Traveling on a Friday afternoon from ORD to Frankfurt. How early should I arrive at the airport?

I would call your airline and ask this question of them also, but I think you should be in the terminal, in line to the counter, two hours before the published departure time.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Rex is right: Call the airline. Also, it will depend upon the airport as well.<BR>We just flew Atlanta to London (Gatwick). We allowed two hours for Atlanta and for leaving London. We had about 40 minutes to kill in Atlanta and about 20 minutes to spare at Gatwick. (Yet, last year we left Rome and got to the airport two hours in advance and had about an hour spare time. They were very effecient at the Rome airport.)

My bank has a deadline for paying my mortgage payment? Should I post here and ask Fodorites what that deadline is? Or should I ask here when my local supermarket closes?<BR>Posts like this one are starting to get to me. Why on earth wouldn't anyone have the common sense to call their airline and find out what THEY require for check-in instead of asking a bunch of total strangers who don't even know what airline you are flying? Each airline has their own requirements and/or guidelines. Go to the source!

xxx, that's being a little harsh. I think every airport is different and people with experience traveling from those airports could offer insight as to the length of time it takes at the ticket counter, going through security, etc. Lighten up a little!

Two and a half hours is a good rule of thumb.

And if I have flown in and out of a specific airport a dozen times and only checked in one hour before the flight --then tell you to do the same, and you miss the flight because your airline requires two hour check-in, will you still think I'm too harsh? I still say, call the airlines -- they are the ones with the RULES -- not opinions.

Linda,<BR><BR>Are you flying coach or business/first class? Are you a member of the airline's "elite" FF program (e.g., gold or platinum on American)? This can make a big difference in how early you should get to the airport. Many airlines have a separate check-in line for business/first/elite flyers. Typically, these check-in lines are much shorter than coach check-in. I agree with others that you should call the airline and ask this question, but if you fall into a special category of flyer, be sure to mention it when you ask!

Hi<BR><BR>I'm afraid the airport / airline info is not as good as local knowledge.<BR><BR>They will always quote the time to cover the worst situation.<BR><BR>I flew last week on an International flight, arriving in the airport for the outward flight 40 mins before, and caught it easily.<BR><BR>On the return I arrived 90 mins before, and only just had enough time.<BR><BR>The bigger the airport, the longer you need to allow for check in and security.<BR><BR>Peter<BR><BR>

We're flying from Charlotte, NC to Philadelphia to Paris soon on U.S. Airways. I called U.S. Airways,and they said get to the Charlotte airport 1 1/2 hr. ahead of time -- but I'm wondering if that's really enough time. Or, does that not count as an international flight, since we're going from Charlotte to Philly??

In January we flew from Palm Springs/LAX/IAD/Milan. They told us to be at Palm Springs airport 3 hours ahead because we were eventually connecting to an international flight. Our Palm Springs flight left at 6:00 AM and the airport doesn't even open until 5:30 AM. Good thing I called or we would have been standing outside for 2 1/2 hours.

up<BR>

Vicky, your flight left at 6 and the airport didnt open until 5.30am? <BR><BR>What nonsense.

It all depends on whether you are checking luggage or not. We usually carry-on only and have no problem showing up an hour early and get our boarding pass at the gate. <BR><BR>But if you have to wait in check-in lines with all those people who have decided to bring their entire wardrobe, you probably ought to get there 2 hours early.

Another factor is whether or not your airport is a hub, and if you are flying on the hub airline.<BR><BR>Generally, at a hub airport the checkin and security lines are MUCH longer for the concourses controlled by the hub carrier.<BR><BR>I flew into Charlotte on business last month on American; the checkin and security wait were under 20 minutes for me. However, the line at the USAir stations was MUCH longer, because Charlotte is a USAir hub.<BR><BR>Int'l checkin does take longer, because of the extra information the airline must get from you.

Ryn's advise (esp last comment) only applies if you're checking luggage.<BR><BR>You can avoid a lot of the airport hassles/wait times by packing light enough to carry on.