Tell me about 6 am flights

[snoopy5386]

We never do early morning flights, but I am considering one for our next trip - it takes off at 6:20 am. We live about an hour away from the airport. We all have pre-check. What time would we need to be at the airport by? Probably checking one bag. Just trying to figure out the timeline of when we would need to get up. Our home airport is BWI.

Other option is a 10 am flight that lands at noon, but that's more $$.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I always take the 6am flight. I would curbside check your bag if you can and that saves a lot of time. If it was me in your situation I would be at the airport an hour ahead. We never have a long wait at CMH at that time of day and we don’t have precheck.

 

[macraven]

I always book the first early flight out of the airport

Less peeps at the airport and rarely a wait for anything

Curb side check in for luggage works well for me

 

[Lilsia]

If you are checking a bag, most airlines have an hour before flight minimum to guarantee that the bag makes it onto the flight. It all really depends on your airport also. Early in the week flights are usually busy with business men and it can be busy. I would get there at least 1 1/2 hours before your flight time to be safe. I rather sit and have a cup of coffee and wait then rush trying to get to the plane on time if it is busy.

 

[pixiedustedme]

I get to the airport for an early morning flight just as far in advance as I get there for any other flight. A LOT of people are booked on early morning flights- they aren't rare at all. There will be less crowding at the airport, but don't count on a quick check-in or a walk through security.

In general, if you can handle getting up early, early morning flights are great because they are the flights most likely to depart on time.

 

[JimMIA]

Happiness is walking up to your gate and seeing your aircraft already sitting there! No worries about whether the incoming flight is delayed. I find I almost arrive on time with early morning flights.

I usually arrive two hours before departure, but MIA is a very busy airport and the walk from security to the gate is often quite long. I'd rather be sure my checked luggage is on the aircraft than sleep a half hour longer.

 

[Farro]

Love 6 am flights!!!

We fly out of O'hare, get there around 4:30 am. We check bags at self-serve kiosk, no lines. Breeze through security, quiet, calm feeling at airport. Seeing the plane at the gate, most always leaves on time and we are landing at MCO around 10:20 (ish) am Orlando time!

I hate when there are no early flights.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

We have done 6 am flights several times, but I try to avoid them now that I am a single parent. I am paranoid about oversleeping and not having anyone to also be in charge of getting us all up and out the door. We are 45 minutes from the airport and plan to be there 1 hour before plus giving us time to park and shuttle to the drop off. That has me up at least at 3 am and ends up being a rather exhausting trip. Also, DD12 is a heavy sleeper and a 1/2 inch taller than me, so I can no longer just pick her up and plop her in the car, letting her continue to sleep.

Our first trip, we were worried we would make a mistake, so ExDH and I reserved a room at an airport hotel and took advantage of the Sleep, Park, Fly deal. The shuttle was packed with people on our exact flight and the flight was packed with families going to Disney, so we were not the only ones who took advantage of that plan. The one drawback was the free breakfast did not open in time before we had to leave, so that reduced the overall value for us, but it was not a big deal. We have also shuttled to the airport with our flight crew, too.

 

[chaoskids]

We have a 5am flight out this year. Our traveling party is me DH and five 17-22 year olds

 

[AnnaS]

We always take 6 am flights!! Love them.

Check in your bag curbside if you can. Allow the same time to get there as any other flight. Airport does not seem as crazy that time but still busy.

 

[jdisnut]

If you are checking a bag, most airlines have an hour before flight minimum to guarantee that the bag makes it onto the flight. It all really depends on your airport also. Early in the week flights are usually busy with business men and it can be busy. I would get there at least 1 1/2 hours before your flight time to be safe. I rather sit and have a cup of coffee and wait then rush trying to get to the plane on time if it is busy.

As far as I know, no American airline has a minimum cutoff time of an hour for baggage on domestic flights.

Delta, American and United require 45 minutes. For JetBlue and Southwest, it’s 30 minutes at most airports.

With PreCheck, I arrive to my home airport (EWR) about 60 minutes before my flights and have never come even remotely close to being late.

 

[AngiTN]

As far as I know, no American airline has a minimum cutoff time of an hour for baggage on domestic flights.

Delta, American and United require 45 minutes. For JetBlue and Southwest, it’s 30 minutes at most airports.

With PreCheck, I arrive to my home airport (EWR) about 60 minutes before my flights and have never come even remotely close to being late.

They told us they did. When we arrived less than an hour for our American flight they almost didn't take our bag, had to doublecheck if it was ok. Maybe it varies by airport or something? We do have a small airport, only 5 gates, with only small aircraft, so weight is extremely sensitive. Maybe that makes the difference?
Anyway, the employees working for the airlines at our local airport have told us that they want the bags an hour before we depart

We almost always try to book the earliest flights for the day. DGD and I fly out at 6:00 on Thursday. We'll aim to get to the airport just after 4:30 so we can get parked and to the counter by 5:00. Security will just open. We have Precheck and Clear but neither are used at our home airport

 

[Timhags]

Depends on airport for the most part. I love the early flight more time in the sun. But I travel from a smaller airport close to home ( 15 minutes) and work later midnight or 2 am .no kids so a couple adult beverages and an Uber is no issue for me. I sleep on the plane and annoy everyone with my snoring. My big thing is Direct flights only

 

[SirDuff]

They told us they did. When we arrived less than an hour for our American flight they almost didn't take our bag, had to doublecheck if it was ok. Maybe it varies by airport or something? We do have a small airport, only 5 gates, with only small aircraft, so weight is extremely sensitive. Maybe that makes the difference?
Anyway, the employees working for the airlines at our local airport have told us that they want the bags an hour before we depart

We almost always try to book the earliest flights for the day. DGD and I fly out at 6:00 on Thursday. We'll aim to get to the airport just after 4:30 so we can get parked and to the counter by 5:00. Security will just open. We have Precheck and Clear but neither are used at our home airport

It does depend on the airport, but the only exception for domestic flights from US airports (for AA) is Tampa (and that is only for checking in at the car rental centre).

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/check-in-and-arrival.jsp

 

[`OhanaHare]

6 am flights or earlier are our faves. Gives you time to get to Disney and into the parks with decent amount of time left in day!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

It can make for a long first day since you have to get up so early.

 

[beccasmom]

We love the early flights, but our airport can still be crowded even at that hour. We always do curbside check-in. We like to get there early, but that depends on whether we’re getting dropped off by family or are parking at a near-by lot and using their shuttle (that takes extra time and we plan accordingly). Having Pre-Check is a huge timesaver in our experience.

We recently had an early SWA flight out of MCO - 6:45 a.m. (change due to the planes taken out of service - not our choice). ME pickup at the Contemporary was 3:15 am (we were prepared for that) and the trip to the airport was pretty quick - and we weren’t the only ones on the bus - there were 25 of us. But the SWA lines for check-in did not open until close to 4:30 am (kiosks non-operational until then) and the lines were very long. So we were glad we got there early as we were probably 8th in the line we got in. There was no curbside check-in at that hour. The regular security line was pretty crazy too, but Pre-Check had a minimal wait.

So early doesn’t necessarily mean a quiet airport - not at PHL and definitely not at MCO. For that reason we give ourselves a cushion of time. But I guess that won’t be the case for everyone.

 

[kaytieeldr]

As far as I know, no American airline has a minimum cutoff time of an hour for baggage on domestic flights.

Delta, American and United require 45 minutes. For JetBlue and Southwest, it’s 30 minutes at most airports.

Probably helpful to insert reminder: this means completely checked in (and walking away from the coiunter, or further) - not bekng in the process of checking in at the 45 minute mark.

Anyway, the employees working for the airlines at our local airport have told us that they want the bags an hour before we depart

It might be helpful if airline websites could advise passengers of this type of exception during the boarding process.

 

[kandb]

I would do another 6am flight if it was just my husband and I but found it very difficult when we did a 6am flight with our children. Getting up at 3am was tough and we got to the BC (where we were staying) by 10am, which is a good thing but the kids were exhausted and we had to wait until after 4pm for our room. We wound up sitting by the pool and the kids fell asleep on the lounge chairs. I rather a midday flight.

 

[Lilsia]

As far as I know, no American airline has a minimum cutoff time of an hour for baggage on domestic flights.

Delta, American and United require 45 minutes. For JetBlue and Southwest, it’s 30 minutes at most airports.

With PreCheck, I arrive to my home airport (EWR) about 60 minutes before my flights and have never come even remotely close to being late.

SWA has always said that theirs is an hour to make it on your flight. Maybe they want to be on the safe side. Either way, why risk it?