If I check-in online how long before my flight do i need to be at the airport?

[MrsGuyMartin]

I don't fly very often and this is only the second time I've done long haul! We're flying from Gatwick with Virgin Atlantic and the tickets say we need to check in at least 2.5 hours before departure. Check in closes 1 hour before departure. We'll have 4/5 bags for the hold. We'll be checking in online to be able to choose our seats. We're travelling on 22nd December if that makes a difference!

So how long before departure do we need to be there to drop off the bags and get through security without having to run?

2.5 hours is about right - I allow 30 mins for queuing to drop off bags, 30 to go through security, and that gives me 30 min to browse round before the gate is called (normally 1 hour before flight for long haul).

I fly a lot, and hate rushing!

If you still have to drop bags, online checkin often doesnt save you time. The bag drop queues are often longer than the normal checkin.....2.5 hours is right.

Thank you! I don't want to have to rush but I don't really want to spend ages waiting with 2 small boys in tow getting more and more wound up!

Long Haul flights often start boarding an hour or so before take off.
Added to that the fact that Gatwick is HUGE, I don't think I'd go for less than 2 hours. 2.5 sounds about right.

Gatwick isn't well laid out & all its queues can be slow. So many people walk so slowly or want to browse in shops (weirdos)
that said, with small children I wouldn't arrive more than 2 hours before if I lived nearby so traffic was not an issue. I usually end up almost 3 hours before because airport is 4-5 hours away & I need to allow for possible journey delay.

It's worth building in extra travel time just in case. I normally aim to be at the airport well over three hours before departure so if anything goes wrong with the journey we still have some time. No point missing an maxing holiday for the sake of an hour in bed.

We normally get a meal after checking in so it doesn't matter of the food on the plane is horrible.

I would be at the airport around 3 hours before departure; the desks tend to open 3 hours beforehand anyway. Also security lines can be long particularly if they have not got all the lanes open.

I'm always there early. Last time I was flying with dds the woman at check in dropped my passport down the side of the luggage belt thing, took about 45mins to get it back - nightmare. But then flight was delayed for 3 hours so.......

We arrived an hour before our flight to New York in October and made the flight with time to spare .

Slightly stressful though - it wasn't deliberate!

I would say 2 hours is plenty though.

PS I fly about 40 times a year so am always keen to minimise time in airports though!

that's a LOT of luggage with two small children to wrangle as well....

2.5 hours. And if the journey includes the M25, leave lots of spare time.