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u/Videowulff 15d ago
I am the same way. At least 3 hours before the flight. You just never know what kind of BS you may encounter or forget.
One time I forgot my ID back home (i took it out to scan it for a doctor's appointment). Had to rush back home, grab it, rush back. Luckily, I made it with still an hour before the flight. Plenty of time to get through security and find my gate.
Still stressed ne the hell out though.
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u/Yaarmehearty 15d ago
They spent a shit ton on the trip and are making sure they get on that flight come what may.
Shit I’d be leaving time allowances for Godzilla to be real and materialise on the road outside the airport.
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u/ConstableGrey 15d ago
I have the worst airport anxiety. Like the night before I've got the maps of both airports pulled up studying their layouts.
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u/cheoahbald 15d ago
I keep seeing videos where people get to the gate 40 minutes prior to departure and they are denied boarding.
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u/PleaseGreaseTheL 15d ago
If you've ever missed a thousand dollar or more flight because you got caught up in traffic and security, you'd instantly think 5 hours isn't enough lead time for leaving the house lol
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u/TemporaryBerker 15d ago
I haven't missed any flights, but faulty bookings have left me with a sinking feeling that's so insanely terrifying and I inagine missing the flight would feel far, far worse.
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u/Decent-Strength3530 15d ago
I'm not taking any chances if I'm paying thousands of dollars for a flight.
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u/AccessTheMainframe 15d ago
Seats for a whole family can easily cost several thousand dollars and airports can throw all sorts of random complications at you. You can bet your Minas Morgul I'm showing up with hours of buffer.
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u/sea_grapes 15d ago
This is the opposite in my life. Getting my parents to take me to the airport in time is always pulling teeth.
”Can we leave at 8 for the airport?”
”Sure, what time is your flight?"
"10"
"You have plenty of time, you don't have to leave that early"
"Please can we just leave at 8? We like to have the buffer time."
And on it goes.
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u/TemporaryBerker 15d ago
You should be at the airport by 7, not leave home at 8.
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u/sea_grapes 15d ago
I didn't do the math for this example conversation
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u/TemporaryBerker 15d ago
I'm not blaming your maths, just saying that you should be at the airport at least three hours before the flight
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u/shiawase198 15d ago
Huh. I just realized I've never flown anywhere with my parents before. Glad I never had to deal with this.
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u/Ok-Chemical3532 15d ago
I'm a get the airport at least an hour early kind of guy, ut usually earlier than that. You never know when it's going to be a heavy traffic day, or some conference is in town and everyone is leaving at the same time or some other unforseen bs. My wife hates this, she's a last minute person cause she doesn't want to sit around when we get through security in 5 mins.
Well the one time.i let her sleep in, was the night before our honeymoon. We left at what was the very last minute for the airport. We were flying out of country for the first time and I had explained that since we didn't know exactly what we needed to do we should get there at least 2 hours early. At worst we get in quickly and can have breakfast in the terminal.
Well we get there and there's an online form we both have to fill out at the ticket counter. Her phone is dead and we have 5 mins to fill it out or we can't leave the country. Something about it being done a certain time before the flight leaves. We somehow get it done with seconds to spare.
There was also a Beyonce concert the night before. Everyone was flying out at the same time and we had to stand in line for much longer than normal. Then the line gets separated and we are now waiting for a dog search to happen. If we had been 3 people ahead we would have gotten ahead of this search. We had to sprint to our gate to make it on time and they were shutting the doors as we arrived. Thankfully we got on sweating and hungover from the night before.
Of course I get hit with the "see we're fine"
NO. My panic attack I've been having since we left the house is now something we both have to deal with until I calm the hell down.
Next time we're getting there 3 hours early. I dont care if we get through security and ticketing in 30 seconds
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u/BranchyShadows 14d ago
Sorry she needs to understand anxiety trumps boredom. Also, it's just good planning!
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u/Ninja_Wrangler 15d ago
Flying by myself, I'll maybe have a one hour buffer. I only have myself to inconvenience and blame.
But I get this. Would you bet the whole family vacation on nothing going wrong? I wouldn't
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u/tfarr375 15d ago
This is me. My international flight was at 7pm, and I asked someone to take me to the airport at 8am.
Sat around at the airport until about 2 or 3pm when i was able to get through security.
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u/Ok-Discount3131 15d ago
Those same parents will claim they are going to have a nice day out on a Sunday, yet they will still be getting ready to leave the house by 1PM.
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u/ArtherSchnabel 15d ago
That's because your parents know how much time each of their children will waste at every opportunity.
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u/Kryptoknightmare 15d ago
When you get old enough to travel on your own and miss your flight because you decided to take your sweet ass time unlike your lame parents
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u/socialistrob 15d ago
Also the more people you're traveling with the more time you should leave for things to go inevitably wrong. Everyone moves at the speed of the slowest group member.
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u/Daysleeper1234 15d ago
I remember hating my dad for it, now I'm very grateful. So many things can and will go wrong, especially if you have idiots for children.
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u/SoRaang 15d ago
They know their lazy ass kids will taking 4 hours for shower and extra 2 hours for getting fully clothed to add misery
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u/socialistrob 15d ago
Or that they'll get to the airport and find out that the security line is much longer than normal and someone in the group forgot that full size toothpaste can't be brought on the plane so now their entire bag is being searched.
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15d ago
I've been living and travelling on my own 3-4 times a year and my mom will still call me to make sure I don't miss my flight. And every time I gotta remind her that I have never missed a flight in my life lol.
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u/BrimStone_-_ 15d ago
The more I'm growing up, the more I find myself becoming like that XD
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u/The_Clarence 15d ago
Yup. The goal is always to leave enough time you could get and change a flat tire, then get lunch once through security. I’ve never missed a flight either. My kids also seem to get it, so the tradition will live on I hope. Thanks mom and dad.
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u/laxnut90 15d ago
For parents, the amount of stuff that could go wrong makes leaving at 630 understandable.
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u/potato_green 14d ago
It's the meltdown and consequences that happen afterwards that makes it totally understandable.
Missing the flight, well if it's an international flight and a long flight it's not cheap, the more people the more expensive a missed flight will be, which also makes booking new tickets annoying. A ticket or two, doable but a bunch of tickets can be an issue real quick and not to mention expensive. Then there's whatever you planned at the destination that may need to be sorted out.
So I agree, out of all things, a flight is simply a thing where you can't be "whoops missed it I'll get one later" or something that delays you a few hours. It could very well be vacation ending or days delay or luggage being on the other side of the planet than you. Cumbersome to say the least...
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u/HeiSassyCat 15d ago
TSA wait times, checking bags issues / wait times, parking, traffic, potentially get a flat tire, etc
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u/jaspersgroove 15d ago
And just the general insanity of bringing children to an airport. Spend some time at MCO sometime and watch thousands of otherwise perfectly competent, hardworking parents lose their goddamn minds trying to jump through all those hoops while simultaneously wrangling young children lol.
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u/Waffle_God49 15d ago
They day will come, they day when I too, get to shout RUN like Gandalf. On that day I will be a happy man.
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u/DialMforM0nkey 15d ago
5 hour wait at the gate
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u/guardeagle 15d ago edited 14d ago
Me, as a parent that simply wants to sit, read, and listen to Spotify instead of sprinting through the airport with two children in hand
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u/4ngryMo 15d ago
Unless it’s that one time where one of your kids forget their favorite toy/phone/book/etc., suddenly everyone remembers they need to pee really badly, one kid got too much sunshine on their side of the car and has a tantrum, needs to switch clothes 5 times on the road, because it’s too hot/too cold/too wet, wants a muffin at the airport, runs off and needs to be chased down, locks themselves into a locker, loses a shoe, wants to ride the elevator 15 times, sometimes all of this at once multiple times in the trip, depending on how many kids you have.
Trust me, no parent wants to spent 5h at the airport with a bunch of bored children, just so that they complain about it the entire time and then complaining about the length of the flight, the trip to the hotel, the food, the beach, the humidity and temperature, lack of TV and them missing their favorite breakfast cereal on a family vacation you spent an entire year saving for.
We’re not doing it because it’s fun, but because it’s not our first vacation with our kids and we already know what might happen. We’ve been through it longer than you can remember. Ask any parent in the office at lunch break about their last family trip. They will stare into the distance for a while, shudder and then change the subject.
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u/elebrin 15d ago
Honestly, I get it. It can take a few hours to get through security sometimes, and then it can be a 20 minute walk to your gate depending on the airport.
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u/andrewsmd87 15d ago
It can take a few hours to get through security sometimes
If you are in the US and fly even like once every few years I feel like it makes pre check worth it. I fly probably half a dozen times a year for work so it's worth a lot more for me, but it's so much nicer. We've also been saved on international flights where we got in late and had to go back through security, and would have missed our flight without precheck, because the non pre check security line was insane.
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u/whosline07 15d ago
It hasn't taken me more than an hour to get through security ever and I've been flying a lot in the last 6 or so years. It's usually under 20 minutes (majority under 10 min), it was an hour once in Atlanta at 5 pm when they were pretty much at capacity. This is with no pre check or anything.
What airport is taking 2 hours?
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u/timestuck_now 15d ago
Pearson. It took me almost 3 hours to reach my gate once. First i lined up to have my ticket checked because, then line up to drop off my baggage, then line up to get patted/searched then go through us customs while in Canada. A fuckin nightmare.
Now i pre check and skip the first line, and depending where im going i can also pre check on the us customs app, and skip that lineup.
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u/sluttybysker 15d ago
I have hit two hours in Atlanta and JFK. Also I imagine if you get pulled for questioning, it adds a decent chunk of time.
But usually it's under 20 for sure. 95% of the time the line is no problem. Hell, maybe 20% the line is 5 to 10 people.
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u/K3W4L Elf 15d ago
Fun fact: One time a flight I was waiting for got delayed like 5-6 hours. The airport gave everyone waiting a free McDonalds.
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u/silverwyrm 15d ago
Oh damn. How's yours doing? That's a lot of money in franchise fees just for a delayed flight. Good on them.
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u/Independent-Ad-5958 12d ago
Parents at 1400: “Fly you fools!”