How early shall you arrive at the airport?
By youless
@youless (112123)
Guangzhou, China
October 30, 2011 11:53pm CST
Before the plane departures, how early shall you arrive at the airport and get on board? Here in the past it was supposed to be 45 minutes. Now due to the security reason, it seems that you have to arrive at the airport before 1-2 hours to prepare to get on board. Actually my husband is getting on board now but it seems that he takes it easy which it drives me crazy. I hope everything will be fine for him.
4 people like this
27 responses
@Rosa26 (2618)
• United States
31 Oct 11
In my country I used to get to the airport three hours early, why? because I have to check my luggage to see if it have overweight, then I have to do the checking with the airline which may take a lot if there are 30 people or more before you, then I have to complete a form for my son and a form for me of inmigration departament, then I have to complete another for to show when I in USA and I get here, it means to one for and one for my son,then I have to make another line and sometimes they even check my brass, I have to take off my shoes,and then go in a hurry to the plane, the last I got to the airport two hours and 30 minutes early but had to run to enter to the plane because they were announcing the last call for that flight.
2 people like this
@Rosa26 (2618)
• United States
1 Nov 11
If you don't have with a permission legalized of the father of your child stating thathe give you permission to leave the country they don't allow your own son travels with, it happens all the time when the father of my son was going to travel with him, I had to give him a permission, and when I was going to with my son his father had to give me permisssion, which cost a lot of money to get that paper.
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
31 Oct 11
He will be ok. The last time I flew we got to the airport an hour before.But this was before the new guidelines. Now I would get there 90 minutes before.
2 people like this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
31 Oct 11
He didn't listen to you? You thought he should have been there later?
2 people like this
@celticeagle (159538)
• Boise, Idaho
31 Oct 11
They usually tell you when you make the arrangements. Different airports are different. Different sizes and how busy they are all make the time different. Depends on how thorough the security checks are and if there are people who have to have a more thorough check.
2 people like this
@zralte (4178)
• India
31 Oct 11
I usually arrive at the airport 1 hour or more before departure if it is domestic flight. For International flights, if I check in online, 2 hours or so, if not, 3 hours.
In India, it is recommended to arrive at the airport 3 hours prior to departure for International flights. I am not too sure about Domestic flights. It used to be 45 minutes, but these days, with more people flying and airports tend to get crowded, I think Airlines are now recommending you arrive at least 1 hour prior.
2 people like this
. Reported it to the admin. Will be removed soon.
I do think earlier is better too.
@Pushhyarag2000 (1416)
• India
31 Oct 11
I think for domestic flights, unless you have web checked in and have only hand baggage, it is always appropriate to reach an hour before scheduled departure. For international flights, it may be 2 hours for completing extended immigration & custom formalities without web check in and may be an extra half hour late with web check in. I always make sure I do web check in. It assures me of not only confirm to the airline of my intention to travel and reserve my preferred seat. Which is another reason to be a bit early.
It is always better to factor an extra 30 minutes while starting to the airport for contingencies what with crazy traffic almost in every city of the world!
2 people like this
@Pushhyarag2000 (1416)
• India
1 Nov 11
Web check in is an online generation of boarding pass by the passengers by logging into the website of the concerned airline. Almost all major airlines provide this facility on their website. It is a win win situation for both the airline as well as the passengers. The airline economizes on staffing and related handling costs by ensuring rush at check in counters at the airport. For passengers it is an extremely convenient way of being able to check in from the comfort of home or office, being able to choose their seat and avoiding the hassle of waiting in line [queue] at the airport counter.
When you log in into the website of the airline from whom you have purchased a ticket, look for a tab called 'web check in'. Once you opne, you have to provide some details of ticket like PNR no. or the last name of the passenger of the passenger to retrieve the booking and follow the instructions to check in [user friendly] and print your boarding pass after you're done. When you reach the airport, you exchange the boarding pass for the airline's printed stationery boarding pass & stamping etc.
Hope that's some help!
1 person likes this
@mr_pearl (5018)
• India
31 Oct 11
Hi there, I work for the reservations desk for one of best airlines in the world. The recommended check in time for Suite, First and Business class is at least 2 hours prior to departure. For Economy, it is two and half hours prior to departure... The check in counters close 40 min prior to departure, generally; but this can vary from airport to airport... You need to check on that...
2 people like this
@TrvlArrngr (4045)
• United States
31 Oct 11
Alot depends on the size of the airport and the time of the flight. A large airport at peak times will have extra long security lines to get through. Atlanta security has taken me from 15 - 45 min to get through depending on the time. Raleigh is usually 5-20 min to get through. I like to arrive early so I have time to enjoy a cup of coffee though sometimes especially on return flights, I am running from a meeting and desperately trying to make my flight - that is not enjoyable at all.
@rameshchow (4426)
• India
31 Oct 11
My personal opinion is we have be at the airport before one hour of take off. There will be some procedure know, and we can not expect the plane problems.
2 people like this
@amelly (1554)
• Malaysia
31 Oct 11
well.
in my last experience..we do come early but since we had our lunch at the airport and then we walked around a bit..
after that we still have around 45minutes before the departure time..
so i think that you should be around 2 hours early..better safe than sorry right..
2 people like this
@vasumathi (436)
• India
31 Oct 11
Hi...
I have never been in aeroplane. but i had many times visited airport to send off my brother and my friends. we used to be airport before 2 hours of departure.
2 people like this
@ikbtn1 (23)
• United States
31 Oct 11
you know due to airport protocols,a lot of time is wasted during checking in at the airport which gives people wrong impression about coming to the airport early and sometimes this makes people miss their flight so from my own point of view,i think it is better to arrive 2 hours before departure to be on a safer side,its better to arive early than arrive late so that you can balance everything unbalanced before the time of departure.
2 people like this
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
31 Oct 11
youless,
In the past, I would always arrive at least 2 hours before my flight's departure time but never 45 minutes, because the check-in counter would have been closed and unable to accept you even if you are holding a confirmed reservation ticket.
However, there are a few destinations especially in the United States that have been on high alert since 9/11 which have all their airport securities on a stringent checks on all passengers and as such, requires all passengers to be early for check-in as early as 4 hours before flight departure.
As for your husband's case, I believe 2 hours for international flights and 1 hour for domestic flight should be relatively sufficient in China. Just make the allowance for traffic congestion on the way to the airport which is usually the main culprit for us being late for check-in and to a certain extent miss our flights. I am sure he is wary of this and would probably have himself to blame if he misses the flight.
@youless (112123)
• Guangzhou, China
31 Oct 11
4 hours is quite a long time. If the American just has have the flight to another American city, this check-in time is too long. Some time ago Beijing has a much more careful security check-in and it's quite crowded in the airport. So this is why I am worried whether the time for my husband to check-in is enough. He is a lucky guy
1 person likes this
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
31 Oct 11
Depends on the airport I think. When I travel from here (fairly big airport for Norwegian standards, fairly small compared to big European airports) I usually go there about an hour before if I have luggage, 45 minutes if I haven't. Unless of course it's the first day of the holiday, then I want more time because of the queues :-)
When I travel from for example Vienna or Helsinki, I usually try to have between 1.5 to 2 hours, from London at least 2 hours, possibly more. Except for the times I go from the London City airport, don't need that much time there.
I think we were told to be there at least 3 hours before last time I went to the US, 'cause the security check lasts forever. I don't really mind the security check part of the security check, but I can't see the point in the questions. Why do they assume I want to stay? I have a job, a flat and everything I need here, and if I want to move, all of Europe is just around the corner. It's just a holiday, let me got on the plane and I'll promise I'll go back :-)
1 person likes this
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
1 Nov 11
I do that too, it's so boring! Usually I bring either a book or my computer, and on some bigger airports there's always shop but I've never been much of shopaholic. Not even window shopaholic. And when it's early in the morning and you can't even buy a drink, it's even more boring ...
1 person likes this
@yspmyl (3435)
• Malaysia
31 Oct 11
For me 1 hours earlier will be enough. Unless there are something happened. It is still better to be there earlier since we do not know what will happen during the journey to airport, there might be traffic jam or anything that out of our control.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16546)
• China
2 Nov 11
Your husband frequently makes a flight so he has the time at his finger tips and takes it easy.To my surprise,now it takes 1-2 hours to make security check before boarding .
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16546)
• China
3 Nov 11
I was frequently on a business trip before,It was quite a bother to me.
1 person likes this
@ardoy0731 (7308)
• Philippines
31 Oct 11
They say that 2 hours before the flight which I think right,to avoid being in a hurry or if there is some delays or problem regarding the flight.It is better to be early than always in a hurry.
2 people like this
