How early to arrive at the airport?

[letthewookiewin]

I haven't flown since 2006, and this will be my first time to fly alone. Plus I have never flown on a holiday weekend. My flight is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and I am flying from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to Atlanta. I am meeting a friend there, and we are driving to WDW together for a girls only trip. My flight departs DFW at 8:15 AM. How early should I arrive at DFW? I know the last time I flew, we got to the airport about 2 hours early. Then again, I was flying with children, so my DH and I wanted to make sure to arrive early. I just wasn't sure if that was still a good time to arrive, or if was too early.

 

[davedmaine]

I haven't flown since 2006, and this will be my first time to fly alone. Plus I have never flown on a holiday weekend. My flight is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and I am flying from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to Atlanta. I am meeting a friend there, and we are driving to WDW together for a girls only trip. My flight departs DFW at 8:15 AM. How early should I arrive at DFW? I know the last time I flew, we got to the airport about 2 hours early. Then again, I was flying with children, so my DH and I wanted to make sure to arrive early. I just wasn't sure if that was still a good time to arrive, or if was too early.

2 hrs early will be fine

 

[MillauFr]

All depends on how crowded the airport is. When SeaTac is not crowded and I am flying by myself 45-60 minutes is plenty of time. When it is crowded and I am flying with my family I'll get there 90 minutes in advance. Also depends on the airline. Alaska is very fast and efficient checking people in. Southwest and United always seem to have a huge lineup.

 

[letthewookiewin]

All depends on how crowded the airport is. When SeaTac is not crowded and I am flying by myself 45-60 minutes is plenty of time. When it is crowded and I am flying with my family I'll get there 90 minutes in advance. Also depends on the airline. Alaska is very fast and efficient checking people in. Southwest and United always seem to have a huge lineup.

I'm flying American Airlines.

 

[goofy4tink]

I like to plan on getting to the airport abut 2 hrs prior to departure. That way, if I run into traffic I won't stress. Or if there is a long line at security.....anything is possible when flying.

 

[Lewisc]

I like to plan on getting to the airport abut 2 hrs prior to departure. That way, if I run into traffic I won't stress. Or if there is a long line at security.....anything is possible when flying.

Do you still allow 2 hours if you're not checking luggage and your BP indicates TSA precheck?

 

[dancin Disney style]

I always plan to be there 2 hours in advance. I much prefer to be early and sit and have a coffee and read or just people watch. I agree there are a lot of variables that could cause delays so a nice time cushion is better.

 

[kamik86]

Do you still allow 2 hours if you're not checking luggage and your BP indicates TSA precheck?

With TSA precheck and no luggage 90 min would be fine at most airports.

I have done 70 min early to my home airport (and that is when I dropped off the rental) and been fine. But the rental is a short walk (no shuttle) and the airport is tiny. If your at a bigger airport where it can take 15 to 20 min to walk to your gate even if nothing goes wrong you need more time.

Also depends on if I want to be able to stop and get food or if I'm ok with just walking right into line to get on the plane (the time above I was running late and did literally go through security walk to my gate and get right in line to board)

 

[Hopefully]

I too prefer to arrive about 2 hours prior to my flight. Most flights board about 30 minutes earlier than the stated flight time. Anything can happen as far as security lines etc. I would rather sit a few minutes at the gate, than be running to catch a flight

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Count me as one "two hours before flight time" people, regardless of the airport or the time of day.

Although my target is to be at the airport two hours before flight time, I've misjudged or taken a wrong turn or run into heavy traffic. In such cases, I'm glad I had some extra time. Over the years, I've run into TSA lines as long as a full hour.

If you plan on two hours and everything goes perfectly, you have some extra time near your gate for a meal or snack, or just to read book. If things don't go perfectly, you should still make it onto your flight.

Two things to remember:

Flights board 30 minutes before scheduled departure, so two hours really means 90 minutes.

The consequences of missing a flight can be horrendous. You can hope that your airline will accommodate on the next flight under an unpublished "flat tire rule," but with many flights operating at 100% of capacity, there's no guarantee you'll be on the next flight. And the next flight could be many hours later or the next day.

 

[bumbershoot]

All depends on how crowded the airport is. When SeaTac is not crowded and I am flying by myself 45-60 minutes is plenty of time. When it is crowded and I am flying with my family I'll get there 90 minutes in advance. Also depends on the airline. Alaska is very fast and efficient checking people in. Southwest and United always seem to have a huge lineup.

How do you determine if seatac will be busy? I've gone there for flights or to drop off or pick up DH when the cars are backed up to the on ramp to get into the airport. One night we saw a guy get out (of family's car? Taxi?) and just start walking to the terminals because he could move faster than the cars were. You were in that jam whether or not you were going to arrivals or departures. And I've noticed no rhyme or reason for it. We are in the "walking in the doors of the airport" two hours early camp, no matter our circumstances. Even when we come from a dcl cruise and can do onboard checkin where our bags disappear the late night before and meet us at seatac, even if pre is involved. I'd rather be bored at the gate than running down the halls of an airport!

Do you still allow 2 hours if you're not checking luggage and your BP indicates TSA precheck?

DH rarely has no checked bag but he still shoots for two hours no matter what. Even with pre.

 

[letthewookiewin]

Thanks y'all. My DH is going to drop me off at the airport. We live about an hour from the airport and when we used to fly, we left early enough to arrive 2 hours before departure. My DH just wasn't happy about having to leave our house at 7:15 AM on a Saturday morning to drop me off. Plus there has been a lot of major road construction around the DFW airport, so I know leaving earlier would be better.

 

[MillauFr]

How do you determine if seatac will be busy?

You are correct that there is no sure fire way to predict the crowds with complete accuracy. However, I have found shorter lines when I have a flight leaving in the evening after 8:00p and in the middle of the day around noon. It always seems busy in the morning during the Summer when the cruise ships pull in and you have thousands of travelers getting off of the ships and heading for the airport.

As far as the backups on the departures/arrivals roadways I always use the bottom level (arrivals) in the morning and the top level (departures) in the evening. Saves a bunch of time.

 

[goofy4tink]

Do you still allow 2 hours if you're not checking luggage and your BP indicates TSA precheck?

Probably. I'm one of those people that if the flight is at any time after 8am, I'm up and ready to get to the airport with time to spare! So, I tend to arrive before that 2 hr mark!! Of course, that means sitting and cooling my heels at the gate.
But, if I have just carryon and TSA precheck, then I would be comfortable with under 90 mins. And of course, that would be the time that there was an issue in security and they revoked my precheck status!!! Murphy's law.

 

[MillauFr]

We flew out of SeaTac this morning. We got there at 4:50a for a 6:20a flight. The checkin lines at United weren't too bad. Security took 5 minutes. Had plenty of time to get breakfast and eat before boarding our flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

We flew out of SeaTac this morning. We got there at 4:50a for a 6:20a flight. The checkin lines at United weren't too bad. Security took 5 minutes. Had plenty of time to get breakfast and eat before boarding our flight.

That's how I like to fly....get there, have enough time to get breakfast and then board. I can usually do that if I get to the airport 90 mins prior to boarding. Usually.

 

[malibuconlee]

Thanks y'all. My DH is going to drop me off at the airport. We live about an hour from the airport and when we used to fly, we left early enough to arrive 2 hours before departure. My DH just wasn't happy about having to leave our house at 7:15 AM on a Saturday morning to drop me off. Plus there has been a lot of major road construction around the DFW airport, so I know leaving earlier would be better.

I'm sure this was just a mis type, however you said the flight is at 8:15 AM and you are an hour away. So if he's dropping you off you are planning to leave at 5:15 AM not 7:15. An hour drive and two hours before flight.

Saturday won't be bad especially that early. I can tell you from experience tho that traffic that Wed will be BAD at the airport. We one were picking up my SIL and taking her back to Addison. It was rush hour and the day before Thanksgiving. UGH, we actually found out on the way to the airport her flight was delayed (it was only a 2 hour flight), we just kept driving and waited at the gate for her, it was pre 9/11. Holiday weekends the long term parking at DFW would get to capacity when we lived there too.

 

[letthewookiewin]

I'm sure this was just a mis type, however you said the flight is at 8:15 AM and you are an hour away. So if he's dropping you off you are planning to leave at 5:15 AM not 7:15. An hour drive and two hours before flight.

Saturday won't be bad especially that early. I can tell you from experience tho that traffic that Wed will be BAD at the airport. We one were picking up my SIL and taking her back to Addison. It was rush hour and the day before Thanksgiving. UGH, we actually found out on the way to the airport her flight was delayed (it was only a 2 hour flight), we just kept driving and waited at the gate for her, it was pre 9/11. Holiday weekends the long term parking at DFW would get to capacity when we lived there too.

You're right. My brain thought 5:15 and my fingers typed 7:15. Luckily, I won't have to worry about parking, since the DH is just dropping me off at the terminal. Even when we did fly, we used the parking just off the airport over off of 114 in Irving.