Checked in online .. Do I still need to get to airport 2 hours before flight?

[devonsmummy]

I'm thinking get there an hour before - Dh says 2 hours.
The flights at 6.40am so that extra hour will make a big difference (to me!)

No.

I would have to aim to get there 2 hours before incase of a traffic jam. If you aim for an hour beforehand and get stuck somewhere you might miss the flight. But I do get stressed about this sort of thing.

I would say no too. Can you phone before to check? Generally on the ticket it tells you.

I would say it depends on the airport and airline. Last time I flew the people who had checked in online still had to queue with everyone else to drop off bags. And then you've got customs... A couple of years ago in Stansted we almost missed our flight since customs took over an hour to get through - before 6 in the morning.

It depends on queues in security.

I always like to get to the airport well in advance - 3 hours before just to make sure we aren't late .

However, really it is so that I get chance to peruse the duty free shops. It is the queues through security that seem to take so much time now. Leaving the UK - not leavng any other country!

Also you can't guarantee that there won't be any traffic issues, or anything else which could delay.

We checked in online and still arrived two hours early, as soon as we got through customs they were boarding our flight so I would say yes, they start boarding an hour before on lots of flights

I wouldn't risk it. There are so many things that can cause delays. A memorable one for me was at Gatwick; 45 mins in the check-in queue, 40 mins to get through security, for an early flight. All due to sheer numbers of people and not enough staff at that time in the morning to manage them all.

They do call to board a good while before the flight time because sometimes the gate is a long way from the departure lounge and they need to get less able and families with babies on first, and sometimes they even call early if there is an earlier take off slot offered (in the event of a previous flight not being able to leave due to a fault for example)

Since most shorthaul flights have stopped proper meals, we like to buy food for the flight or eat a meal at the airport, as what is offered on the plane is expensive snacky stuff and some of it is frankly horrible.