Time to arrive at Luton?

[Mcpheenanny]

Shorthaul flight to Europe, 7am - what time would you arrive at the airport if using cheapest carpark (12 min bus) and have checked in online

Depends a bit on whether you also need to drop off baggage and if so which airline, as the cheaper airlines in particular Ryanair quite often have long queues for bag drop - last time we flew from Luton we waited nearly an hour to check in the bags leaving us with very little time to get through security, that was a bit exceptional though.

I'd say allow 2 hours so arrive airport 5am. You might get away with a bit less if you are hand luggage only but probably not worth the risk...

I agree, 5am but possibly a bit earlier if you’re going next week after half term. It’s better to have a bit of extra time if there’s a possibility you’ll be stuck in queue’s. Starting the day off really early in a rush and panic isn’t the best start to a holiday!

During not after half term it was meant to say!

Probably about 4.30 to 4.45 am to the carpark. It always takes longer than you think to find a space, wait for the bus and get to the terminal.

Then 5 am is quite a busy time at airports because lots of flights leave at 6-7 am or so, so security queues might be long. Also think about whether you will want to get breakfast. It all takes time. Aiming for 4.30 am or so, also gives you extra time in case of breakdown or traffic jams.

Last week It took me 1.5 hours to drive less than 50 miles to the airport, despite setting off at 5.30 am and the journey being at least 48 miles on the motorway, simply due to queues.

I do the same journey and flight a few times a year and luckily this time it 'only' took half an hour to get through security. Sometimes it takes over an hour because too many people still don't understand the liquids rules and if it had taken that amount of time this time, I would probably have missed my flight.

The other consideration is what the consequences of missing your flight are - if you have to rebook on another flight the next day, and there's more than one of you, it could cost hundreds of pounds or more, and your travel insurance probably won't help you, if you didn't allow sufficient time for possible delays.

It's not so much the time the bus takes that affects car parking, but the time you have to wait for the bus (which can be a 15-20 min wait) - all of a sudden, your car park element has taken over half an hour.

We flew early morning from Luton a couple of weeks ago - bag drop v quick (easyJet) but we queued a little while for security.

The departures area has improved enormously in the last year or so though, so it's now a much more pleasant place to be. A lot more shopping and eating options which means people are naturally a lot more spread out.

I always err on the side of caution and allow loads of time... but that's easy for me to say when I'm not the one setting the alarm for silly-o-clock in the morning!