 but it's not just for hanging around at the airport: it gets me wiggle room anywhere on the journey. I am usually flying for work, though, and missing the plane would usually mean missing the meeting I am flying in for so it's worth making sure that doesn't happen.

Depends what time you are flying and how you are getting there. Bristol is stupidly busy between 6am and 8am as all the airlines need their planes in the air and working from first thing. So queues getting to the airport are not uncommon at 4am (as all the airport staff are arriving too.)

I believe it now has the new scanners working though, and last time I used it the queue for security was quite quick.

But do you want to risk it? One traffic or public transport delay on the way to the airport and you are going to be very stressed if you are cutting it fine.

Is the gate not just the bit to drop baggage? If op kits has hand luggage then it won’t matter what time they close the gate?

but yes, as others have said, security can be slow

Not worth risking it, I got to Gatwick 3 hours early recently and had to run to my gate, other times I’ve been through in 40 minutes.

I’ve recently flown from Bristol to Europe. The airport was really busy and security took longer than any other airport I’ve flown through recently (it was a late afternoon/evening flight so it’s not just the morning flights that are an issue).

I definitely wouldn’t want to risk only leaving an hour to get through (we were also flying with only hand luggage and with EasyJet).

It really depends on factors outside your control.
Security lines might be long, gate might be a long walk from the departures.
I think an hour is cutting it fine. My mum missed a flight as security were preoccupied with something and it took her ages to get through.