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I feel for people that must show up hours before a flight, needless to say why I gave up air travel, their stress level must be close to being over the top.
I feel for people that must show up hours before a flight, needless to say why I gave up air travel, their stress level must be close to being over the top.
Actually, it is the opposite. I can do everything at the airport at a leisurely pace, patiently if there are long lines, chat with friendly people, and by the time my flight is called, I am well relaxed.
I don't have a problem with the three hour thing. Even for domestic flights. Get there and get checked in, check bags and get through all the security stuff, and the go find the Airline Exec lounge and hang out, turn off the phone, have a drink or two, read the latest newspaper and wait for the flight to be called. If something changes, you hear about it before the general announcement.
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
And some lack pretty basic services. The old pre-2005 VPS (small home airport) had no public toilets on the air side of security. I don't remember if there was a land side snack bar or not, but 'food' on the air side consisted of a couple of soda machines with perpetually broken cooling units (Warm Diet Coke! MMMM!) and a lone vending machine with a lone bag of Funyuns dangling sadly off the screw to taunt those who thought there might be something, anything, to eat there.
When they built the new VPS terminal complex, consensus was that losing the semi-secret free parking area behind the baggage claim was well worth the tradeoff of being able to pee in a proper public restroom without having to re-clear security afterwards. And there is even a Quiznos airside too! And a Hudson News!
I don't recall VPS having real international flights. no need to show up 3 hours ahead.
Kind of like MLB. They didn't even open the security lines until an hour before a flight was scheduled.
I don't recall VPS having real international flights. no need to show up 3 hours ahead.
Kind of like MLB. They didn't even open the security lines until an hour before a flight was scheduled.
Nah, no civilian international flights out of VPS. But AFAIK, the one hour rule for international bag check still applies when you're starting from the airline's outstation.
I feel for people that must show up hours before a flight, needless to say why I gave up air travel, their stress level must be close to being over the top.
^^^ Not if you are seasoned, well organized traveller.
I feel for people that must show up hours before a flight, needless to say why I gave up air travel, their stress level must be close to being over the top.
I feel bad that you've never heard of business and first class lounges.
Show up 2.5 or 3 hours early. Shower, eat, take a bowel movement, check email, watch a movie on iPad, surf wifi, relax. Walk on the plane first, get off the plane first.
Wait, you think we show up 3 hours to just play on our phones and wait on a cramped seat?
I feel bad that you've never heard of business and first class lounges.
Yeah, I've heard of them. I've also heard that there are seats up in the front of the plane, where those people sit, so they won't have to smell the rest of us.
I'm a road warrior. I pretty much never check bags. Why would I show up at an airport 3 hours before flight departure?
For example, I have a 7:45 am British Airways flight to Heathrow in May from Boston/Logan. Terminal E is the international terminal. Most international flights are in the evening and Terminal E is deserted in the morning. Any time I've taken that flight, security screening has maybe 10 people in it. My boarding pass is on my smartphone. I won't be checking bags. I walk to the gate and show the BA gate agent my passport. 90 minutes before departure is leisurely.
If I'm flying on an airline that isn't TSA Pre and it's at a peak time of day, I might allow 2 hours.
^^^ Not if you are seasoned, well organized traveller.
oh, so true! While I don't normally have hours to wait, I do have some time; I usually spend it drinking coffee and people watching. People are amusing, lol. I always have a book and my mac, so I can read or work or watch something if people get too boring.
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