Check-In Time

[AWilliams]

Does anyone know how early you are required to check-in at the airport for a flight? I'm trying to plan our last day and I'm not sure how early we will need

We will be flying Delta.

Thanks!

 

[ducklite]

MINIMUM 1 hour, I suggest 2, security lines at MCO can be outrageously long!

Anne

 

[CarolMN]

Delta is currently estimating 85 minutes of wait time for peak travel times and 20 minutes for off-peak.

Personally, I would plan at least an hour for off peak travel and 2 hours for peak times.

Here's a link to the information on Delta's website:

http://www.delta.com/cwswaittime/servlet/AirportWaitTime?cmd=fetch2

 

[AWilliams]

Thanks!

I haven't been to an airport since 9-11, so I didn't know how bad it would be!!

-Amy

 

[NotUrsula]

You can get moved up in the security line if your flight is due to board in under 30 minutes, but the new rules include a deadline by which your checked bags must be on their way to the hold.

Each airline's time requirement is different, but that deadline is iron-clad. Miss it and you don't get on the plane. This deadline cost us $1000 a couple of months ago, when we were in the check-in line in plenty of time, but did not actually reach the ticket counter until 58 minutes before the flight's scheduled departure. The deadline was one hour, and boy, did we pay for not knowing that. Also, be aware that the deadlines might be earlier for the skycaps than at the ticket counter, and make sure you know the details.

This was AA. We were told that our trip was cancelled as we had tickets that were not accepted for standby, and also non-refundable. DH wanted to buy one-way tickets on SWA to get where we were going, but I knew that would not work, if you don't show up for the outbound flight, the airline cancels your return tickets. Eventually, we talked them into selling us one-way outbound tickets on the next flight, which was nearly empty, BTW. They charged us $330 for each one of them.

The moral is, if you are running at all late, get someone in line with those bags first thing, before you worry about something like returning the rental car.

 

[seashoreCM]

You mean AA doesn't have the "flat tire rule"? That is, they will still eventually fly you at no charge if you "just miss" your flight for example because of a flat tire on the way to the airport? (Some airlines let it be two hours)

Write to the top. Maybe they will re-interpret a flat tire rule retroactively, that is, refund the extra money you paid to finally get to your destination.

I realize that rules are rules, but good customer service includes the flat tire rule. Or from a business standpoint there would be a lot more people thronging the airports rather than jamming the highways if airline tickets didn't become worthless the moment you missed your flight.

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[NotUrsula]

They told us that they would let us go standby only on the last flight of the day, which connected in Chicago, and that it would be standby all the way. (We were headed for S. California, & Chicago is east of here.) The problem is that there were weather delays at O'Hare that day, so there was a about a 90% chance that flights to Chicago would be cancelled, or that if we made it that far, that we would be stranded overnight at O'Hare.

As incoming standby passengers, in the event we were stranded, we would have been in line for re-routing behind all the confirmed passengers at O'Hare. The trip was only for 3 days, so risking 2 full days in transit for $100 vs. $300 was not really an attractive option, especially with a very upset 5 y.o. in tow.