If you’re an anxious traveler, you probably get stressed out just thinking about the viral TikTok trend known as “airport theory.” It’s when travelers arrive at the airport just 15 minutes before boarding, aiming to skip long waits and add excitement to flying.
This set off a great deal of debate about how early you should get to the airport before a flight, so a recent Real Simple article aimed to answer that question. It spoke to three travel experts, and not surprisingly, each had their own opinion on what time to arrive.
The shortest amount of time was 75 minutes before your flight departure, but only if you’re flying with just a carry-on. They got to that number by figuring that flights typically start boarding about 30-50 minutes before take-off, and you should allow about 20 minutes for security and another 20 minutes to walk to your gate.
Another expert recommends allowing 30 minutes for security, so arriving at the airport 90 minutes before the flight.
The third opinion was to get there at least two hours before boarding, noting you should allow extra time when traveling from a busy airport and for early morning or holiday flights.
All three of the experts agreed you need to allow extra time when traveling out of the country.
How early do you like to get to the airport? Message The Seniors Trust on Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter) and let us know if you thrive on close calls or prefer to be someone who sits calmly at the gate.
