Everywhere you look, you’ll read that travel numbers are still as crazy as ever. Hotels are getting fuller, cars are getting sucked up for rentals, and, of course, despite airline meltdowns here and there, there are LOTS of people flying (Florida had such an increase in aviation a couple of years ago that the FAA had to get involved because of all the flight delays).
The rule of thumb for commercial airports (except for the tiny ones) has generally been arriving 2 hours early for domestic flights and 3 hours for international flights. That may or may not still be the case. In fact, at least one airport has been promoting a recommendation of “3-2-1” for a while:
- get to the check-in counter 3 hours before your flight
- be in line at the TSA checkpoint 2 hours before your flight
- arrive at your gate 1 hour before take-off
I see some of you sneering already.
Hey, if you do this all the time and have your system down pat and can get from your car to the gate in 45 minutes, you do you. But also realize that the majority of the flying public isn’t you 😉 and those are the people this post is for.
So for the rest of you, is that really how long you should give before arriving at the airport? Honestly, it depends. Let’s break it down:
Check In/Bag Drop
The actual time it takes to check in and get the stickers for your bags if you’re using check-in kiosks, is pretty low…just a couple of minutes. It’s the queue for the bag drop that’s the time suck, with the potential for the queue going way beyond however many switchback lanes of stanchions they have set out.
Don’t think the time of day has anything to do with waits, either. We had a 7 a.m. flight to HI. So we stayed at MCO’s on-site hotel, the Orlando Airport Hyatt Regency (here’s what we thought about it) and got to the check-in area around 5:45 am (which was much later than I wanted, but SOMEONE – you know, that guy who put a wedding ring on my finger all those years ago – insisted we’d have plenty of time. He’s since apologized). Anyway, Delta’s bag check line was so long that at 6:15 am we had only gotten up to the switchbacks – and I think there were 3 or 4 lanes of those. That’s when we asked the “line monitor” to get bumped to the front so we didn’t miss our plane.
Besides the plethora of people going on vacation, another problem is that many airlines only have 2-3 reps for check-in/bag check. So if a group of travelers has a problem, say with a bag being too heavy, that representative will have to work with them for a while, which knocks available reps to only 1-2 for ALLLLLL those people.
So give yourself about an hour, if not more, to check your bag. Well, except for….exceptions ;-).
Exceptions
You won’t have to worry about the baggage drop line if you’re not checking a bag and doing only carry-on. You just have to take a few minutes to do the electronic check-in, and you’ll be on your way to the TSA security checkpoint.
If you’re flying domestic first class, international first or business class, most airlines in a selection of airports should have a special line, and you’ll be able not to have to stand in the regular queue with us commoners ;-).
It also goes without saying that small airports have fewer planes flying to and from them. Fewer planes mean fewer passengers. That means fewer people in the queues. So obviously, as the good blog says, Your Mileage May Vary.
Ways to save even more time
Most, if not all, airlines let you check in online. If yours does, and you did, and you’re only doing carry-on, you could potentially enter the airport and go straight to the TSA security checkpoint (it doesn’t make sense to do this if you’re checking bags because you’ll still need to get a bag tag/sticker at the kiosk).
Of course, even if you’re checking bags, there’s always this option, too. It should save you some time; I couldn’t tell you exactly how much time, because it depends on the day.
TSA/Security Checkpoint
Lines of travelers snake past TSA agents at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
If you’re lucky, you may only have to wait a few minutes. If you’re not lucky, or are traveling during a very busy time, your wait could be significantly longer.
The MyTSA app has gotten really good at telling you how long the approximate waits are for the TSA security checkpoint at your U.S. airport of choice. Check it for several days ahead of time, around the time that you would be getting there, so at least you won’t be surprised if you have a 45-60+ minute wait.
Exceptions
People who have TSA PreCheck get to stand in a much shorter line, since they’re “trusted travelers.”
People who have CLEAR membership get to stand in a shorter line (well, sometimes. Again, Your Mileage May Vary, so check both CLEAR & non-CLEAR, if you have that option) before getting to the TSA officer who checks their ID. After that, you get sent to the TSA PreCheck X-ray queue, or the regular X-ray queue, depending on whether or not you have TSA PreCheck.
Depending on what airport you’re using, you may be able to make a reservation time, ahead of time, to get in the regular queue. Check with your airport for details.
Finally, some airlines offer exclusive security lanes (granted, only at certain airports) if you buy upgraded tickets. For example, having United’s Premier Access gets you through the TSA checkpoint’s exclusive security lanes, AND you have access to dedicated airport check-in lines and priority boarding. If you buy a Business Select Fare on Southwest, or have their A-List or A-List Preferred status, you can use their Fly By Lane, which gives you direct access to the front of the ticket counter and TSA checkpoints at certain airports.
Other Things To Consider
Obviously, not every flyer or flight is the same, and you need to consider several other things:
- Able-bodied adults will generally get through an airport faster than those flying with young children, seniors, or people who need to take more time because of reasons.
- Larger airports will take more time to negotiate. It takes forever to get through Salt Lake City’s new airport. Key West’s airport? Not so much.
Feature Photo (cropped): Cory Doctorow (yes really!) / flickr
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
17 comments
The last comment is key, “Airports that are larger will take more time to negotiate.”. Fly out of and into a smaller airport, and it’s quick and less stressful, at least the ones that I’ve used.
Also some airports take longer to get inside. My home airport is experiencing a fair degree of curb congestion so depending on when you show up you might be looking at 10 minutes or much more from driving into the loop to reaching the curb
“Airports are getting fuller” ? Great use of the English language. Not!
Hi Debbie! If you read our blog with any sort of regularity, you’ll see that we tend to write more in the familiar form than with perfect grammar. Of course, we’re perfectly capable of the latter. However ours is a conscious choice to write our narrative in the way that most people in the U.S. use the English language in these modern times. IOW, “we ain’t publishing no book; it’s just a travel blog, y’know?” Kindly forgive what you perceive to be a transgression.
🎤 drop!
LOLOL! Thank-you. I try 😉
Just traveled this weekend thru Atlanta everything you said is true that TSA line is long my TSA precheck got left off my ticket and it was a long wait but they were moving pretty good
This isn’t possible because they won’t let you check in or bag drop until all the other passengers on early flights bag drop Frist so it don’t matter how early you get there they keep you waiting and you will be late
If you are going to drop a rental car, the time from yhe drop location to the checkout line varies tremendously depending on the airport. It can be as few as five minutes (Knoxville) or as many as 60 (Minneapolis).
How early to get to the airport depends on how variable certain bottlenecks are. Is traffic or public transportation predictable. How about check in and the security line? If one has checked baggage, how many people are in line or using the kiosk, and if there is a rental car.
Before, I used to live in a small city where traffic was very predictable for the time of day that I had flights.
Precheck is often very fast except in the morning on the West Coast and maybe JFK in the late afternoon.
Sometimes, I leave for the airport 2.5 hours before the flight if dropped off for a late evening flight and arrive at the airport 1:50 before the flight. I can clear security and be at the gate 1:35 before the flight, giving me about 0:50 to spare.
Many years ago, my target was to be at the gate 20 minutes before departure and I would actually be at the gate between 15 and 30 minutes before departure.
I prefer to be sitting in the gate area 1:15-1:30 prior to scheduled departure. Gate changes have caused many people to miss their flights. Well, that and the bars. The latter is their choice so no sympathy. In order to meet that criteria I strive to be inside the airport 3:00 early. Rather than deal with hassles I prefer a generous time cushion. I am dealing with the Atlanta airport so congestion and construction is real.
You said it, FA, about Atlanta. Outside, just pulling up to drop someone off is a nightmare. I flew out of there yesterday (I live in the ATL suburbs) and actually came to tears over the absolutely ridiculously long lines and convoluted arrangement around construction inside the airport!! I wish I had gotten a wheelchair because by the time I wound through the baggage area TSA lines to find that the Clear line was at the north terminal AND down on the lower level AND was no faster than the regular line right next to the Clear line, I was in physical pain. Then there was confusing signage to walk through T gates to get to the train to ride to A gates… FAIL! I won’t fly out of Atlanta on a Friday again if at all possible. Horrible. You have been warned: give yourself 3 hours even for domestic! And good luck.
If the bag drop lines are huge, the skycap outside is you best friend.
A few years back we arrived at the airport and almost missed our flight due to long lines. That’s when I got my wife (who likes to arrive at a baseball game as the first pitch is being thrown) to agree to getting to the airport 2 hours early.
I’m curious…how is this a “recent post” with comments from May, 2022? It appears that this was a regurgitated article that may or may not be completely relevant now. Someone have writer’s block?
Not at all. We write less “new” posts over the weekends, to give ourselves a day or two of rest. In those cases, we post “In Case You Missed It” articles that, after being reviewed and updated, are just as relevant to those who didn’t read them in, in this case, May, 2022.
As an international traveler I completely support your advice of being 3 hours early to the airport. The vagaries of weather and flight gate changes I believe better to be safe than sorry!! Sometimes the check in kiosks don’t work so well and then you have to ask for help which in turn may direct you to a line that is long!!
Always interesting hearing how different airport experiences are…
“Airports that are larger will take more time to negotiate.” will always hold true for me like the way I prefer Worcester Regional over Boston Logan where I can, but the former keeps changing schedule with it’s 3 carriers so it actually becomes hit or miss if the route I want will stay till the time I travel.
Baggage drop is very short where there’s self tag and self drops long as there’s no issues with checking in.. hope more airports/carriers go this route.
Clear+Precheck has definitely saved me time/hassle at most airports, CC covers all the costs so it was a no brainer. By extension, Global Entry as well.