Do I REALLY need to check in three hours early????

[fadingaway]

Cos that's what my flight tickets say for a trip to Corfu!!

Surely two hours would be okay....??

I didn't think they opened check-in until 2 hours before? Which airline/airport is it?

well it's Direct Greece leaving from Newcastle. The airline is My Travel.

Three hours is mad, isn't it??

Yes, it is!

Ring/email them and ask why they want you there 3 hours ahead? I know security at Manchester took a silly amount of time early in the year, but they had that pretty well sorted out by June - Newcastle is smaller than Manc, it can't be because of that, I can't imagine why it would be!

It really depends on the time of day and how busy security is. Certainly if you were travelling from London Gatwick in the late afternoon/evening then definitley allow 3 hours. The security issues are different for each airport - do you know anyone who has travelled out of Newcastle in the last week or two?

well the flight is 6.55am (so would be checking in at 3.55am...lovely!).

Maybe I will ring the airport in the morning...

I wonder if it's the tour operator. I know plenty of people who've tavelled from Newcastle shorthaul with other operators and their check-in has always been two hours.

Call me a wimp but with my four I want things as easy as possible and if I can get out of an hour waiting I will!

If you don't have a prebooked seat with My Travel you have to book in 3 hours early, its another way for them to charge you extra, nice huh If your not travelling for another few days, ring them and book your seats, then you can check in later

Ah - that's interesting - around 7am at Manc is total madness, they have dozens of flights all leaving in the space of an hour or so and then a lull of an hour and a half

(I have "amused" myself trying to read the departures board while trudging through the security queue - too many flights to count)

Anyway, still double check with the operator/airline/airport - if you can save yourselves an hour of tedium at that time of day, do it!

Can you pre-book seats online? Manc have started doing that now and it's def worth doing, you can either do it on-line at home (only 24 hours before departure I think) or they have computer things at the terminal, and then a special pre-booked check-in queue for your bags.