AIBU to ask if people are arriving at airports four hours early?✈️

[Netcurtainnelly]

Can you post here whether you are turning up to the airport 4 hours early this Summer for check in please? I ve just read it might be necessary.🤔😭😱 Before making a decision?

Holiday and Check in Post.♥️
Want to hear what it's really like.

3 hours if you can afford the time (i.e. time better not being spent in bed!), any excess going on grabbing food or a coffee etc. Otherwise I’ve always been fine with 2 hours, with young kids and without

https://www.dailymail.com/travel/article-15996343/European-airport-chaos-Brits-caught-hours-long-queues-spilling-carparks-summer-getaway-hit-EU-border-check-changes.html

The fact youre quoting the Daily Mail says it all...

So you can either read tabloid rubbish or go with what real people say.

We are just back from Europe. There was self bag drop going out but we couldn’t do bag drop off until 1.5 hours before flight coming back. We got there 2.5 hours before flight time due to queues with security.

I would give 3 hrs - on our way back a few days ago (back into UK) it took 2.5hrs to get to passport control and we nearly missed our flight. The boarder guards were constantly shouting at people to get back, people pushing in saying their flight was on final boarding - pretty ugly behaviour. We didn't get the same issue at the UK end but when returning I wouldn't risk it.

^New rules at border control were introduced earlier this year which have sparked chaos for holidaymakers from countries which are not part of the
European Union^

Obviously the DM didn't think being able to enter and leave the EU without going through this were important when they were telling it's readers to vote to leave the EU.

I flew through Gatwick North to Croatia last week. Arrived into train station around 2 hours before the flight. Had paid for speedy bag drop (easyJet) and fast track security. Had loads of time

And coming back was similar, very easy

I think the idea is that eventually it will be quicker, once they have you on the system. Presumably people who are flying through within an hour have already had a long photo/fingerprint scan etc so it knows them, but the registering part takes time. We also had a lot of people on our flight going to Heathrow for connecting flights to America, for example, which is another layer of different security to check. The hardest part was watching the EU line sail through while non-EU were standing still for hours at a time.

@Wipeywipey

We also had a lot of people on our flight going to Heathrow for connecting flights to America, for example, which is another layer of different security to check.

In a way I suspect there's not much difference.

Just like US nationals UK nationals leaving the Schengen area are non EU citizens exiting the zone.

Can't swear to it but it might be that the exit process is exactly the same.

No.