Plan to arrive early if you are flying home for the holidays
Share this post:
Airline passengers know they must get to the airport early when traveling.
But, how early? One hour? Four hours?
A Texas travel company, Upgraded Points, has ranked 50 major airports in the United States to determine how early passengers should arrive to avoid “Christmas chaos.”
“There’s no place like home for the holidays, but a missed flight could make that journey back impossible,” Upgraded Points said.
The company looked at 15 factors including airport acreage, terminals, gates, and parking decks; the number of delayed and on-time departures; TSA wait time and car traffic volume.
Upgraded Points said it also factored in data from airport websites and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Airports where passengers should arrive more than 3 hours early included O’Hare International in Chicago, Los Angeles International, John F. Kennedy International in New York City, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Texas, and Dallas Fort Worth International.
O’Hare has 193 gates – you’ll need time just to make sure you get to the right one.
But, if you are flying from John Glenn Columbus (Ohio) International, you need only arrive an hour before your flight.
Philadelphia International Airport came in at No. 9. Passengers should arrive about 2 hours and 44 minutes before the flight time. Pittsburgh lands at No. 22 with an arrival time of 2 hours and 6 minutes before the flight.
Upgraded Points also looked at the number of bars and places to eat that airports have and which airports have the longest TSA wait times.
Passengers will find the most bars and restaurants at LaGuardia in New York, Ronald Reagan Washington National, Newark (N.J.) Liberty International, San Diego International and Harry Reid International in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania landed on the list with the longest Transportation Security Administration wait times. Pittsburgh International Airport came in at No. 3 with a wait time of 18.61 minutes.
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International has the longest TSA wait time at 19.68 minutes.
“Many factors can cause passengers to be late for their flights, even if they reach the airport on time,” said Alex Miller, founder of Upgraded Points.
“Generally speaking, airport security lines are the biggest delaying factor within the airport itself, since going through security is mandatory. Wait times can top 18 minutes or more in airports like PIT in Pittsburgh and MSY in New Orleans. And that’s if the line is running smoothly. But there are other delaying factors in play too.”