Hotels v taxi

[PerkyOchrePeer]

When travelling i usually take a cab to the airport. However, you have to leave 4 hours earlier as you need to be at the airport 3 hours prior. I've never stayed at an airport hotel and the cost of an airport hotel would be the same as a cab from home. The only advantage is I wouldn't have to leave so early. Not sure what to do.

I live two hours minimum from the nearest airport. I only book afternoon flights now if there are any but when I used to book early flights we would get an airport hotel the night before and usually park at the airport. It's not great. You still have to get from hotel to airport check in, even if onsite it takes time. I never sleep well the night before anyway and you have to be up at stupid o'clock so the hotel room isn't very good value.

Now I often add an extra night onto my holiday so that first night is spent at destination instead of a crummy airport hotel. I'm actually getting a taxi to the airport next time. It's expensive but not so bad if you deduct the cost of a hotel and parking.

Depends if the airport hotel is literally on site? Would you still have to drive and park the car? How much more sleep does it actually give you? Honestly though I have never arrived at an airport 3 hours before the flight, except maybe when we went to the US. Usually arrive around 2 hours before and I've never ever missed a flight and we fly reasonably often. That said we're not battling through Stansted or similar as we live in the North.

But how would you get to the hotel and hpw much does that cost? Fine if public transport and not far, more relaxed morning imo. But if you drive then have to pay airport parking etc or expensive transport costs maybe better to take the taxi..

If you stayed in a hotel could you get public transport instead of a taxi? I assume driving isn't an option?

I wouldn't be getting there 3 hours ahead. That seems a bit unnecessary.

Even 2 hours feels very generous most of the time but it gives extra time in case you're delayed on the way to the airport or there's a long queue.

Another option could be national express to the airport +/- a hotel and then just a cab from hotel to airport- unless its walkable. I'm assuming you don't/can't drive?
Last time we had an early flight, I think 7am. We weighed up hotel or just getting up early and driving. It only amounted to about an hours extra sleep- plus the hotel cost so we just drove.

I dont drive so would take the train i usually take the cab to the airport and when I return from holiday I take the train. It takes an hour by car to the airport from home. Fir long haul flights you have to be at the airport 3 hours before, and then you sit around being bored.

But if experience shows that 3 hours is far too long then why get there so early?

What is different about a long haul flight that means you 'have' to get there an hour before the generous 2 hours for short haul.

I know the planes are bigger so more people but that doesn't take an hour longer than 200 people getting on a Ryanair flight surely?

But arriving at the airport, dropping off hold luggage and getting through security is the same as domestic and short haul.

So you could get the train the evening before, stay in a nearby hotel then get up and go to the airport. I think if you don't have to worry about parking or travel delays (which is what I build into my trips to the airport- 2 hours is loads for short haul but what if there's traffic or you get a flat tyre on the way to the airport and security is slow when you get there) 2 hours would be plenty.

I think the 2-3 hours advice is a bit outdated and precedes people checking in online and taking less hold luggage so the bit before security took longer.

They also want to make sure you have time to spend money in the shops and restaurants as that's where they make their money.

Which airport are you using?

We live 2 hours from an airport so I base the decision on the time of the flight and how much sleep I get with each option. We drive so dont have to rely on public transport obviously but I hate staying over unless I have to. Messes up my packing regime.

Surely it depends on the flight times, the airport and the hotels. If we have to fly before 7am we’ll often stay at the airport. Even if it means getting up at 4:30am it’s better than leaving home at 2:30am and driving at that time. We have a nice meal, a few drinks and an early night and it feels like the start of the holiday. But we stay at a hotel where we can walk across to check-in and then go for coffee before the flight. For some holiday flights there is a bag drop the night before which is even better.

We use national express for Heathrow as its direct from the bus station in the city centre, but not convenient if staying the night before because the cheap hotels aren’t accessible from the airport on foot, check carefully if Heathrow

Coach is good.

Over the years l have been stuck on the motorway (you would think early hours would be clear but not always) and stuck on a broken down train looking at my watch. I love that relaxed feeling staying on the airport and waking up knowing you’re there.

We are doing this right now (flight at 7:15) and imo it's so much less stressful. We are less than 5 mins walk from the terminal. We live 90 mins away from the airport. We drove, parked the car early evening and got the shuttle bus to the hotel andhad dinner and an early night.

I don’t think you need to be at the airport 3 hrs in advance, but going the night before takes the stress out of the trip and if it’s roughly the same price as a taxi then I would definitely go for it. Normally don’t sleep that well in airport hotels but I never sleep well the night before travel anyway.

Unless l’ve missed something we don’t know where the OP flying to. If you are flying long haul, you are told to arrive 3 hours before, so if you ignore, that t’s at own risk.

Unless you live walking distance from the terminal, in which case you deserve a treat to make up for the noise you have to put up with, it’s best to allow 3 hours before to allow contingency time, should something on the journey go wrong such as motorway closure.

I only book flights where I can get train to arrive at airport three hours for long haul/two for short haul ahead of departure.

If that’s completely impossible, I will either get taxi or do airport hotel. More likely to get taxi tbh. I would have to factor it in as part of the cost before deciding to book.

Remember airlines are a law unto themselves up until 14 days before a departure, so a 16:00 flight can be changed to a 7:00am one. You can refuse the change but that tends not to get you to where you want to be at all.

In addition some destinations do not have daily flights and those occasions you are more or less told what time to go.