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Anyway - I have a flight (Southwest) leaving at 1:40 PM Thursday 12/10. I will be leaving from work in downtown Raleigh (office is near Farmer's Market). I plan on parking at that Fastpark Place (will take I40 to 540 to 70, right???). If I left work at 11:00 AM, don't you think that would allow me enough time to get to the airport and through security? I'll just have the one suitcase and my carryon tote bag. Almost always when I do the 2 hr thing, I am sitting around forevvvver.
I really am hoping to be able to work 3 hours so as to minimize the amount of leave to sign out.
Agree that 60-75 minutes is plenty of time through RDU on a Thursday afternoon. The new millimeter wave scanners seem to have slowed Security transit a bit but I don't know if they have the millimeter wave scanners at the Southwest security points.
leaving work at 11am and driving to FastPark will allow plenty of time for the transit to the Terminal and check in and security. FastPark is excellent and often is quicker than driving around the parking deck looking for a free space, especially in the middle of the day when all the spaces seem to be taken.
I have found that it varies based on whether you are flying out of Terminal 1 (old Terminal A) or the new Terminal 2 (where Terminal C used to be). The new terminal tends not to have problems - plenty of self check-in kiosks, and rarely gets backed up. The old Terminal (1) can get really fouled up sometimes - the check-in areas are cramped, and there are fewer self check-in kiosks. So - if flying out of Terminal 2, 1:00 to 1:15 should be enough time. For terminal one, you might want to allow a little extra. You might not need it, but it will save you sweating in the check-in line (even just waiting for a kiosk) wondering if you will make your flight.
Of course, account for parking times too, based on where you plan to park. The daily ramp can get quite full during the week. If you spend time searching for a spot level by level, you can burn up a lot of time - better to just scoot up to an upper level and take a distant spot. Longer walk; less time though.
I have found that it varies based on whether you are flying out of Terminal 1 (old Terminal A) or the new Terminal 2 (where Terminal C used to be). The new terminal tends not to have problems - plenty of self check-in kiosks, and rarely gets backed up. The old Terminal (1) can get really fouled up sometimes - the check-in areas are cramped, and there are fewer self check-in kiosks. So - if flying out of Terminal 2, 1:00 to 1:15 should be enough time. For terminal one, you might want to allow a little extra. You might not need it, but it will save you sweating in the check-in line (even just waiting for a kiosk) wondering if you will make your flight.
Of course, account for parking times too, based on where you plan to park. The daily ramp can get quite full during the week. If you spend time searching for a spot level by level, you can burn up a lot of time - better to just scoot up to an upper level and take a distant spot. Longer walk; less time though.
Southwest is in Terminal 1. I will be printing out my boarding pass at home, so if they have curbside for bags open, I should just be able to head straight to security. Do they still do curside? I've only flown a couple of times since 9/11 so I don't know how it's working now.
I am parking offste at the FastPark, so no looking for a space for me. I used to sue the I40 Parn n Fly over by the Country Inn & Suites, but soemone posted about the FastPar recently, so I'm trying it out. When I do park at the airport, I use the Park and Ride, not the deck, and there are usually plenty of spaces there.
Thnaks everyone. Like I said above, I ahven't flown much since 9/11, and I wasn't sure how long security was taking now. Before 9/11, I used to zip right on through!
I'm usually a 75-90 minute early kinda guy, and it is usually WAY too much, but I prefer not to be rushed. Fast Park is awesome, and will have you there fast, and checkin at Southwest is great too.
A few weeks ago, I was headed out on a combined vacation and work trip. I think it was 8 days total, with major mountainbiking included, so I had two full suitecases to check (one was gear). Decided to leave my house at 6AM for an 830 flight. At 543 I was loading bags in my car in Lee County, 50 minutes from fast park and I pulled out my boarding pass, which I had already printed from online check in, only to realize that my flight was at 7AM. So I had 77 minutes to kiss my wife, drive 41 miles, park, get the shuttle, check my bags, clear security and get on the plane. My checked bags had my gear from the trip, so if they did not make it, my trip was a waste.
I pulled into fast park at 632 (28 minutes to takeoff), told them my situation. The bus of course took "forever" (probably all of about 22 seconds, but I was a wreck by this time), and when he came to get me, I told him my situation. Another guy was on the bus, also with a 7am flight at terminal 2, and he dropped him first (I was crazy by this time)
Got dropped off, sprinted with two big suitecases and my laptop bag, the all the way down the long hallway to the SW terminal. Got there and there were about a dozen people in line, I composed myself and said "I really never do this, but I messed up with my flight time, and now have 18 minutes to get checked in, do you mind if I go to the front of the line?" (I really NEVER do this, and dislike people who do, so it was hard for me to ask, but it was an honest mistake.) Everyone was cool with it, but the lady at the counter said "you'll be fine if you wait". When I got to the counter, they were really nice and all, but the computer flashed a warning that I missed my 30 minute check in, so if my bags did not make it, it was my problem to deal with. This really freaked me out, because I had to drive 6 hours from Denver to Moab, UT, and without my bags, I could not ride. I had no choice, so I went with it.
Long story short, they got my bags on the plane, I made it to the gate just as they were calling my boarding group, and got on without delay.
Cut it WAAAAYYYYY shorter than I'd like to, but if you leave DT Raliegh with 2 hours and 15 minutes to flight, you'll be parked with more than 90 minutes to go, and will have a good hour to sit there and read the complimentary paper that Fast Park gives you.
BTW, Fast park is (and always has been) awesome.
Hope y'all enjoyed my story. It's a lot more fun to tell now, than it was to live it on that day. (and I had the trip of a lifetime out west, really special!!!!)
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