How many hours before your flight do you arrive at the airport?

[chad@mstdn.ca]

@evan there’s a Chili’s still at the YEG airport - so enough time for that. :)

[chigaze@mstdn.ca]

@chad @evan Ah yes, when we're travelling across the Atlantic we always go to the YEG airport with enough time for a breakfast beer at Chili's. If we're flying at night and need to sleep we go to Belgian Beer Café for something to knock us out.

[edwing@mstdn.moimeme.ca]

@evan National: 2 hours (for CATSA or other appropriate security control org)
International: 3 hours, if I need to go through outbound border control. Otherwise, see national

Voted based on my regular use case.

[kristine@theforkiverse.com]

@evan I drive from home 2h before departure. It takes close to an hour to get there. I have a comfortable amount of time in an airport I know very well, small by most standards and I have trustworthy experience-based prediction of most distances, checkpoints and waits.

[howtophil@oldbytes.space]

@evan One time, I got a capsule at a capsule hotel connected to the airport the night before

[silvermoon82@wandering.shop]

@evan
When kiddo flies out west, her booking package always says how long ahead to arrive. It's usually been 2 hours, but istr at least one flight only recommended one.

[brunogirin@mastodon.me.uk]

@evan it depends on the flight: within the EU: 90 minutes; outside the EU: 2 to 3 hours.

[halcy@icosahedron.website]

@evan 2 EU (quasi-domestic), 3 outside

[evan@cosocial.ca]

@lakelady it's fine if you talk about it. It's nice if you talk about it in a way that doesn't imply that I need to change something. I'll update the FAQ to make it more clear.

[digikata@fosstodon.org]

@evan +1 or +2 for international flights, depending

[tarix29@tech.lgbt]

@evan at least 3. Any more than that and it doesn't matter to me. I think the earliest I've ever been was 7 hours

[johns@social.librem.one]

@evan I *plan* to arrive 2 hours ahead, largely to allow time for traffic and delays getting there, so often don't get there the full 2 hours ahead. Back when I lived walking distance from the airport (yay East Boston), I'd leave my apartment 1hr before departure.

[roy@meghadeep.social]

@evan Depends.

Am I in the US where I have Global Entry (TSA Pre)? Arrive at the concourse around 1 hour before departure.

Am I in India where I have to repack my entire backpack because the security theater enlists new dangerous items every month not even a nail clipper is allowed? Arrive at the concourse around 3 hours before departure.

[aeva@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@evan i don't fly anymore, but before the pandemic started i think i tried to give two hours to figure out the airport and get through the security theater, and probably an hour to get to the airport, and probably an hour to get ready

[shtrom@piaille.fr]

@evan Depends on whether domestic or international, and the size of the airport and plane.

[rickscully@heads.social]

@evan we usually have to take a 2 hour bus trip to the airport we use most frequently and usually the bus schedule determines our arrival at the airport. And we build in a little extra time for bus delays. And we usually only fly internationally (and often red eyes) so I chose 3 but could have been 4. 🤪

[badrihippo@fosstodon.org]

@evan since I don't fly that often, I'm usually nervous and err on the longer side. Could have been 4+ hours, though I voted 3

[philip@mastodon.mallegolhansen.com]

@evan I answered based on international travel, as that’s where I’ve done most of my flying. There it’s around 3 hours because I, like my mother, become a restless mess starting like 24 hours before I’m going anywhere.

I barely ever sleep the night before.

For US domestic, which have become more common for me lately, I’ve been purposefully trying to break the habit. PDX is a decent airport, I got TSA Pre-Check for this purpose, and have made moring flights only arriving 30 minutes early.

[evan@cosocial.ca]

Thanks to everyone for answering! There were a lot of interesting replies.

I'm about 2 hours, but I've got a wide variation -- from 3 hours to 1 hour plus a few seconds.

I usually aim for 2 hours, but I don't always get it right. I also make the mistake of thinking that I need to be on the *grounds* of the airport 2 hours ahead of time, rather than *checked in with baggage dropped off* 2 hours ahead of time.

Especially if I have a rental car, this can be a big difference.

[renata@cosocial.ca]

@evan Years ago I was flying from CNF to GIG with a conference mate and CNF is a horrible airport in the middle of nowhere. My mate was the type of person who likes to arrive at the last minute and swore everything would be fine. It wasn’t, we missed the flight and had to wait for the next one, for like 5h - it would be impractical to go back to the city, etc.

This is to say: now I always make a point of arriving 3h early no matter what.