What time to check in tomorrow?
 

I have an 8 a.m. flight out of Washington Dulles tomorrow morning. It's over an hour's drive away and some people say get there 4 HOURS AHEAD OF TIME????? Of course, in the next sentence I hear the planes are nearly empty. Has anyone had any experience in the past day or two? (It is a two hour flight to Florida and I am not taking ANY carry on luggage - only ONE checked bag) Thanks for any advice.

If you've been reading the papers and watching the news on tv you should know you supposed to arrive at least 3 hours prior to flight time for domestic flights and 4 hours for international. Perhaps the inconvenience of getting there so early is worth it if it can thwart someone from boarding the plane who is going to slit your throat! If getting there that early is too hard for you, by all means just arrive whenever you want. Just be prepared to miss your flight---and don't bitch about it---if you can't get thru all the security in time.

Apparently this differs everywhere. I flew out of Orlando last Sunday on Southwest and check-in only took 12 minutes from stepping on line to leaving the counter. My carry-on bag was never searched and the airplane was more than half empty. I walked over to the Delta counter (with all my extra time, as I arrived 2 hours early as instructed) and they were more crowded but moving pretty well. So I guess it's a matter of luck, and the airline. Southwest had 10 agents serving its line.

Ever think about calling your airline directly and see what they say? Easy enough to do.

You can speculate here as much as you want but only airlines will give you an answer. Call them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Definitely call your airline, or check their web site. The norm for domestic flights seems to be two hours. I flew from San Diego to Dallas last Saturday morning on a Delta flight that left at 7am. We were there at 5am, there was already a long line to check in, but lots of people working the counter, so the wait to check in was only 30mins. Although security was tighter, the wait there was short and we had only one carry-on bag for an overnight trip.As we had left home at 4:14am, we were happy to use the extra time at Starbucks! On our way home last night from DFW, security was very good. Both planes were about three quarters full.