Arrival time depends on the airport. When D used to take 6 am flights out of Sacramento we usually got there an hour & 15 mins before departure, and we never had a problem. OTOH we always allow at least 2 hours out of SeaTac.
@doschicos When D was catching those early flights back to college, we’d set 5 alarms between the two of us. Both phones, both bedside clocks and my travel clock. And whoever was up first, their very first job was to make sure the other was up. We usually met in the hallway.
I booked this early flight on the way home so my D had to take the least amount of time off work. She goes to work at 7 and this is what they had. I’ll be glad when it’s over.
I would never, under any circumstances, drive anyone to an airport for a flight that early. I would pay for their taxi if necessary (even if it was $100 or more), but I wouldn’t drive them.
Unlike me, your daughter seems to be a very nice person.
There is a website that lists the average time it takes to get through for every airport at anytime of the day and week. I used it last time. It was helpful. I am sure you can google to find it. This may be it.
^^^That’s a really interesting website! Need to keep that one handy for reference.
I don’t get all the hate for early flights - to each his/her own of course. I would rather fly out early anywhere if it gains me time in the day at my destination. Especially if time is a premium either due to work/home schedule. I’ve had 6-6:30am flights out of DTW three times this year and it’s an hour drive from my home. I never sleep well the night before a flight anyway - might as well get up and go! I always set more than one alarm just in case. No big deal.
I flew out of John Wayne Santa Ana yesterday morning early - dropped the rental car off before 6am and was able to get through security and to the gate pretty quickly. You just never know.
When we used to vacation in the Caribbean a lot, we always took very early flights. One nice advantage was you could be sipping a pina colada pool or beach side by the afternoon.
As noted by others…it depends on the airport. At that early hour on a weekday at MY airport, there are TONS of flights taking off within a very short window of time…to accommodate business travelers. The TSA lines are always long…and that includes the pre check line.
We routinely have flights that early, especially when returning to the east coast from Seattle. They are quite hideous. The airport is often surprisingly packed at 4:45, and it’s really nerve-wracking to see if we’ll make it through the security line in time. But the good news is that if you make a good faith effort to be there on time (“good faith” is about 1 1/2 hours, by my definition), someone will rush you through if there’s a chance you’re going to miss your flight. And if, by some miracle, the line moves swiftly, you can have an amazing smoked salmon chowder at Ivar’s. For breakfast!
My philosophy on flying is that you should expect it to be hell, or at least purgatory, and when it isn’t, you will be pleasantly surprised.
I like early flights, too, but I’m a morning person. It’s just funny to drive to the airport in the dark when not many are up and about - to get to the larger airports where it’s like the middle of the day with people running around.
Gainesville airport, early in the morning, is pretty quiet. H just took a 5 or 5:30 am flight this week. He does it frequently.
When i drive early in the morning to the airport, I am often surprised at how many people are already up and going somewhere at 5 in the morning. I expected I’d own the street with no one around.
If your aircraft is a large one, you will start boarding by 5:15 am. I would try to arrive at the airport by 4:45 as you mentioned. This would allow for time to get through TSA precheck. Bring a snack with you as there might not be any airport shops or restaurants open. Safe travels!
@lololu: We live in Eugene and fly out of its little airport quite often and I’m never there any earlier than an hour before a flight-- and that’s often too long. We joke that the TSA Precheck line means you’re second in line instead of fourth in line. Yes, I’ve seen the lines long… but not in several months. And several times we’ve seen flights held a few minutes for people in security-- one nice thing about a tiny airport.
When you live in a second-rate airport town that has to have feeder flights to hubs, you get used to flying at 5am-ish. I hardly know what to think when I have a flight at a reasonable time!
The airport and security know when the first flight out is, and that people will arrive at least one hour before. So yes, security should be open early for a 5:45 am flight.
We used to always take 6am flights but have found it increasingly tough to get rides to the airport, so have started taking later flights. Fortunately, we are still able to arrive before midnight–the nice thing about the 6am flights was we usually would arrive about 2 or 3 pm, so had lots of daylight left to get to the hotel.
Called the airport and they said TSA is there at 4 am.
I downloaded My TSA app for my phone, it shows delays at the airport. Security times are self reported and it looks like no one reports times at either airport my flight originates at.
or it seems like that.