Philly Airport Early AM

[Dis703]

I'm just wondering if anyone else here is familiar with the Philadelphia Airport during early mornings. This would be on a Saturday, if it matters, but I'm looking at a Frontier flight at 7 or 7:30am and wondering if that early if you still really need to be there 2 hours ahead of time. I won't have any luggage to check and I'll have my boarding passes on my phone, so I'll just need to get through security and to the gate. It's a bit of a hike to get to Philly so I'm just debating how early I'd have to leave to drive there before I figure out if it's worth it.

TIA!

 

[amcnj]

A family member recently flew out of Philly on a Wednesday. The flight was 8 am, so I dropped them off at 6 am. By 6:40 am they had checked the bag, gone through security, purchased some food items, and were sitting by the gate waiting to board. Whether this is the norm or not, I can’t say.

 

[Kim&Chris]

We had a 5:30 flight last Tuesday morning. I've never seen PHL as busy as I did that morning. Thank goodness we have TSA pre-check, because the line was crazy long to go through security, at about 4:15 am. I expected it to be a ghost town.

Bottom line is....you never know. Better safe than sorry

 

[Dis703]

We had a 5:30 flight last Tuesday morning. I've never seen PHL as busy as I did that morning. Thank goodness we have TSA pre-check, because the line was crazy long to go through security, at about 4:15 am. I expected it to be a ghost town.

Bottom line is....you never know. Better safe than sorry

That's kind of what I was guessing. I just applied for TSA Precheck so hopefully I'll have it before the next flight. I've been spoiled flying out of Trenton as I've never needed more than 1 hour before flight time in such a tiny airport. Most of the time I don't even need that much. But I can't seem to find the days/times I want round trip from Trenton. I'm not a morning person myself but can suck it up for a trip. My 10 year old I'm not so sure about, lol. Thanks for the info!

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

We live just over 1 hour from PHL. We typically leave the house 3 hours before our flight departs, maybe 3.5 hours before. We go straight down the turnpike (476) and it can be slow at times. We park at an off-site lot and I like a lot of cushion for long security lines and traffic delays.

You will probably be fine getting to the airport between 5:30 and 6 for a 7am flight. I wouldn't push it much later than that. By "getting to the airport", I mean walking thru the door of the terminal, not driving into the parking lot. Security at Philly is long when I don't expect it and short when I would have thought it'd be long. My flight is always at the last gate in the terminal too, so there's a loooonng walk after security.

Where are you planning to park? Account for getting on a shuttle from any lot to the terminal. Do you have to drive on the turnpike? They love to close lanes and do work overnight, so driving before 5am can be slower than other times of the day.

I'm pretty conservative when it comes to travel time. I'd rather be bored sitting at my gate than be panicking at the end of the security line because my flight is boarding.

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

Also you can check security wait times on the Philly airport website. You might want to see what they estimate for Saturday morning at 6 just to get a sense.

 

[Beth613]

I'd rather be bored sitting at my gate than be panicking at the end of the security line because my flight is boarding.

This exactly.

PHL is our home airport and we always try to arrive at the two hour early mark, even with TSA precheck. You never know if they will close TSA pre or if the regular lines will be incredibly long. Like someone else noted, when you think it should be empty it will be packed and vice versa.

 

[`OhanaHare]

Yes. Show up the recommended 2 hours ahead.

 

[holden]

We also fly out of Philly and arrive 2hrs before our flight. We have Precheck. Most times we have plenty of time after going through security, but we have run into very long lines too. It's better to be too early than too late.

 

[YesterDark]

As an experienced flier (for work), always show up 2 hours before hand. Typically the majority of traffic going out of the airport is in the morning. Do you have TSA-Precheck? If you have it, you can get through security in about 10 minutes. Otherwise, there could be anywhere from 30-90 minute waits.

I'm flying out with Frontier next month on a Thursday. I'm staying over the night before for an 8:30 flight so I don't have to worry about much. If you're parking your car in long term parking and not being dropped off, I'd shoot for 3 hours prior to take off just in case you have issues or wait times getting to the airport from parking. (Usually takes 15-30 minutes)

Suck it up and get up early. Could you plan it perfectly and hit the gate with 10 minutes to go? Sure. Would I do that? Nope.

 

[JKMastalski]

We live about 15 minutes outside of Philly and fly out of there a couple times a year. I am a nervous nelly and always get there 2 hours in advance. Sometimes the security line can be around 35-35 minutes, but sometimes we zip through. I would be safe than sorry and try to be there by 5-5:30am.
We have a 7am flight this November and decided to stay at the PHL Marriott the night before. Its literally attached to the airport, you just walk through a corridor to get there. Just doing it out of convenience to my in laws that always have to get up early to drive us.

 

[easyas123]

We live about 15 minutes outside of Philly and fly out of there a couple times a year. I am a nervous nelly and always get there 2 hours in advance. Sometimes the security line can be around 35-35 minutes, but sometimes we zip through. I would be safe than sorry and try to be there by 5-5:30am.
We have a 7am flight this November and decided to stay at the PHL Marriott the night before. Its literally attached to the airport, you just walk through a corridor to get there. Just doing it out of convenience to my in laws that always have to get up early to drive us.

That Marriott is super convenient- we've used it ourselves a time or two. There are also less expensive but decent places where you can get a park & fly package or are located not far from long- term parking as well.

 

[trixiedust23]

Just wanted to agree with everyone! PHL is my home airport and we always arrive 2 hours before the flight. Had a flight at 5pm one Saturday afternoon- no wait at security. 6am flight on a Tuesday, 30 minute wait. Pretty unpredictable. Traffic early on a Saturday shouldn’t be bad though, so there’s that!

 

[Spencer Wright]

I would recommend arriving the two hours early. I basically fly 2 round trips per year, but always leave PHL early and it can be quite busy.

If you wish to get any food or beverage, typically only a few places are open, so you are in for quite a wait.

Better safe than sorry!

 

[beccasmom]

We have been using curbside check-in at PHL for a while now and it works out well. We had an early morning MCO flight about a month ago and the airport was pretty empty (surprisingly so!) for a Saturday morning. (TSA check-in was busy, but we have Pre-Check and that was relatively empty.) Indeed, our SWA flight was only half-full (plenty of room to spread out for a change).

But we get there early anyway. I stress out too much if I’m running late....and my family has learned to live with it!