6:15am flight, Airport Arrival time

[MaryannF]

Dd and I are leaving for WDW at 6:15am on Saturday. What time should we arrive at Toronto airport for a 6:15am flight? In 2000 my dh and I flew Air Transat at 6:30am and we arrived at the airport at 3:30 only to stand in line for the check in counter to open and then again to wait for U.S. Customs and Immigration to open at 5am. Perhaps things have changed with tighter security and more scrutiny of documents. Our travel agent used a highlighter to show on our travel documents that we were expected to be at the airport 3 hours in advance.

[dancin Disney style]

Technically, you need to arrive for an international flight 3 hours in advance. However, the counters open usually at 4am.

I would plan to be at YYZ (inside the terminal) no later than 3:45am. If you don't have pre-assigned seats I would go earlier just to be at the front of the line when the counter opens.

I would rather go too early than have the stress of standing in a long line and watching the clock.

[jenbear123]

IMO, you'd be safe to check in at least 2.5-2 hours prior to departure.

Just a couple weeks ago my Mom and I went to WDW from Toronto Pearson. We were there 3 hours prior but Air Transat ended up having technical difficulties with their computer system. Our flight (supposedly) departed at 6:30pm. We arrived at 2:30pm. We waited until 3pm (3 hours prior) but the check-in desks had their problems and we were told that the earliest they would start would be 4pm. Finally, at about 4:15pm they started check-in. We pre-cleared customs (I think they do this more often on evening flights) and got to our gate by about 5pm and had enough time to grab a bite to eat. Then the clouds came rolling in and there was a severe thunderstorm, causing the airport to close down, meaning no planes could take off or land. Our flight was then delayed from an original departure time of 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Now, let's just add up the amount of hours here.... um, yeah. We spent a total of 5.5 hours in the airport before we even got on the plane.

So you never know... everything could go smoothly and you should check-in with at least 3 hours to spare or you could check in 2 hours prior and still have ample time to twiddle your thumbs at the gate.

[Canadamom]

I think it sometimes depends on what airline you are flying with (do they have a policy not to oversell flights?) and when you are travelling (holiday time? last flight of day? etc.)

Last year we arrived 2 hours prior (and the ticket counter is open until 60 minutes prior) only to find ourselves involuntarily bumped off of a flight despite the fact that we had seat assignments. We didn't even get past the ticket agent. It turned out favourably for us as we were compensated after the fact, but wasn't fun at the time. We were delayed by 16 hours (overnight).

This year we arrived over 3 hours early and there were still people checking in ahead of us. :-) On each flight they were requesting people willing to take another flight as they were oversold. Our flight was out of Calgary.

[mermaid&cinderella]

Flights into the USA we get to Pearson 1.5-2 hrs before flight time and we have never had an issue. I hate waiting at the airport!

[bunnyfoo]

In January, we had a 6:30 AM flight at Pearson. I think we got there around 4:45 or 5AM. Still had enough time to check-in, go through customs and security and hit the Tim Hortons.

[Miandrea]

When I flew to Orlando at the end of March, I arrived 3 hours before the flight. I was pulled for a secondary screening through US customs and I only had about 20 minutes to wait for my flight to board.

It is best to arrive early! My biggest pet peeve: I hate those folks who wait to the last minute, hate their seat assignment, run to the gate and complain when we board the plane wanting to switch seats - argh! And they always seem to want my aisle seat too.

[Mickey1Fan]

make sure you arrive in time for check in. I've been told that the process has changed. My parents only had two minutes left before the cut off time. My son missed his last flight he was taking and it cost him another $75 to fly.

Check with the airline to be absolutely certain. Allow time to get to the airport and get to the check in.

My Mom was really shocked at the change and that they almost missed their flight because they did not know.

I'm not explaining this well because I have not experienced the new process at Pearson. I just know they are tightening up everything.

[MaryannF]

We have decided to arrive at Pearson at 3:30am. There is no web check in and I refuse to pay $40.00 each way to select seats. Better to stand in line for a bit and get seats together. DH is driving us and says that at that time of the morning he can have us out there in no time.

[Ham Ham]

90 minutes at that time of day should be adequate.

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