Flight check in times

Presumably they will still need to drop a bag off? I would say still get there 2 hours before, if they've checked in onlnine. 3 hours if they don't check in online.

Yes, so I was thinking 2 hours. However my mother is thinking 4!

L
xx

Who are they flying with? Could you not look online to see when their checkin opens?

Will the check in desk be open 4 hours before?

They are flying with BA, and I could look online if I had their booking reference, which I currently don't. Might try and get that from her.

L
xx

I'd say arrive 2 hours before too, make sure you leave enough time to allow for traffic jams though!

Sorry I didn't realise you'd have to log in on the website to find out.

I flew to US with BA this year (but from Gatwick) and despite checking in online we still had to join the masses to drop our bags off. Checking in online just allowed us to choose seats and didn't save any time at the airport.

I think we were there between 2 and 3 hours before. I guess it depends whether they want to spend time looking around shops/eating breakfast etc. 4 hours before sounds a bit excessive to me though. Maybe they're worried about traffic/parking?

Surely if it's your mum flying and she wants to be there 4 hours in advance then that's up to her. Flying out of Heathrow I would leave more than 2 hours, we like to have a nice breakfast and mooch around the shops so 3 - 4 hours would be normal to me.

Well, it's kind of the whole 'having to get up at 3.30am to get her there' thing that is bothering me!

L
xx

Depends on whether she's worried about getting checked in or if she just wants to be there for a long time. BA at Heathrow is a breeze so if she's checking in online it'll only take 10 minutes to drop her bag off. I'd say a couple of hours would be enough time.