Flight leaves at 5:15 am.....

[vrajewski10513]

The airport is Rochester, NY. It's small, and the only time I've ever seen it *busy* was during February break.

I've flown out of Rochester in the early AM before and It was pretty dead. I usually fly out of BUF which is larger and dont find that to be overly busy either that early in the morning.

 

[reesa roo]

We flew out of Rochester at 5:30am in June. We arrived at the parking lot at 4:15. We took the shuttle, checked our bags, went through security and got to the gate by 4:30. The airport is empty that early.

 

[Hopefully]

IN my small airport (Albany NY) the worst lines are generally for the earlier flights. They don't start flights until 6 but from 5-6 have the worst lines because every airline has a 6 and most a 6:30 and there are less TSA officers.

If you have a noon flight you rarely have any line at all.

I will also add that if you haven't flown in 8 years that means your not used to going through security, may not know where everything is and how to get there without having to read signs, etc. So honestly I would say you should have 90 min. Especially if you also have to check bags.

I have definitely done my airport with only an hour to spare but that is when I knew I had A list so could skip bag check lines, security would be manageable and knew exactly where I was going.

This has been my experience as well.. The longest lines I've encountered have been weekday mornings for hte first fllights of the day. Every airline has an early flight, and they are very popular with business travelers. I would not cut the time short.
I agree with PP, find out what time the security lines open and plan to be there at that time.

 

[merina888]

We fly out of Rochester frequently. Most of the time, it's pretty dead early in the morning. However it depends on when you are flying. I tend to give myself extra time because on the days I don't, something happens. However I fly with kids so that's not unusual.

 

[sharona]

Don't forget that if you're on SW you want to be at the gate at least 30 minutes before boarding so you get a good seat. Flying out of BOS last week for a 5:30am flight we arrived at the airport at 430am (not checking any bags) it took a full 30 minutes to get through security. We got to the gate just as they were lining up to board but we had to skip our stop at Dunks or Starbucks because there were 8-10 people in those lines. Had we stopped we would never have made the gate in time for our A boarding group. Keep in mind that the earlier your flight, the fewer TSA people on duty = longer lines at security.

 

[rdevine10]

It depends on the airport. It has taken us an hour to get through security in Orlando before. In april flying home it took nearly 50 min for a 6 am flight for security. We made it to the gate just in time for the beginning for boarding! It was a mad house. On the other hand, a few weeks ago it took us literally 2 min to get through Laguardia at 6:10 am. Orlando always has the worst security lines.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

We fly out of Rochester, it's our home airport, for early morning flights I'd say an hour before your flight would be enough time, allowing extra time if you're taking the shuttle from the parking lot and if the weather is bad just getting to the airport, it is Rochester after all.