# Arrive at the airport two hours early?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 16, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432 "2010-12-16T21:57:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432/21 "2010-12-17T08:10:16Z")

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Until my last flight (the week after Thanksgiving), I’d always thought an hour was more than enough if I wasn’t checking baggage. Last time, we had a 7:20 a.m. flight and arrived an hour ahead, so I thought we would be fine.

However, security was painfully slow, even at that hour and with no checked baggage and boarding pases printed ahead of time, and we made it to the gate just as they were boarding our row. If we’d had any actual problems at security, we would have missed our flight.

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**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432/22 "2010-12-17T14:15:00Z")

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Don’t go right when the airport opens, though - that 6AM flight has a security line right out the door.

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**Author:** ![TheTerribleTako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@TheTerribleTako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTerribleTako)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432/23 "2010-12-17T19:57:44Z")

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If it helps, OP, there’s a small branch of Powell’s at PDX.

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**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432/24 "2010-12-17T20:07:15Z")

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I’ve flown in and out of Anchorage at least twice a year for the past 10 years. Anchorage is not a problem, an hour is plenty.  
DC or Logan, on the other hand, can take most of the 2 hours, depending on the time of day and the airline.

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**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrive-at-the-airport-two-hours-early/564432/25 "2010-12-17T22:02:51Z")

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> [@TheTerribleTako](#):
>
> If it helps, OP, there’s a small branch of Powell’s at PDX.

Heh… I’ve lived here for six years, and I never knew that. 'Course, I’ve not had any reason to go inside the airport. Good to know, thanks.

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