We have a flight out of Houston IAH at 11:55 am & need to know how far in advance we should get to the airport

Question

We have a flight out of Houston IAH at 11:55 am & need to know how far in advance we should get to the airport

Answer 1

If you are checking baggage and have a few people in your group, just plan for no more than a couple hours ahead of time.  And if you flight is a Monday or a weekend, security can be a nightmare.  Plan for 2 hours before so you can take care of parking, checked baggage, security, finding your gate, etc.  Better to know you have the time than to be rushing and flustered because you are running late.  Now if you just have a carry on, then you can get away with an hour or so early.  But being middle of the morning, I would plan for a couple.

Answer 2

Since it is probably an international flight, you'll want to get there at least a few hours ahead of time.  Whenever I travel, I get to the airport really early because it gives you plenty of time to get checked-in and go through security.  Sometimes, there are really long lines and stuff can happen that can delay you, so err on the side of too much time, vice not enough.

Answer 3

You need to be there an hour ahead of time.  

Answer 4

You didn't say whether you were flying domestically or internationally. I usually arrive at the airport offsite parking 2 hours before my flight, no matter where I fly.

This way you don't have to deal with the throngs of t-shirt and raggedy shorts-clad tourists in flip flops wanting to go to Paris for that last week of summer vacation.

Answer 5

If you are flying Internationally I would suggest 2 hours, an hour to an hour and a half if it's a National flight. Give yourself plenty of driving time too.

Answer 6

I usually drop my husband off about an hour before his flight.  He's never missed a flight so that should be enough time.

Answer 7

Regulations say 1 1/2 to 2 hours, maybe you oughtta go with that.

Answer 8

1 1/2 Hours for a Domestic Flight

2 1/2 Hours for a International Flight

Answer 9

In addition to what everyone has already said, I just wanted to point out that the time you need sometimes depends on which terminal you'll be flying out of.  For instance, most big Continental flights fly out of terminal C, so it's a very busy terminal.  Check in lines and security lines tend to be longer.  If I'm flying out of Terminal C, I like to have about an hour and 15 minutes for domestic flights (not including parking time).  But, terminal B, for example, is usually less busy.  I'll usually only get there 45 minutes to 1 hour before my flight out of that terminal because I know the lines are usually shorter.  

Answer 10

At least 1 hour. I usually get there 1 & 1/2 hours just in case.

Answer 11

I hope you made that flight.