When it comes to air travel, do you arrive at the airport two hours in advance or do you usually stroll in at the last minute? Arriving earlier can be frustrating and boring when there are delays or even worse, flight cancellations. But our opinion on this subject has always been – better early than sorry.
Arriving two hours earlier may be a bit of a stretch and is not always necessary. About one hour before your flight is the perfect time to reach out at the airport, giving you just enough time to go through security and casually walk towards your gate.
Make sure you have a reliable transportation method to arrive at the airport on time. Our RDU airport transportation service guarantees to get you to the airport in time to catch your flight, but not too much to keep you camped there for hours. Simply give us the details about your flight, your location, and let us use our experience to figure out the perfect time for your departure towards the airport. Let’s look at a few reasons why it’s so important to get to the airport early.
Traffic
We tend to underestimate all the hurdles we could come across on our way to the airport. It is unwise to assume that the road will be smooth and that living an hour from the airport will translate to exactly one hour on the commute there. Delays in ground transportation are to be expected in any 21st century city, and this is the reason why you would rather leave much earlier than you presume it will take you to get to the airport. Missing your flight due to heavy traffic is not an excellent start of a business trip or a family holiday. As we said, you’d rather be early than sorry.
Security Screening
Airport security checks are stressful and seem to take forever. You will probably have to open your luggage and remove your shoes. It gets easier the more you get used to it, but it’s still a tedious process. This is another reason you need to get to the airport early and get it out of the way with sufficient time left to your flight’s departure. Failure to take this process into account might just be the reason you miss the flight.
Get to Request a Preferred Seat
One of the benefits of getting to the airport early is that you can request a desired seat whenever possible. Most travelers prefer the window seat for the view while some prefer the aisle seat Whatever’s your preferred seat, you’re more likely to find it available if you get there early.
Productivity
When you arrive early to the airport and go through security check, you don’t have to idly wait for your flight to board. Give yourself some extra time you can spend being productive and get some coverage on an important task. Take advantage of the free Wi-Fi, and before you know it, they’ll be calling out your flight.
