how soon before flight to arrive at airport?

[yankeeslover]

dumb question.. flying out of upstate NY...either flying out of Syracuse,Albany, Bradley or Newburgh..what time before flight should we arrive to airport...leaning towards Syracuse.. but flight leaves at 7:05am..... i am a 2 hr drive or so from Cuse...not looking forward to leaving my house at 3am for a flight.....i imagine these airports are smaller and slower then the bigger ones...leaving middle of august..thanks

 

[disneyfaninaz]

The airport you choose will have recommended arrival times on their website depending on the airline. You should, however, expect to be at the airport at least 90 minutes before your flight.

 

[tjmw2727]

I use the 2 hour rule myself, there have been times when I needed every minute of it and other times when I had lots of extra time. Personally I would rather wait at the gate than miss my flight.

You can cut that time down depending on the airport, the time of day, if your checking bags or not, if not you can do online checkin and skip the bag check line.

I would visit the website for the airport you choose as most have a recommended arrival time for each ariline.

For an early morning flight I sometimes use a park and fly hotel, depending on the lenght of the trip it can cost about the same as value parking but you are already at the airport. This would allow you to do the 2 hour drive the night prior to your flight.

 

[ccgirl]

dumb question.. flying out of upstate NY...either flying out of Syracuse,Albany, Bradley or Newburgh..what time before flight should we arrive to airport...leaning towards Syracuse.. but flight leaves at 7:05am..... i am a 2 hr drive or so from Cuse...not looking forward to leaving my house at 3am for a flight.....i imagine these airports are smaller and slower then the bigger ones...leaving middle of august..thanks

I always plan to be at the airport 2 hours prior to departure. I would rather be there sitting around than rushing to make my flight (or miss it). When I have an early morning flight, I use the stay, park and fly and stay at a hotel by the airport and leave my car there. In Providence, I use the Hilton Garden Inn. It is $145 and includes the night of accommodations, breakfast the next morning and parking for your car for up to 10 days. They have a shuttle from the hotel to the airport (and vice versa). That may be your best bet.

 

[yankeeslover]

are they listed on airport website?

 

[jdb in AZ]

are they listed on airport website?

Just do a Google search. Type the city name, plus the words "New York airport hotel" in the search bar.

 

[malibuconlee]

Even small airports can be busy. We flew out of El Paso one year and nearly missed our plane because of the wait at security. Had never taken us more than 20 minutes before even with our daughter.

I would plan on getting there between 5 and 5:30 to park your car, get a shuttle to the terminal, check bags, get thru security, grab breakfast. Better early than late.

Remember a 7:05 plane LEAVES THE GATE at 7:05, that's not when boarding starts. Depending on airline boarding would start closer to 6:40.

 

[backyardponder]

Personally I'd do the drive the night before. Like in Illinois, upstate NY has 2 seasons...winter and construction. Overnight construction projects can tie up traffic worse than during the day. You're spending a lot of money on vacation...add a little more and get rid of the stress!

 

[goofy4tink]

Here's just one I found...
http://syracuse.airporthotelguide.com/syracuse_park_fly.html

I just googled 'park and fly Syracuse' and a bunch of stuff came up. Much better to drive in the night before.

 

[kimkoz]

I'm from Syracuse.

If I'm an adult traveling with only adults I normally get there about a hour before. With kids around 90 mins. However, I'm local - don't have to park (normally dropped off) It's small but still if you haven't been there I'd give yourself time.

There are a couple cheaper hotels right there, I'd drive the night before. It's summer and weather should be fine but construction, you never know.

I'd stick with the 2 hour rule, worse case you are there early and bored but your there and not missing a flight.

If you stick with that 7am flight I'd recommend grabbing breakfast before you get into the terminal. There are fast food locations right before you turn on Airport road. There isn't much selection inside the airport and it may not be open that early.

 

[LWQuestie]

Remember a 7:05 plane LEAVES THE GATE at 7:05, that's not when boarding starts. Depending on airline boarding would start closer to 6:40.

Sometimes a 7:05 flight will leave at 6:55, if the plane arrives early! I've been on several this year that have pushed off before departure time.

 

[aubriee]

I always use the two hour rule. Most of the time I am early and have to just sit around. However, there have been a few times I've really needed that two hour cushion. This past Nov 26th, it was pouring down rain, so we were slowed down and then we ran into two separate bad wrecks where we were caught in traffic. I thought I was going to be late. On another flight this past year, I checked the departure gate just before leaving my house like I usually do, but then found that by the time I got to the airport a little over an hour away that they'd changed my terminal. Security was unusually long that morning and then I had to take the tram way over to the other terminal. Normally with the two hour rule, you'll be stuck sitting around the airport, but then again you never know what may happen between the time you leave home and get to your gate. I live a little over an hour away from my airport and always choose the first flight out, so I'm leavng my house about 2:30am every trip.