What sort of air traveller are you?

I try to limit how much I fly but when I do, I am like you. I am there WAY early, especially in new airports. It helps to keep me from freaking out and being stressed. Plus it's fun to sit there reading and people watching.

 

I much prefer waiting at the airport for my scheduled flight over waiting for the next flight. I schedule for arriving at the airport an hour before the flight and add time for traffic.car troubles.

 

Thanks to the TSA, we here in the states HAVE to be at the airport early due to the excruciatingly long lines to go through security. Add to that my artificial knees that set off the alarms so that I get the full terrorist pat-down every time I go to the airport. No wonder I'd rather go on the train. . .

 

I get there early. I can't stand cutting it too close on anything scheduled.

You might think about checking your wife as luggage. That will save you money, even with the extra bag fee, and avoid any schedule hassles.

Tom

 

I'm definitely the "get-to-the-airport-well-ahead-of-time" type. 2 to 3 hours for international travel, 1 and a half to 2 hours for domestic travel. I hate the hassle of checking in and going through security but once you get that all out of the way you can unwind a bit. Especially if, as F8L points out, you like the reading and the people watching. Sometimes I can even manage to get a quick quasi-nap in.

 

'ate flyin'. Can't stand it. Don't know why. I 'ate airports. I'd rather drive.

 

I get there when I get there, sometimes early, sometimes a little late. I have been lucky I haven't missed a flight but I almost missed a flight to Belfast when I arrived 2 minutes late to an early flight at an unfamiliar airport, John Lennon, Liverpool. Fortunately with no check luggage they raced us through and we still had to wait to board. I'd like to thank Easy Jet for letting us fly. For real international flights I get into the terminal 30 minutes before I have to be there because of the cues at the check in counters. I love flying but it is costly to me and the environment.

 

I'm a get there early in case something happens kind of person.

 

i prefer to get there early. once i got there too early, and nearly missed my plane hanging out at the airport bar...

 

I used to be a real power air flyer, but now I only fly about once or twice a month. Still, I have pretty high lifetime status, and I'm pretty set in my ways when flying -- at least when I fly alone for business. Get me flying with others, and I'm a bit different. When I fly with my family -- woah!

I have my toiletries pre-packed, and I know exactly what I can fit in my roller-board. I've gone on business to Europe for 10 days out of carry-on baggage. I know my home airport, and I am very comfortable with the parking, walking, security, etc. Still, I don't travel like I used to. Before 9/11, I used to plan carefully to arrive just in time to walk onto the airplane after boarding started. Now, though, I plan all around alternative flights. I usually book for a later flight than I may prefer and then arrive just-in-time for the next-earlier flight, hoping to fly stand-by. If I don't get on, then I just go to the club and get some work done.

With my family? I just try to get there without exploding! I aim to get there early without much yelling, and then I try to be ready to get everyone on board. I am very calm, collected and comfortable when travelling alone, but get me with my children, and I am a nervous wreck!

 

When I worked for Gould Electronics, our Marketing Director was waiting for a flight. He had made his way to the gate quite a bit too early, so he was standing by the jetway talking to someone. He heard the boarding calls, but wasn't worried because it takes so long to board all of the rows. His thinking was that it was better to stand a while longer at the gate then with the crowd on the plane. Engrossed by the conversation, the next thing he noticed was his plane pushing back from the gate. Needless to say, he didn't make that flight. That was one of the dummer ways to miss a flight.

Tom

 

I'm with you. I bet your wife and many others in the wait-til-the-last-minute crowd will be too if they ever miss a flight and face the actual hassle and expense of changing flights.

 

I'm in almost the exact same situation as you. I like to get to the airport excruciatingly early (on my most recent international trip, I was there *3* hours early) and my soon-to-be wife likes to get there ~30 minutes before the flight is supposed to take off. It's something that we both got from our parents. Thankfully, we both realize that we're at the ridiculous extremes, so we can usually negotiate a reasonable airport arrival time.

As a corollary to this, we have a similar battle once we get to the airport. I would like to get all the way to the gate before I sit down and relax. She would rather sit down and have lunch/dinner before proceeding to the gate (often outside of security), usually leaving a very reasonable amount of time to get to the gate. However, my thoughts are that it occasionally takes an unbelievable amount of time to get through security, so I'd rather get that done with quickly.

I guess the difference is that I leave enough time for everything to go wrong, whereas she allows for the normal time, plus a little extra.

 

I absolutely despise current commerical air travel....
I never,never fly any where for personal reasons.
That being said i am forced to fly by my employment
and when i fly at gunpoint by my employer I arrive
way-way early to get the whole damn process over with as soon as possible.
Froley

 

I like to get there early, too. One time I traveled with a coworker... he arrived late, we were at the wrong terminal and just about everything you can think of went wrong but we managed to get to our destination by the skin of our teeth. I sure don't like traveling like that... it was pure stress the entire way.

 

Just a little side note.
I laugh at the people who cue for the departing flight going through the check in. I sit until the cue is a few bods long then go through. I know I'm just going to be waiting on the other side. I also try to board late in the process to minimise my time sitting on the aircraft, particularly on a 14 hour flight.

At the other end I laugh again at the people who are standing in the aisle as the plane makes its way to the aero-bridge. They rush off the aircraft only to wait at the luggage carousel. On my first trip to England I sat and waited until the aircraft was almost empty, walked to the carousel, my bag was the first on the belt followed by my wife's and son's. I picked up the bags and walked out, no waiting at all. I couldn't believe there was no bag checks. This was October after 911. That never happened again. I like to relax when I fly, I don't rush but I don't hold anyone up.

Then there was the time someone had their bag blown up because they left it unattended in Paris Charles De Gaulle air terminal, that was fun and another chance to laugh at people.

 

I'm with you Eric, get there very early and then just sit and relax and wait for the flight to board.

I cannot stand it when people get there at the last minute and have to run for the plane. It is one of my big pet peeves, people being late.

I am usually 2-3 hours early for a flight. I would rather sit back in the terminal and read a book and just relax instead of rushing.