When to get to the airport

[vampiress88]

How long is best before a flight?

Is it still 3 hours best or does it depend on the flight taken?

For Florida we plan to be there 3 hours before because that’s what we have always done

For some reason I am wondering if it’s different for short flights.
We have a flight to Paris.

Shall we still get there 3 hours before our flight to Paris?

It’s a 7am. So would need to be there for 4am.

[Logan]

Depends on your airport I suppose and how big and busy it is. At Belfast International in May we allowed 3 hours, but breezed through check-in and security, 2 hours would have been plenty.

[vampiress88]

It’s Manchester

[duchy]

Have you seen the recent reports about long lines and delays at Manchester ?
I certainly wouldn’t risk any entire holiday for the sake of not ending up airside for a little longer

[Graeme1978]

We're going from Manchester in March and I've booked our Airport transfer for 4 hours before and it takes about an hour from where we are so allowing 3 hours.

[kathrynmc]

I would only arrive 3 hours before, the issues are getting better at Manchester but can still be hit and miss.

Presumably this is for your visit in December so I wouldn’t panic too much at the moment about the Manchester airport issues.

[traceyt]

Im flying from bristol but planning on getting there about 3 and a half hours before - if its quiet I just get to have a couple more coffees but if its busy less stress about missing my flight.

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by traceyt

Im flying from bristol but planning on getting there about 3 and a half hours before - if its quiet I just get to have a couple more coffees but if its busy less stress about missing my flight.

See more...

My problem is I can’t sit and drink coffee (I have to limit fluid intake,bladder issues) plus find something to do with the kids for 3 hours.

But I’m going to go for the 3 hours anyway. It’s what we have always done, just didn’t know if it was any different long haul vs short.

[chipndalefan]

We flew from Manchester a few weeks ago with Air France.

I sent them a message online asking when we could check in at the Airport, and was told 4hrs before.

We arrived at the check in desk 4hrs before as advised and were told we were too early, and to come back 1hr before our flight. When I pointed out it may take more than an hour to get through security given the current situation the response was "Come back 2hrs before and we'll see what we can do"!

We went to Starbucks and went back to the check in desk around 40mins later, at which point we were checked in with no issues. By this time all the check in staff were different to those who were there before.

I'm not sure if we caught the others on a bad day or the end of their shift but there seemed to be no consistency.

[vampiress88]

Mines with easy jet