The honest answer is: earlier than you think you need to, and later than your most anxious relative suggests. Here is how to work it out.
Getting the timing right is a balance. Arrive too late and you risk missing the flight, which can be expensive and upsetting. Arrive too early and you spend hours in a departure lounge, which is tiring before the trip has even started. The rules of thumb below will get you close, and your airline’s own cut-off times will do the rest.
1. Short haul: around two hours
For flights within Europe, two hours before departure is the usual advice, more if you are checking in a bag. That gives you time to drop your bags, pass through security and walk to the gate. At smaller airports it can feel generous, and at the big ones it can feel tight.
If you are travelling with hand luggage only and have checked in online, you can sometimes arrive a little later. But security queues are hard to predict, and a single delay can eat up your margin. It is better to have a coffee at the gate than to run for it.
Remember that the gate often closes well before the plane leaves, sometimes half an hour or more before departure. At big airports, the walk from security to the gate can take fifteen or twenty minutes. Some gates are reached by a train or a bus.
For flights within the UK, the same advice broadly applies, although some small regional airports are quicker. If your flight is early in the morning, the airport may be at its busiest. Many holiday flights leave at dawn.
2. Long haul: around three hours
For long-haul flights, allow three hours. Check-in and bag drop often close an hour before departure. Long-haul flights are bigger, with more passengers checking in at the same time, so the queues are longer.
Some destinations have extra checks, such as document checks at the desk or extra security screening at the gate. If you need a visa or an electronic travel authorisation, the airline will check it before you board. Make sure you have everything ready.
If you are flying in a premium cabin, you may have a separate check-in desk and a fast track through security. That saves time, but it is still worth arriving in good time. Lounges are a comfortable place to wait.
Long-haul flights are expensive to miss, and the next flight may not be until the next day. For that reason, three hours is a sensible minimum. If you are travelling at a busy time, add more.
3. Check what your airline says
Each airline sets its own cut-offs for check-in and bag drop. They are on your booking. They are deadlines, not guidelines: if you miss them, the airline can refuse to take your bag or let you board.
Low-cost airlines tend to be the strictest, and many charge for checking in at the airport rather than online. Most airlines let you check in online a day or more before the flight. Download your boarding pass to your phone, or print it.
Some airlines let you drop your bags the night before at certain airports, which can save time on the morning of an early flight. Others have self-service bag drops. Check what your airline offers.
The airline’s app will also tell you if your flight is delayed, or if the gate or terminal changes. Turn on the notifications. It is the quickest way to hear about a change.
4. School holidays and bank holidays
Security queues can be far longer at peak times. Add half an hour, or an hour at the start of the summer holidays. The first Saturday of the school summer holidays is often one of the busiest days of the year at UK airports.
Christmas, Easter and the half term holidays are busy too. Bank holiday weekends are especially busy, with many people flying out on the Friday and back on the Monday. Early mornings are the busiest time of day.
Roads to the airport are busier at these times too, with holiday traffic on the motorways. Allow extra time for the journey, not just for the airport itself. A traffic jam on the way can wipe out your margin.
Rules on liquids and electronics in hand luggage vary between airports, as new scanners are introduced. Check your departure airport’s rules before you pack, and have everything ready at security. It saves time for you and everyone behind you.
5. Travelling with children
Everything takes longer: add time for toilets, pushchairs and snacks. See flying with children. Small children walk slowly, need the toilet at the worst moments and get tired and hungry quickly.
Allow time to fold and unfold pushchairs, to take coats and shoes off at security and to put them back on. Many airports have family security lanes, which can be quicker and more relaxed. Look out for the signs.
Children’s passports need renewing more often than adults’, so check they are valid well before you travel. Some countries require several months of validity left on the passport. Check the rules for your destination.
Give yourself time for the children to burn off some energy before boarding. A calm start at the airport sets the tone for the flight. Arriving in a rush with children is no fun for anyone.
6. Work back from the airport
Decide when you want to arrive, then book your pickup from home to fit, allowing for the time of day on the roads. For a morning flight from a big airport, that can mean leaving home very early indeed. Plan it the day before, so there are no surprises.
Start with your flight’s departure time and take away the time you want at the airport, two hours for short haul or three for long haul. Then take away the journey time from your home to the airport, with extra time for traffic. That is your pickup time.
Remember that the journey time depends on the time of day. A journey that takes forty minutes at night can take an hour and a half in the rush hour. Motorways near the big airports can be very busy.
Pack the night before, and leave your passport, tickets and anything else you need by the door. Charge your phone. Then, on the morning, all you have to do is get up and go.
A car booked ahead leaves nothing to chance on the way there: the price is fixed and your driver’s details are on your journey page before pickup.
Ride with ZeroLanes. A car booked ahead, at a price fixed before you confirm, with the driver and the car on your journey page before pickup. Book an airport transfer.