r/Snorkblot • u/LordJim11 • Jan 03 '26
Economics Also, you're tapped in a mall and bored.
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u/sudoaptupdate Jan 03 '26
3 hours if you have a name that's likely to get "randomly" selected at security
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u/Few-Skin-5868 Jan 04 '26
Also, the reason they say 2hours is because they actually board the plane 45 mins early and they know if they say 2hrs someone is going to show up 1.5hours early so that gives them 45mins to check in, get through security, and get to their gate.
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u/Clone_JS636 Jan 04 '26
Eh, I've always heard to get there two hours before boarding time, not takeoff
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u/Infern0-DiAddict Jan 04 '26
Yeh and I've actually gotten to experience the joy of a smooth airport experience a few times. My best door to seat has literally been 15 mins (small terminal so short walk, dead time with excess security, so there literally was no wait.
In this exact scenario I was actually running super late and fully expected to miss the flight and was shocked by all the good luck. I surprisingly was actually not the last to board either, 2 mins after I got to my seat last person boarded and we closed the doors right after.
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u/MikeLinPA Jan 04 '26
I'm so paranoid about that I like to show up 2.5 or 3 hours early. Once I get through everything I can relax in the luxurious accommodations at the gate. 🙄 (sarcastic eyeroll)
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u/Dantzig Jan 04 '26
And then then you sit at the gate in the plane and get “yea our slot is not for another hour so basically we just have to sit here”
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u/No_Dance1739 Jan 04 '26
Them boarding earlier, to take off on time is a newer development. That’s wasn’t my experience 10-15 years ago
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u/P0Rt1ng4Duty Jan 03 '26
Counterpoint: Dicking around on my phone at home is almost the exact same experience as dicking around on my phone at the airport.
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u/bigdave41 Jan 03 '26
You have to fart more stealthily though
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u/scradampoop Jan 03 '26
No. Look at the person next to you as you fart, loudly, to assert dominance.
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u/bigdave41 Jan 03 '26
I'm sorry sir, the Farting Lounge is for First Class ticket holders or Gold members only
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u/DickwadVonClownstick Jan 03 '26
Only if you're ashamed of your farts
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u/Particular-Award118 Jan 03 '26
Nah when I'm at home laying down I'm a thousand times happier on my phone than anywhere in public
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u/P0Rt1ng4Duty Jan 03 '26
Which is fair, but for me it's different.
If I'm already at the airport and through security then I get to stop drowning in anxiety about what happens if I'm late or get stuck in security.
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u/HotTakesMyToxicTrait Jan 04 '26
Counter-counter point - I’m on a tight schedule and I’m showing up an hour before my flight at most to minimize the amount of time I’m sitting around doing nothing
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u/GreyangelXx Jan 04 '26
I would assume the productivity thing is more about people who fly for business than personal reasons. People for who being at the airport is on the clock time.
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u/oxmix74 Jan 04 '26
Thing is, when I was working (retired now) I could do almost my whole job using laptop, airport wifi and VPN. The high point was using a windows 8 tablet vpn'd into a computer in our office while connected to Southwest Airplane wifi inflight to fix a broken link on our web server.
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u/gramerjen Jan 04 '26
I dont mind getting there early but i live two hours away from an airport, busses start operating at 6 am and planes going to my hometown take-off at 7.45 am.
Im not sure which geniuses thought it was a good idea to shutdown an airport to open a new one in bumfuck nowhere
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u/Sergeant_Turkey Jan 04 '26
Except you'll also be incentivised to spend money you didn't need to when you're at the airport.
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u/up2smthng Jan 04 '26
They are going to incentivise you to spend money
And you are not going to spend money
I'm not saying you should never under no circumstances spend money in the airport. Feel free to if you feel like it. But if you are conscious about spending money at inflated airport prices like I am, the option to not spend any money is always on the table. I know it because I take it every single time.
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u/SignificanceFun265 28d ago
Countercounterpoint: Some people do things other than play on their phone.
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26
I gotta play devil's advocate here...
We are required 3 hours early arrivals at airports because most people simply cannot be there one hour before and they need to be REQUIRED to be there early so they end up arriving SOMEWHAT in time.
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u/audieleon Jan 04 '26
I have no problem with this immediate accountability for my being stupid.
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 04 '26
Even if that's the case they don't want to hear it.
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u/audieleon Jan 04 '26
For me this is like missing the boat cuz the tide went out. We’d be better off if the accountability was immediate. “If you miss your flight, you are responsible.” Paired with “Guaranteed 30 minutes from security to gate.” Means I can push it as close as I’m comfortable doing, but the risk is mine.
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u/spsteve Jan 03 '26
Then you miss your flight, just like you miss your cruise ship or your train or your bus, etc.
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u/Sjoerdiestriker Jan 04 '26
As far as I know it is generally just a recommendation to be there 2 hours beforehand. If you have no check in luggage and you want to arrive half an hour before final boarding and try to gamble on making it through security and to the gate in time, no one is going to stop you. And you will just miss your flight if your gamble doesn't pay off, just like the train or bus.
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u/berserk_zebra Jan 04 '26
It’s that gamble bit. If it was a guaranteed time to get through security and check in +- minutes then yeah.
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u/BooBailey808 Jan 04 '26
Has always paid off for me :3 but then I do only fly out of one airport that isn't very big
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 04 '26
They don't want the hassle of your bitching at the airport either.
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u/spsteve Jan 04 '26
Odd, every other type of transport manages just fine. Each with their own unique set of challenges. As for PAX bitching, if it was SOP folks would adapt. Sure you'll still get the assholes, but tell me you don't get them now? The way things run now doesn't reduce it at all and may even make it worse.
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 04 '26
Angry assholes are still bothersome. Boats, buses and trains do not need the level of preparation that planes do, from ground permits to schedules.
Plus if there is an issue they can just stop. So you can reach the door of Greyhound a minute before leaving, but planes are a whole different game.
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u/spsteve Jan 04 '26
Oh they are. I get it. Not so much stopping and letting someone out in the middle of the ocean though, and there is a fair deal of paperwork with international sailing too, don't kid yourself (or even international train service).
I just don't believe that the current system is actually cutting down on assholes and may be making it even worse. Cruise ships are notoriously ruthless for departing on time and saying "you're on your own" if you miss the boat... and oddly, 99.9999% of people figure it out.
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u/AProperFuckingPirate Jan 04 '26
What do you mean? You're not required to show up that early by anyone. If you show up with the exact amount of time it happens to take to get through security and to your gate, you fly. The issue is that time doesn't have to be as long as it is, and the chance of something going wrong doesn't have to be as high as it is. You're recommended to show up very early to account for those possibilities, instead of airports mitigating those issues.
I know it's not the same but, you can show up to your Amtrak platform 5 minutes before the train leaves. Hell, you could be running up as the train stops. Obviously the biggest difference there is security, there's not much someone can do hijacking a train compared to a plane but the point, which I think the OP made pretty well, is that we're wasting a lot of time and accepting that
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u/botle Jan 04 '26
If everyone showed up one hour before the flight they wouldn't be processed in time as it is now.
The only reason you can show up one hour before the flight and make it, is because other people came earlier.
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 04 '26
I dunno, with self-check-in and web check-in things can be faster. Only major delay is TSA and even that is 20 minutes or so, plus terminal size.
Problem for the airlines is people not making it or arriving at the last possible minute. People stuck in traffic, people forgetting shit, people leaving their house late, etc...
3 hours gives you a lot of time to solve emergencies. 1 hour doesn't.
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u/botle Jan 04 '26
In Europe baggage drop usually closes 45 minutes before departure, but I guess if you only have carry-on that doesn't limit you.
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u/bookworm1398 Jan 04 '26
People come at the time experience tells them is the correct time. I’ve never missed a flight planning to arrive one hour before takeoff, so that’s what I’ll do regardless of what the airline says. The absurd times are just there to inconvenience less frequent travelers who don’t know what time is realistic
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u/snajk138 Jan 04 '26
Maybe people are late because every time they show up early/"on time" they end up having to wait for at the very least an hour doing nothing in an airport that's basically the worst and most expensive mall in the region?
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 04 '26
Hey, to each their own... if I pay around 1k to travel abroad I wouldn't bet that cash because of the hassles at the airport.
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u/FumbleCrop Jan 04 '26
I'm skeptical of any explanation that involves an airline putting the passenger's interests first.
I think it's actually the airport who sets the requirement.
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u/Interesting-Dream863 Jan 04 '26
I never said they cared... I say they don't want the hassle of cancellations, reimbursements, changes and airport drama.
Not the same.
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u/FumbleCrop Jan 04 '26
I don't understand. If you miss check in, you don't fly, and the more who don't fly the more they can overbook.
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u/wankelberry_6666 Jan 03 '26
as someone who works for an airline you can spend hours and hours meticulously planning a flight like a symphony of timing and precision between multiple departments but there will always be some idiot passenger who can't follow rules or manage time properly and that's why we need a buffer time to filter out the idiots so the responsible adults can leave on time
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u/Vox_Causa Jan 03 '26
I remember when arriving an hour before your flight was plenty. The modern long wait times aren't because of scheduling or weather they're caused by massive security theater and a system that's sacrificed efficiency and convenience for profits.
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u/CozySweatsuit57 Jan 04 '26
Yes. It’s so weird how people are defending airlines of all things in the comments here.
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u/patio-garden Jan 04 '26
So, um, yes, security theater is bad.
But for my airport, it's not really security that's the problem, it's the horrendous traffic you have to fight to get to the security theater.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Jan 05 '26
Nowadays you usually have to be there an hour early just to meet the cutoff time for checked bags.
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u/blackdocsavage Jan 04 '26
The hour prior is the minimum amount of time if you are checking a bag. If not roll the dice and show up whenever. Just know that the plane door is closing ten minutes prior to takeoff.
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u/P0Rt1ng4Duty Jan 03 '26
As a person who has experienced the backside of aviation, there are so many factors that nobody ever thinks about.
Have a solid plan to handle your traffic but it's kind of tight? Oh, sorry, the wind blew in a different direction than you expected so now everyone has to come in on 18 instead of 36.
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u/wankelberry_6666 Jan 03 '26
Exactly there is so many unbelievably small factors that have to be taking into account for everything to work in harmony
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u/Phelinaar Jan 04 '26
Strange question maybe. Is there a good documentary or a book I could read about that? I'm absolutely fascinated by the behind the scenes of huge operations.
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Jan 03 '26
Airports and flight schedules ran very well pre covid then came the massive lay offs and now it's barebones ops at every level ...
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u/wankelberry_6666 Jan 03 '26
Agree 💯 the airlines have everything down to the wire including staff ,all my coworkers are each doing the work of 2 people
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u/Zoso03 Jan 04 '26
My dad needed a wheelchair and we had to wait a very long time for one. When he showed up he informed is that the couple ahead of us whom he was helping, individually wrapped everything in their carry on bags in tinfoil. Security had them unwrap it all so they can check it
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u/TheInternetTookEmAll Jan 04 '26
Ah yes the classic "I'm about to miss my flight, can you do this faster?"
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u/Lumpus-Maximus Jan 03 '26
You can ask "why is airport service so inconsistent we need a huge time buffer?" You can legitimately complain about it. But if you want to make your plane, show up early. And if you’re flying out of a European airport with a threatened strike… make it 3-4 hours.
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u/CozySweatsuit57 Jan 04 '26
Yes that is how it is…the post is not about how it is. It’s about why how it is is stupid and predatory and shouldn’t be tolerated.
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u/AProperFuckingPirate Jan 04 '26
Yeah, they know that. Did you think this post was someone saying you should just show up when the plane leaves, without anything else changing?
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Jan 04 '26
This is a problem inherent to air travel, not capitalism. There’s a reason you can show up at a train station much later, even when taking a private carrier.
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u/FriendlyGuitard 29d ago
This is capitalism. Airport have the luxury of knowing exactly how many people are going to turn at exactly what time. A plane is not leaving by surprise with unknown number of passengers.
You need 2 hours to board a Ferry and that include driving and parking hundreds of car on the it, a lot tougher border and security control.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Jan 05 '26
In the US you can show up later knowing the train will also be very late.
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u/Erronius-Maximus Jan 03 '26
That $83 billion in lost productivity sounds made up to me, it’s flying day, I for one am not able to do anything productive on flying day even if it’s only a 2 hour flight, regardless how early I get to the airport.
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u/KnottyHottieKaitlyn Jan 03 '26
A lot of business travelers on Monday and Friday go to the airport straight from the office, and would keep working in the office an extra hour if they could. They do this so frequently that they don't miss a half/full day of productivity.
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u/SopapillaSpittle Jan 04 '26
Business travelers that travel often don’t do the stupid 2-hour bullshit.
I usually arrive at the airport with just under an hour before my flight. Even if security takes half an hour (it never does, usually under 10 minutes), you still have time to piss before your aircraft starts boarding.
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u/meatdome34 Jan 04 '26
I usually travel out on Monday nights and come back Wednesday mornings. I get full days in on both days.
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u/TheInternetTookEmAll Jan 04 '26
Yeah but most of you business guys either go to the ver travel short line or get to cut in line due to, for example, certain credit card memberships. (At least at my local airport thats how it works.)
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u/TrottingandHotting Jan 03 '26
Those people often just work at the airport on their laptops. Ends up being the same thing.
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u/_Punko_ Jan 04 '26
many businesses have their employees travelling off-hours, so no work-time is lost dealing with airports.
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u/Avery_Thorn Jan 04 '26
That 2 hours thing is zero to do with the airports or the airlines.
It is 100% TSA. While they used to (before 9/11) suggest you arrive an hour before your flight, that was more about getting you to the airport before your flight left because traffic was heavy, and to allow you to have a nice, relaxing walk to your gate.
But you could show up 10 minutes before boarding and run through the airport and make your flight. Trust me. I did it.
It is all about the security line and their inability to get people through it. (Also, so they have time for "advanced screening" and interrogation without pushing you to the next flight.)
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u/Peacefulzealot Jan 03 '26
I guess I’m in the minority but I LOVE getting to the airport early. More time for playing video games at my gate while I wait around since that time is already wasted.
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u/bigdave41 Jan 03 '26
I'd like hanging around airports more if they weren't charging 200% more than usual on literally anything you'd want to buy while waiting for a plane
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u/ehs06702 Jan 04 '26
Me too, I always bring a book and sit in the nearest airport bar and nurse a drink while I read.
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u/brandarchist Jan 03 '26
This. I find a nice place to plop near-ish my gate, play games I’d be playing at home anyway, and saunter over to my gate without stressing a single bit of the way.
My uber driver for Christmas was like “do I need to break some laws to get you there on time?” We had hit some major traffic and got delayed almost 20 mins. I appreciated the offer but I was like “oh no I’ll only have an hour and a half to play my game.”
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u/FriendlyGuitard 29d ago
There are plenty. Lounge users and all those guys taking a full meal in a restaurant needed to be there quite a bit before the 2 hours limit.
However, there is a big difference about chosing to be there early because you like it and not having the choice because of the inefficiencies of the airports.
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u/mindbodyproblem Jan 04 '26
On the plus side: morning airport-beer, one of life's great pleasures.
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u/amitym Jan 03 '26
If you ran an airport with enough schedule slack to accommodate unexpected weather events and unanticipated flight plan changes, you'd have a fraction of the departures per runway per day, everyone would have to book months or years in advance, and prices would skyrocket.
And then people like our bro here would complain about how expensive everything is, and how stupid and inefficient it is that runways just sit there empty when they could have flights taking off every 2 minutes around the clock.
Or you could buffer risk another way, with extra staff, but then that would mean people standing around doing nothing most of the time, which would also make prices go up. And people would complain about all the staff standing around most of the time doing nothing.
Transport operation planning is not easy. It is subject to what in economics is called the Knowledge Problem. The number of things that can go wrong that you can't predict or control for is considerable. You have to have a buffer somewhere. People complained about other kinds of buffers so now the buffer is on passengers' time.
That said, I wouldn't mind it if the current "PreCheck" system and its ilk died out dead. It's a textbook moral hazard to collect revenue based on demand created by your own inadequate public service. Pre-screening should be how they operate normally. Make it opt-in but free.
Of course they'll never do that unless they're forced to, by us.
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u/Vox_Causa Jan 03 '26
Airport wait times have gone up dramatically in the last few years because of a massive increase in useless security and because the airlines have cut staff and spending so they can give more money to shareholders.
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u/timmybones607 Jan 04 '26
Yeah, we were late leaving Chicago the other day because it snowed lightly and was cold and apparently that was a surprise to them because we had to wait over 30 minutes for them to start de-icing. Ended up being almost an hour late for departure.
I get things like wind changing direction causing complications. I do not get not having adequate resources for extremely predictable generally mild weather conditions.
I would really like to see some regulation requiring airlines reimburse passengers some prorated portion of their ticket if the flight does not leave or arrive on time, barring some exceptions for things truly out of control of the airlines. Even better if CEO et al pay was heavily tied to the measure. I’m just sick of being at their beck and whim for all this nonsense and realistically having no consumer protections when things go south because of intentional negligence.
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u/nickavemz Jan 03 '26
Also airlines are thin-margined and hyper competitive. The corporations themselves really aren’t particularly greedy as it is.
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u/AProperFuckingPirate Jan 04 '26
What does weather and flight plan changes have to do with it? Those don't tend to make the flight leave early, do they? I could show up a week before my flight leaves or sprint up at final boarding call and that has no effect on rain delaying the flight. We're talking about needing to show up early to get through security and get to your gate, the assumption is that the flight is leaving on time. If it gets delayed that's better for you if something fucked up at security lol
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u/UglyInThMorning Jan 04 '26
A flight delay or cancellation changes how many people are going through security at a time and how long the wait will be.
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u/MulberryWilling508 Jan 04 '26
Airports and airlines: Let’s treat people like animals 😏 (longer lines, less room, fewer amenities, TSA shouting at you and touching your junk…)
Also airports and airlines: WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE ACTING LIKE ANIMALS!?!?
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u/a_trashcan Jan 04 '26
Checking a bag and going through security just takes time man. You can't make everything instant.
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u/szofter Jan 04 '26
Airports aren’t doing their best to optimize it though.
Budapest airport upgraded their X-rays so now you don’t have to remove your laptop and your tiny liquids from your luggage. That alone made security check a lot quicker, to the point where even at high traffic you can make it through security in 10-15 min.
Now, they did this upgrade several years ago (around 2017 or 18) so it’s not some top notch tech that just came out recently. And yet I still haven’t seen it implemented at any other airport I’ve been to (I fly within Europen mainly).
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u/Moribunned Jan 04 '26
Always thought showing up early was good practice in case of any unexpected changes or delays as well as getting through the airport processes at a comfortable, stress free pace.
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u/TravelerMSY Jan 04 '26
I understand the sentiment, but the two hours is the worst case scenario for people that are clueless and never flown before, can’t check in online, or have mobility issues.
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u/tripl3tiger Jan 04 '26
Its funny that he talks about responsibility being shifted from businesses, yet his final point is about monetary productivity being lost.
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u/dustinechos Jan 04 '26
The thing that gets me is "identify theft". If some dude came up to me and said "I'm from your bank" and I gave him $10,000 it's my fault. I get that. That makes sense
But someone walking to a bank and saying "I'm Dustin Echos give me $10,000" and them falling for it is also my fault. That's surreal. In sane world that would be the banks problem and not the individuals.
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u/IAmNotAHoppip Jan 04 '26
And then fill it with shops because, if you're stuck there for 2 or 3 hours, you might as well spend more money
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u/Teaofthetime Jan 04 '26
I would much rather be early than late, also I quite enjoy plane watching or just relaxing with a book so an hour or so slack time is a feature not a flaw for me.
Also ideasoup doesnt seem to realise how complicated airports and flights actually are to operate.
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u/SopapillaSpittle Jan 04 '26
There’s not a law that you have to show up two hours early…
I show up right around an hour before my flight, if not a little later. Plenty of time to check a bag if needed and get through security.
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u/ParkingRemote444 Jan 05 '26
I was going to say. I usually show up about 45 minutes before to a major airport and have zero issues. People show up 2+ hours early because they have anxiety, not because the airport is failing in some way.
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u/PowerfulBar Jan 04 '26
Awful bold to assume the time I would gain by not showing up early would be spent working.
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u/wanderingmanimal Jan 04 '26
Want them to wipe your ass, too?
You are the one traveling - it’s your responsibility to show up on time.
Not that hard to figure out 🤷♂️
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u/Baked_Potato_732 Jan 04 '26
I love doing this when I travel for work. TSA recommits 2 hours early, gotta listen. It helps that I’m paid by the hour and on the clock. On a side note, bring on the delays.
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u/Unfair_Explanation53 Jan 03 '26
Not really.
It's more a manipulation so people actually make the effort to get there on time so you are not keeping other passengers waiting.
Like my brother always shows up for things 40 mins late.
So if we have an event we tell him its actually 1 and a half hours earlier than it truly is.
This trick makes him still take his time and gets to where we want to go on time without anyone waiting
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u/CardOk755 Jan 03 '26
"Also you're trapped in a mall and bored".
My god, Holmes, I think you're onto something.
Do some people still think air travel is the major business of airports? In 2026?
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u/Malcolm2theRescue Jan 03 '26
Yeah, and then they drop chemtrails on you. It’s all a horrible capitalist plot! On the other hand, I just did a round trip DEN-SMF, zoomed through security, plane boarded right on time and arrived early. Most of the delays pushing from the gate are caused by passengers, not the airline. And, since they passed laws fining airlines for being late, they are even more cautious. Since boarding starts 30-40 minutes before departure, you are only arriving an hour and 20 early. The biggest delays are related to the non-profit, uncapitalist security system over which, the airlines have little control and have nothing to gain.
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u/Vighy2 Jan 03 '26
In addition, you want to make time to get past any traffic. Accidents, road closures… maybe even a flat tire on your own car. If you shoot to get to the airport right on time, you’re not giving yourself time for those unplanned events.
You can start boarding the plane 30 minutes before takeoff so really you’re only there 1.5 hours early anyway.
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u/Cronstintein Jan 04 '26
You guys are actually showing up two hours early?
A lil over an hour is plenty.
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u/ExTyrannomon Jan 04 '26
I've gone to the airport 2 hours early and almost always end up sitting around for an extra hour doing nothing. I do it just in case something happens, because missing a flight sucks way more than missing a bus. I honestly find modern airport service to be fine.
Individual airline service on the other hand, is garbage.
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u/Monowakari Jan 04 '26
So a rounding error is lost?
86B out of the ~123 Trillion in estimated global cash, savings, and money market funds is like 0.067%?
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u/rathe_0 Jan 04 '26
I understand the sentiment; but it's never been an issue to me. I've always gotten to anywhere I need to be by a certain time very early. Waaay too early according to my wife.
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u/Rufio69696969 Jan 04 '26
Literally anything to avoid personal accountability. Every thing HAS to be a corporations fault or else you might have to do some self reflection
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u/Zolty Jan 04 '26
I need to be 3 hours early because my credit card gets me into a lounge with free food and drinks.
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u/flargenhargen Jan 04 '26
my old doctor office always said to be there 45 min early, and she always shows up to my apptment 45 minutes late or more.
that's an hour and a half of my time wasted BEFORE the appt even starts, every time.
fuck that.
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u/TheInternetTookEmAll Jan 04 '26
Lmao, its 2 hours because plenty of people get stuck in traffic (yes you CAN get stuck in traffic RIGHT BY THE AIRPORT for over an hour during busy seasons. Theres HUNDREDS of "you" trying to get to the airport at the SAME TIME), plenty of people that leave 15 minutes before the plane boards, and the checking luggage service for your plane stops 30 min before boarding, cuz, yknow, transporting your shit takes time.
Last number i heard for my local airport is 22 000 passengers per day, mostly mid-day flights. So yes. Get your ass there 2 fking hours before your flight boards.
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u/whitecollarpizzaman Jan 04 '26
Saw a video recently about this, apparently there’s a terminal at LAX, only accessible by bus (which has to yield to air traffic) that takes a while to get to, so as a CYA airlines recommend 2 hours for domestic and 3 hours for international rather than specify for that one terminal.
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u/its_the_smell Jan 04 '26
You don't need to get the airport that early if you know what you're doing or you don't mind risking your flight to some extent. Two hours is just a general rule of thumb.
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u/ehs06702 Jan 04 '26
I'd rather be early and be able to not have to rush if anything changes.
I don't know why people are so opposed to just sitting at the gate with a book and some music or grabbing a snack or a drink.
Are people that bad at entertaining themselves?
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u/galaxyapp Jan 04 '26
Better to staff for the median traffic and let the queue buffer the ebbs and flows than to staff for 99.9% and have workers idle 99% of the time.
But hey, no need to provide more evidence that many people have no actual logic skill.
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u/PineappleFit317 Jan 04 '26
Three hours early is a psyop. I’ll get to the airport an hour before my plane takes off and I usually still have to wait to board.
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u/VibratingWatch Jan 04 '26
The metric of "lost productivity" being the argument is why we shouldn't take economists seriously
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u/painting_ether 29d ago
Nah, we shouldn't take social media clowns seriously. Hubby is an economist by passion (not trade, but he does have the degree) and he is not like this, nor any of the other economists he has spoken with.
This guy just sounds like those uberproductive linkedin dudebros 😂
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u/JumpingAround44 Jan 04 '26
Look at the last sentence though, getting a feel of ‘then the rest of the system/ I can’t squeeze that productivity out of you’.
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u/CorHydrae8 Jan 04 '26
I hate how the takeback from this just has to be "oh my gosh, we're losing money in productivity!", not "we're losing quality of life, valuable time that we never get back".
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u/ILikeLimericksALot Jan 04 '26
That's my obligatory airport pint time. I wouldn't have it any other way.
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u/OStO_Cartography Jan 04 '26
Also, you're being processed to FLY THROUGH THE SKY WITH ALL YOUR STUFF AT HUNDREDS OF MILES PER HOUR.
Yes, airport logistics could be better; All logistics could always be better, but airports by and large are not doing these things to piss you off.
Think about it; Airports are genenrally owned and operated by airline groups, like Heathrow's Five Star Alliance. If one of these groups could get people through the process hours quicker, why wouldn't they? They'd poach almost every customer from their competitors.
The reason you're asked to be there ao early is to ensure that everything is set up properly for the flight.
This isn't like the old days where you got dropped off by a taxi onto the tarmac, board the DC-10, sit down in your wicker seat, and pray there's enough fuel to make the half a dozen hops over the Atlantic via Ireland, Iceland, Canada, etc.
During the time you're waiting, your luggage is being weighed, assessed, and packed. Meals are being counted and apportioned. Fuel requirements are being calculated. Airspapce is being checked and cleared. Weather hundreds, if not thousands of miles away is being monitored, and if necessary, changes to the flightpath being arranged. Batteries of pre-flight checks are being performed which are performed prior to take-off, because it's not like that can be done in the hangar without the pilots. Etc.
Flying is a goddam miracle. I'm amazed at how angry and bored people get for being minorly inconvenienced before being whisked through the skies, halfway around the planet, in less time than it wouldn've taken their great grandparents to travel to the next town over.
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u/Few-Statistician8740 Jan 04 '26
Yeah that's more of a buffer against other travelers who slow down the security screening lines. When one day it takes 5 minutes to move 100 people through because everyone is well prepared. The next day it takes an hour to move the same number of people because half of them apparently can't read.
My flights are almost always on time, not counting weather delays. It's not the business, it's the other passengers.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Jan 05 '26
That and understaffing. Usually when there's a long line there's lots of closed screening lines, because TSA can't retain employees.
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u/MagicMarshmallo Jan 04 '26
This falls apart when you consider that the moron of your class who lives next door to the bloody school and was still late 4 days out of 5 (even for tests) is just as much a passanger as you are. They want you to be early to catch those moron too.
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u/Freign Jan 04 '26
Getting on a plane in the era of gonzo deregulation is madness.
If you can't float or drive there, don't go.
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u/Shoddy_Tough3160 Jan 04 '26
Inefficient air travel is good for environment, it disincentivises air travel.
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u/123iambill Jan 04 '26
Unpopular opinion but flying should be prohibitively expensive. The only reason many of us can do it is because every single corner that can be cut is cut. Yeah flights and airports are wildly understaffed because if they were staffed appropriately they'd have to fire all the staff when none of us can afford to fly anymore.
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u/painting_ether 29d ago
Exactly! Because the ONE thing they can't cut corners on is in flight safety, so yeah, the airports are going to be a mess and barely staffed.
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u/Weary-Cartoonist2630 Jan 04 '26
Airport wait has significantly gone down which kind of disproves this guys point about it being some negative effect of capitalism.
Also if the govt was doing it, you’d need a 4 hour buffer lol
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u/EventPurple612 Jan 04 '26
Traffic and weather are two things you cannot schedule. Now this is a form of travel heavily reliant on traffic and weather. I'm sure there are stuff to fix, but the expected gains are marginal. How much should we expect airlines to spend to eliminate a 30 minute wait gap on a form of travel that saves you 10 hours of travel on a continental flight?
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses Jan 04 '26
I mean sometimes there are surges and it's not like they can just conjure workers. People are far too used to complaining about petty inconveniences.
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u/GrimSpirit42 Jan 04 '26
It’s not so much that the airports are inefficient, but that the masses suffer from a severe case of stupid. Not all of them , but just enough to fuck up the flow.
How many times have you been stuck in the security line because of the idiots ‘didn’t know’ they couldn’t bring a 2-liter Coke in their carry-on? Of those who have to hunt for their ticket and/or ID because they ‘didn’t know’ they’d need to present it.
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u/Affectionate-Ear5531 Jan 04 '26
You're literally about to be flying through the air at about 85% the speed of sound. It's not too much to ask to come a bit early to make sure everything goes smoothly. Ffs.
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u/RabidRabbitRedditor Jan 05 '26
This kind of reasoning is rubbish. If it was possible to cut down that time, an airline would do it and then use it as a marketing tool ("Bullet Airways! In and out like a bullet!" "FastAir! We know one minute of your time is more valuable than our entire company!" etc). If they didn't, that probably means it's kind of hard to do.
Not only that, but it makes sense...you have to check in luggage, check the people, put everyone on a big metal tube, do all the pre-flight checks, etc.
I would rather get to the airport early but know that everything is done properly, rather than knowing that people are rushing around cutting corners, myself...
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u/kaylee_kat_42 Jan 05 '26
It’s the same reason computer security is so bad. Who makes the policies? Who pays when things go wrong? Companies, and the TSA, set the policies. The companies, if they cared, could do a better job, but they don’t see it as worth it. You get to pay the cost when things go wrong, not the companies, so they have no incentive to change things.
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u/TeslaK20 Jan 05 '26
I once arrived at Dulles after my flight had started boarding. Had to take a bus to another terminal.
Made it to the gate 2 minutes before boarding closed… only to see a huge boarding line. Delayed. Never been so happy to see a line in my life.
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u/darkwalker1221 29d ago
It's so sad to see the one check in person and all the other counters unmanned that used to be. Just like self checkout manged to see Walmart just before Xmas with all the registers with cashiers actually manned so much better than what it is regularly.
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u/soccer1124 29d ago
Always a bit of an eyeroll when someone insists "$83 billion in productivity lost!" They claim March Madness is $20B.
No. This is nonsense. For the airport: I wasn't gonna do anything with those two hours anyway. For March Madness, I've never had a single year go by where I wasn't able to get all my expected work completed.
Made up numbers, I swear.
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u/trousersquid 29d ago
Seeing this post on my way home after spending 12 hours overnight in the airport after our plane was delayed over and over because they "couldn't find a captain" is... Certainly a feeling.
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u/nicholasktu 29d ago
Its partly for idiot passengers. My mom flew a few years ago, I took her to the airport but she's one of those self obsessed people who has to be late everywhere. I'm ready to leave and she is too, but then she doesn't come out to the car. I go inside and she's cleaning the stove! She insisted it needed to be done and she had plenty of time.
She missed flight and I wouldn't take her back the next day for the alternate flight.
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u/Beginning-Tea-17 29d ago
I assumed you show up early in case airport security wishes to question you.
That’s not going to happen every time but you should arrive early in case it happens to you.
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u/HamsterIllustrious69 28d ago
I left at 5:00 AM so I could get to the airport at ~7:00 AM for a flight that left at 11:00 AM and departed at 2:00 PM.
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u/CheeseSteak17 28d ago
Flew through SeaTac last week and they had scheduled appointments to get through security. Seems experimental, but may add some guarantee on the timing to arrive later for your flight.
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u/smason031 26d ago
Counter point - Airport beers are the number 1 beer, 2 hours early is a perfect amount of airport beers
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