Do you follow the 2 hr rule for domestic and 3 hrs for international?
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I do now, after missing our domestic flight! We were in the airport 1 hour before the flight time... got to the gate 15 mins before the flight time and our plane was gone. Jet Blue!
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@mrs. wagon: the plane took off early???
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Depends...all of our flights are international (since we live in a teeny tiny country). For European flights we aim for 2 hrs, with 1.5 hrs being our cutoff. For flights outside of Europe, 3.
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I like being at the airport and relaxing and having a drink and stuff before the flight. So I get there pretty early. Plus I take public transportation or the Super Shuttle so I always have to leave extra time.
ETA: all three airports in our area are large and busy.
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@Mamaof2: according to the airline, the time on your ticket is the time the plane should be in the air. I call BS and truly believe the plane left early. What does a customer care about what time the flight is in the air? We care about what time we have to be there. But of course, everyone I talk to says "it doesn't matter, you have to be at the gate more than 15 mins before your flight"....
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If it's adults only - 2 for international, 1.5 for domestic, and we shave it pretty close (a little less) sometimes. If the kids are there we might do 2.5/2.
I tend to build my margin of error into travel time to the airport in case of traffic, if that makes sense. ie if the plane leaves at 10 to go to Hong Kong, I want to be there at 8....but I might give myself almost an hour to get to the airport when I know if all runs smoothly I COULD get there in 30 minutes. Same end result, I guess!
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@mrs. wagon:
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@mrs. wagon: I thought all airlines closed the gates 15 minutes prior to departure time....
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No, but when I get there depends some on the airport. We are also TSA PreCheck approved, which usually shortens the security check/line time too. At our local small airport, getting to the airport an hour before a flight is sufficient (only domestic flights), for international flights or airports I’m not familiar with I’ll do 1.5-2+ hours.
Also depends on the time of the flight - like if it's near a mealtime we'll get there early enough to just eat at the airport before the flight.
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We will be leaving the house at 5am on a Saturday morning with a 45 min drive to the airport - DH is dropping me off, so no parking worries there.
Oh and its just me, flying solo
That gives me 2 hours almost for an international flight which I think is plenty - right?
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No. I live near a very small airport so 2 hours is gross overkill
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When I fly out of my home airport (Boston) I get there an hour early for domestic and about 1.5 for international. Non familiar domestic airports usually about 1.5 hrs early, and 2-2.5 for international.
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@Mamaof2: that should be fine.
I've had issues on occasion with international flights having to wait forever to check in then more loooong security and customs lines, but I think it really depends on routes and time of day. For me this always happened when I would fly France to the US because so many US-bound flights leave in the morning and one airline could be checking in people for 3 or 4 destinations, so being early was definitely key!
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I do. The last thing I want is to be stressed out.
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I follow the rules, my DH hates it, but I'm a "rather be safe than sorry" and lets get a drink/food/ect. while we wait.
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We always go early, especially if we have bags to check, which we usually do.
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If it's just me and DH we arrive an hour early for domestic. If we're with LO we aim for 1.5 hr.
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i usually aim for 1.5 hours for domestic. for international, 2-2.5 hours was enough.
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@Mamaof2: depends on the airport and the day and the time flying. If I am flying Monday morning at 8am, I am going to be there 3 hours early. If I am flying Monday at 3pm, I'll go 2.5 to be safe. <-- that's for international. Drop an hour for domestic.
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Always. I have travelled enough to know crazy crap happens and long lines can occur so I'm always there really early. I hate being stressed out.
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@Caly: I agree. The last thing I want is to rush around an airport with a toddler. I live in the NYC/NJ area, so all of my home airports are crazy so I give myself PLENTY of time to get ticketed, get our bags checked (if any), through TSA security check and enough running around the airport to git it all out of her system before getting on the plane.
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I usually do 1.5 hours for domestic and 3 hours for international.
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Usually about 1 hour before.
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@Caly: same here.
Stress when traveling just isn't worth it to me so I prefer to arrive a few hours early have some time to grab a coffee or a book or some food. I just make it a relaxing part of the trip.
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Depends on the time of day and the day of the week. Popular flying times, 1.5 hours/2 hours domestic/international. Otherwise? 45 min/1.5 hours. I know the low density lines at our airport, though:)
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It depends on the time of the flight, but usually the airport is the only place where I am ever early! I try to do 2.5 hours for international flights and about 1.5 for domestic. If it's just me when I travel for work I will cut it a bit closer. While our main airport is ranked as one of the worst in the country for delays with arriving flights, departing flights and security are generally not too terrible.
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Depends if I have checked bags or carry-on only. I think on average, I get to the airport about 1.5 hrs before a domestic flight. I like enough time to relax after security and grab something to eat or snacks for the plane. We can pre-board because of my DH's health condition, so I like being at the gate 30 minutes before take-off.
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Yes, always! We fly through busy airports (JFK, LGA), usually at peak season, and I hate to feel extra stressed about it so we leave plenty of time. I also like to have time to pick up a snack and a magazine.
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I always get to the airport super early. I can't stand being rushed.
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I used to cut things really tight, close to the minimum times, and was close to missing a flight a couple of times. DH likes being really early though, even for domestic flights, and now I follow suit. Since we've been getting flight status (both last year and this year with Air Canada) and get the quick line for security due to having a NEXUS card, we are usually through security about 10 mins after arriving at our local international airport (even with checking bags). The whole travel experience is so much easier now, and we have lots of time to relax and have food/drink at the airport, and wait for our flight. We usually do 1 1/2-2 hrs for domestic (45 mins is cutoff), and 3+ hours internationally. We also always do online check-in.
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Yep. We aim to be at the gate at least 1 hour prior to any departure. We fly standby and they are really strict on that rule, and we also fly out of ATL airport, and you never know how crazy security will be, so we play it safe.
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I'm always early, sometimes earlier than the recommendations, because I'm a paranoid freak about traveling and it calms my nerves to know I have plenty of time.
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I always shoot for 2 hours early. Our airport is large and busy, and security is unpredictable.
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After missing a flight this summer, I now make sure I have PLENTY of waiting time and a very long layover if I have one. I typically travel alone with LO and I am not about to deal with the stress of missing a flight alone. Flying next week and plan to be at least 2 hours early to my flight.
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We shoot for slightly longer than an hour for domestic and closer to two for international.
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We don't have kids yet, so for a regular flight (non-holiday weekend, etc.), I like to get there 1:20 early. If it's a busy weekend, or if we're flying out of an airport I'm unfamiliar with, 1:30 or 1:40 before our flight time. For international, 2 hours. In general, I like to be at the gate 30-40 minutes before the departure time.
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At least 2hrs before an international flight. I aim to be there 2.5hrs early just in case we get held up on the way to the airport.
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At a larger airport I would be there 2 hours early. Our airport is pretty small and only 10 minutes away. So I usually get there about an hour early.
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we leave 2 hours before our flight takes off, and usually get there with a little over an hour. it's always plenty of time! for international depends if we're trying to get a bulkhead seat! otherwise 2 hours before.
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41 comments