What do you do to Not miss the plane?

[DisneyNewbiie]

So this is my familys first trip on a plane.I was talking to my wife last night about what if we miss our plane and she said no we wont she already thought about that she has are cell phone timers on,are tv timer on,The alarm clock on ,Her sister is going to call as well to make sure we get up and shes leaving the computer on with the volume all the way up so here friends can AIM her that morning.I was just wondering what you guys do?

 

[mmcguire]

I set my alarm clock and get up as soon as it goes off. I also don't sleep well the night before a flight, so I'm usually awake anyway. The bigger concern is to make sure you get there in plenty of time for parking, check-in and security. We allow 2 hours before our flight, but larger airports may require more time, esp. if you're departing from far-flung satellite gate.

 

[rrobin3051]

I have never missed a flight..now i will jinx myself...lol. We usually leave very early and honestly i think that helps. my friends will pick later times and i think the more time you have on your hands the worst it is. That being said our plane leaves in july at 735am. So we need to be at the airport around 6am. That means up by 430am. Honestly im always so excited that i dont sleep really well, so i wake up so many times. You will be just fine and get up

 

[kisobel]

i wake up many times that nite. and not gradually either. i wake up and immediately sit up and look at the clock because my first thought is omg we overslept. of course it is only 1am and i try to lay back down with my heart pounding and my ming racing "did i pack everything" . not a very restful night before hand.


kate

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

I agree with being awake all night the night before! Who can sleep when Disney is coming?
But as for the airport, we always feel that being early is best. If it is an early morning flight we wait, get there too early and eat our breakfast while waiting to board. Better safe than sorry

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Our last trip my Mom was supposed to take us to the airport and her clock didn't go off and her cordless phone was dead so we couldn't get her on the phone. How's that for bad luck? We ended up having to drive ourself.
When you are at the resort and heading back for an early flight use the wake-up call from Stitch.

 

[melly]

getting to the airport on time usually helps.

 

[Ava]

I also don't sleep well the night before a flight, too excited to get on vacation! Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport, park, go through security, & get to the gate. Most airports tell you to get there at least 1 hour early for domestic flights - I usually leave my house in time to get there 2 hours early in good traffic. That way if there is a traffic jam or a long line at security or your toddler tells you right as you're backing out of the driveway that she really needs to go #2 you will still have plenty of time to get there. It's much better to be early and sit around the airport for a while than to be late and running to catch the flight. Have fun!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've never missed one but my DH has missed several - usually because he's not paying attention to the time once he arrives at the airport. He just goes to the counter and books the next flight out.

It costs him a pretty penny though and I'm sure never happy about it.

I just make sure we are fully packed and ready to go the night before - I even load as much as I can into the car the night before. We drive ourselves and use the off-site parking that takes you to the airport.
Then when the alarm goes off the next morning, I get up right away just like every other morning. I also set my cell phone alarm just in case we lose power but that's it.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

we usually leave 3 hours before our flight, and it only takes 20 mins to get to the airport just to leave a whole lot of cushion time. You never know how long security lines will be, parking (if you're driving there), shuttle buses, etc. have a great trip! I'm sure you guys have nothing to worry about!

 

[look1angel]

So far been very lucky not to have missed a flight. I did make the mistake of leaving 2 hours before my flight (takes 45-50 mins to get there) instead of actually being AT the airport 2 hours before. I live 45 mins from Atlanta with no traffic. Just barely made it through security sweating bullets the whole time know we were minuets from boarding. Got to the gate & we were the last ones on whew! Now I make sure we are there 2 hours before our flight. Atlanta is a huge airport.

My neice & nephew missed their flight & were fortunate to get on the next one out, that was before 9/11.

If I'm headed to Disney I hardly sleep because I've counted down the days till I board that plane & step on Disney soil

This makes me think of the movie "Home Alone" when everyone is rushing to get to the airport on time & poor Kevin is left behind.

 

[phisigprincess]

My subconscience is usually overdrive the night before a trip, so I don't get a sound sleep. It's almost like even though I'm sleeping I'm listening for the alarm. Plus I set a ton of alarms just in case.

 

[mom2faith]

i wake up many times that nite. and not gradually either. i wake up and immediately sit up and look at the clock because my first thought is omg we overslept. of course it is only 1am and i try to lay back down with my heart pounding and my ming racing "did i pack everything" . not a very restful night before hand.


kate

THAT IS SO ME!!!!!

My subconscience is usually overdrive the night before a trip, so I don't get a sound sleep. It's almost like even though I'm sleeping I'm listening for the alarm. Plus I set a ton of alarms just in case.

Yup, me too here!!

LY we had to leave our small town by 3:15am in order to be on time. So we had our luggage in the car the night before and all we had to do was get up. DD slept in her clothes and I did her hair in braids so she was presentable for the trip. DH and I only had to get dressed (we showered, etc right before bed). I slapped on some mascara, etc and we were off.

We set 2 alarms and my parents were going to call us.

But....my lovely sister, who was up in the night to nurse her newborn, beat everyone to it!! She called an hour before we had to be up and needless to say, we did not get back to sleep!! It was a LONG day!!

Amy

 

[mef78]

getting to the airport on time usually helps.

Hee hee!

We just set a couple of alarms...I'm also a pretty restless sleeper when I've got an early flight, though, so I wake up several times during the night anyway

 

[tkitty]

"I'm too excited to sleep!" I set 2 alarms. This trip our flight is at 5am I may have a little more trouble this time. Lucky for us, we are only 20min from the airport. I'm always at the airport early.(2 hrs)

 

[ancestry]

I too have never missed a flight due to my own actions. I have missed flights before when the first leg of my flight was delayed causing me to miss the second leg of my flight.

If I have an early flight I usually set multiple alarms. This time around though our flight doesn't leave until 1:00 PM so I don't think we need to worry about sleeping in. However, I do check and double check everything to make sure that we aren't missing anything that would slow us down on departure day. I also plan extra travel time as we live over an hour from the airport and I'm often fearful of traffic.

 

[Danauk]

I just set my alarm like I do every day for work, make sure everything is all packed and by the door ready to leave. I make sure I do on line check in the day before we are due to fly, but then also make sure we get to the airport at the latest 2 hours before we are due to fly. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to the London airports from where I live so we allow 3 hours.

 

[inkkognito]

You can miss the plane even if you make it to the gate with plenty of time...or at least DH and I can! Once we were flying from Chicago to Miami for a cruise. It was a very early morning flight, and we had set an alarm and backup alarm and got to Ohare in plenty of time. We sat at the gate, staring at what we thought was our plane. Turns out we were looking at the wrong one, which was actually at the adjoining gate. We sat there like idiots while they paged us (don't know why we didn't hear them...half asleep I guess) and finally left without us. Finally we questioned why it was so late and boarding hadn't even started, despite the plane being there...surprise surprise! We just about flipped out, since we had a ship to catch. I have to say American was awesome about getting us on the next flight and we did end up making it in time. I don't think I've ever been that embarrassed.

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

I usually set my alarm clock and my phone

 

[DisneyNewbiie]

I scared her I told her what if were asleep and the power goes off and sleep right on through. She said well then your not going to sleep that night and you will stay up all night