Do you have to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight? Discussion

Before the pandemic, I flew rather a lot. For several months, I used to be flying forwards and backwards twice a month between Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta, or wherever. I do know a few of you travel rather a lot more, but it surely doesn’t matter – the point is: my friend has been on the plane often enough to learn a thing or two about various airports around the country. I often traveled for work with other people and most of our flights were booked at the same time. And then the conversations at all times began about when we should always be at the airport.

And that is the moment our whole lives modified without end.

Kidding. But for some reason, social media has been abuzz currently with conversations spilling over into my group chats about whether you need to be at the airport two hours before your flight or not. I do not know who began this latest round of conversations, but I’m pretty sure how you feel about the pre-flight time-frame being discussed before you marry someone. I’m not even kidding. But we’ll come back to that.

Let’s start with me. For so long as I can remember, I have followed the rule that you should be at the airport two hours before a domestic flight and three hours in the case of a world flight. I do not know who got here up with this rule, but it surely was passed down to me and I’ll do the same to my children. In my mind it was a nefarious plot by the airlines and airports to get people to the airport to spend money on food and things you determine you need simply because you have time to kill so you browse random shops in the airport terminals . Airports have change into so way more convenient and industrial that you can experience amazing shopping in a single place. If you’re in Charlotte, you can sit in a rocking chair and calm down. Gosh, there are such a lot of good places to shop and eat at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that it’s hard to consider. But the same thing is going on to all airports now; from Dallas-Fort Worth to Los Angeles, even the newest terminal at Washington-Reagan International Airport is a client’s paradise.

But here’s the thing, and why the two-hour (three-hour) thing is outdated for lots of us. I currently have TSA PreCheck AND CLEAR, which suggests that each time I’m going to the airport I try to see if I can break the record for the fastest time from check-in to the gate. Two hours? This applies to regular individuals who won’t apply for TSA PreCheck. CLEAR is for many who like to spend money unnecessarily – hello, it’s me. I literally got to the airport with half-hour to spare on a flight with only a carry-on bag and had checked in the night before… and still had a while to spare. Next time we’ll see what happens in 20 minutes.

Lifestyle

Times have modified. Sure, it looks as if more individuals are traveling despite ever-increasing costs, but it surely really also will depend on the airport and the pre-flight extra services you paid for. Even with TSA PreCheck and CLEAR, if I’m at the Atlanta airport, I absolutely try to get there with at least an hour and a half in my back pocket. I used to be on CLEAR x TSA PreCheck lines, which rivaled regular security lines. I’ve seen celebrities humiliate themselves at this airport. But if I’m in Huntsville, Alabama, I can actually show up 20 minutes before my flight because the lines are never long.

As with every part in life, all of it depends. Now, due to the way I used to be raised, I’m still READY to get to the airport two hours prematurely. My wife? Eh. He’s definitely in the “all I need is an hour” community and doesn’t even have TSA PreCheck or CLEAR. When I travel along with her, I try to be certain that we leave a couple of hours prematurely; it doesn’t occur easily or at all, so you know, sometimes the tension can run high. We still love one another. We just have to get to the gates much faster than I would really like. We flew to Ghana and I do know for a undeniable fact that we absolutely didn’t arrive at anyone’s airport three hours before the flight. I won’t say whose fault it’s, but you understand how I like to depress myself.

The thing is, like most things in life, how early you need to get there simply depends. If you’re someone who doesn’t like rushing, two hours is smart. If you’re the form of one that loves tempting fate, even when you swear you don’t, go ahead and provides yourself an hour’s likelihood, even when you have to check your bag… at the Atlanta airport. Running around the airport is a great cardio workout from what I hear.

But if you miss your flight, it’s your fault, boo boo, because since you’re flying, I’m sure you were told to arrive two hours early.

You may go get pre-checked and TSA cleared if you’re feeling wealthy, and show up every time you feel prefer it.