6am friday flight out of Bradley, when should i get to airport?

[yankeeslover]

my flight leaves 6am in august on a friday morning from bradley..bradleys website says arrive 60 minutes before, when i call southwest they say 60 min before, but when i look at southwest website for bradley it says to arrive 2hrs before hand.... i know that hour might not be a huge deal, but big difference between arriving at 4am or 5am...anyone with expericence flying bradley? i usually do albany, but due to pricing i chose bradley this time...albany was never more then 60 minutes or so..thanks

 

[yankeeslover]

sorry, its 6:30 southwest

 

[Candlelady]

We fly out of BDL all the time as we live quite close. We arrive 2hrs prior to flight time. That gives us enough time to get through security if it's backed up.

We almost missed a 6:15am flight on Delta once. We were dropped at the airport 1.5hrs prior to takeoff to give us plenty of time.
The lines to check baggage were so long we thought we'd never make it. It was crazy By the time we got through security, we had to run to the gate, and they were already loading.

Flight attendant said it was a full flight. About one third of the passengers never made it by takeoff. I've never seen the airport that crowded so early in the morning in October, and haven't seen it since. But we don't take any chances now. I'd rather be bored sitting around waiting than miss my flight.

 

[Nohal]

We always take the 7am flight out of Philly and leave our house at 4:30am. It takes about 20 min to get to the airport. I don't know how big your airport is but Philly airport is quite large. Sometimes the line to get through security are really long even that early in the morning. I would rather get to the airport extra early than run through the airport to make my flight.

 

[francie57]

We are taking the same flight on Thurs. the 9th. We usually get to the airport about 90 min or less before the flight. At that time of the day there really isn't a wait at security and we really have not had a wait to check the luggage. They usually start boarding about 20 min. before the flight. We live towards Waterbury so we will leave about 4:15 with a stop in Southington to pick up our DD. We don't park at the airport - we use Roncari and once we get through security we have time to get drinks to take on the plane and hit the restrooms before boarding. We did the early check-in so hopefully we will have good numbers - our flights in June we had 19 and 20.

 

[pooch]

mostly on the early morning flight and I never get there more than an hr before boarding starts. So for a 6:30 flight, I'd arrive about 5:15 and even then, I usually sit around for 30 min or so. I have never found BDL busy at that time. Yes it will take 15 to check your bag & another 15 min through security but that's still only a half hr. I would never get there 2 hrs early!

 

[Candlelady]

Pooch ,
Just wanted to say hi. We live in the same town.

 

[Kteacher]

It depends on whether you are flying on a holiday weekend. I always fly out of BDL. It's about a 45 minute drive for us if there is no traffic. Southwest is in the same terminal as Delta and Jetblue, and the early a.m. flights can back up the TSA lines. We've had to run through the concourse before due to long security lines. Personally I'd rather sit at the gate then run through the concourse, so I usually get to the airport no less than 90 minutes before the flight's scheduled departure time. Holiday periods I usually arrive 2 hours prior.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

I always get to the airport between 2.0 and 2.5 hours early.

Learned this lesson several years ago: Your vacation will not be ruined by getting to the airport too early, it can be ruined by getting there too late. If you are paying several thousand dollars to enjoy your vacation, why would you risk it for a couple of more minutes away from an airport gate?

I've had friends with little children tell me I'm crazy because it's tough to ask kids to wait at a terminal for that long; try missing a flight and see how those same kids react to being in an airport all day.

 

[Snoozan]

I fly out of BDL exclusively and have taken those 6AM flights. I believe we got to the airport at 4:30 or right afterwards as we were told the airport isn't open until 4:30AM. I would check the website for BDL to see if they have any mention of when they 'open' in the AM.

 

[Minnesota!]

I don't know how Bradley is, but we fly out of the smaller terminal at MSP and we aim to get there 2 hours ahead of the flight. Last October when we got there...2 hours early...for our 7am flight, the security line was an easily over an hour long. It was EXCRUCIATING! There were SO SO SO many people in line who thought that since it was the smaller airport, they could waltz in with less time. A huge group in front of us missed their flight.

I would MUCH rather be early and chill at the gate for a while vs. late and miss my flight or panic. We got in line with about 100 minutes to go before our flight and ended up, when we got through security, we had enough time to buy a sandwich and pop for the plane and hit the bathroom. And we had to RUN from the bathroom as they were already loading the plane. It was stressful!

We fly out at 6am next month and we WILL be getting there at 4am. The kids will be woken up at 330, brush their teeth, get dressed, and the bags will go in the car and away we go!!!

 

[francie57]

As I posted before we are never there 2 hours ahead. We leave on the same flight next Thurs. and we will be at the airport between 5:15 and 5:30. We have never had any trouble getting to Bradley at that time and making the flight.

 

[monorailsilver]

We are about 40 min from Bradley. My dh flys often out of there for work & he gets to the terminal about an hour before. That hour doesn't include parking & walking into the terminal.

For the 6am flights he occasionaly takes, he likes to stay at the Sheraton at the airport (hey who wouldn't when work pays for it?).

We are flying out of there next August & we either taking the early Delta flight or the early Jet Blue flight but we plan on staying at one of the hotels there. Not the Sheratan but another one & they keep the car for up to 14 days & we are going for 10. Cheaper then the airport parking & we get to sleep an extra 40 minutes.

 

[herb102211]

We fly out of Bradley all the time, as well. We live about 45 minutes away and usually leave the house around 2-2.5 hours before our departure time. We like to get there in plenty of time, go through security, grab something to eat and not feel rushed. I'd rather leave the house earlier, knowing I'm there in time, than leaving later and miss the flight.

 

[pooch]

As I posted before we are never there 2 hours ahead. We leave on the same flight next Thurs. and we will be at the airport between 5:15 and 5:30. We have never had any trouble getting to Bradley at that time and making the flight.

Have never encountered a problem at BDL arriving 1 hr prior to boarding.

 

[Kteacher]

The day of the week you are flying as well as whether you are flying during a holiday period can make a big difference. I've flown out mid week with no lines at security, and have also flown out on a Friday of a holiday weekend and encountered security lines that go past the Delta counter and double back.

 

[pooch]

The day of the week you are flying as well as whether you are flying during a holiday period can make a big difference. I've flown out mid week with no lines at security, and have also flown out on a Friday of a holiday weekend and encountered security lines that go past the Delta counter and double back.

but the OP is traveling on a Friday in Aug, not a holiday. I've traveled that exact timeframe many times and stick by my suggestion of 5:15 to 5:30.

 

[francie57]

Agree with pp - we fly out on Thurs. on the same flight and we plan on getting to Bradley between 5:15 and 5:30.