What airport, what terminal? If you have no luggage to check and have checked in online there is rarely a reason to arrive at the airport 2 hours in advance for a mid-afternoon weekday flight.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:46 AM on November 19, 2014 [3 favorites]

Does it make sense for you to take the Heathrow Express? They have various promotions on at the moment, and it looks like they've got an ongoing frequent traveller deal.
posted by cotton dress sock at 3:58 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

One hour. Even in the existing Terminal 1 you can make it from the door to the gate in 35 minutes if your mobility is not impaired.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:59 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Are you closer to any other airports? Gatwick only expects you an hour in advance to Europe and is easier to get around than heathrow. If you can find a rare cheap flight from City it's amazingly posh and convenient. And yeah, if you only have carry-on even heathrow doesn't need a whole 2 hours.
posted by Erasmouse at 4:10 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Are any of your destinations reachable by Eurostar? Much quicker way of travelling.
posted by ellieBOA at 4:11 AM on November 19, 2014 [4 favorites]

I don't think that you need to arrive two hours before the flight. In Australia, we are advised to arrive at the airport two hours before international flights and one hour before domestic flights. Flying from London to Europe is basically equivalent to an Australian domestic flight.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 4:20 AM on November 19, 2014

I'd spend less time travelling, and spend less time at the airport. Must you get 100% of flights, or 99% of flights?
posted by devnull at 4:23 AM on November 19, 2014

1.5 hour public transport to airport (don't drive)
Arrive at airport 2 hours before departure (the standard advised time for UK/EU flights)
Sit cooling heels in airport for aaages

Work on this part. I had a flight to the US last week which left at 11.05 from T5. I left my house at 8.30 and made it to the gate about 15mins before it even opened despite serious delays on Heathrow Express (should have arrived at T5 at 9.25, actually arrived at 10.00), so you are leaving way too wide a margin. I would probably set off an hour later if I were you.

How long does it take you to get through security? If it usually takes X minutes to get through security, and you have checked in online and have no checked baggage, you only need to get to the airport X plus maybe 30mins contingency time before the gate opens. So most likely only an hour before. Do you have frequent flyer points? Above a certain tier, you will get security fast-tracking.

How is it routinely taking 1.5hrs to get to Heathrow from central London? Are you walking there or something? There must be a faster route - it takes me under an hour from south London. Heathrow Express - your time is almost certainly worth the extra cost. Is there a closer airport you can use? If you're in Canary Wharf, isn't there anything flying from City? Stansted has free security fast-tracking for people with a Stansted Express train ticket (leaves from Liverpool St). Luton and Gatwick are on the Thameslink route if you work near St Pancras, London Bridge or Blackfriars. And yes, definitely use Eurostar if that is remotely an option. If you update us where you're travelling from and to I'm sure we can suggest some better options.
posted by tinkletown at 4:39 AM on November 19, 2014

Working in airports is the only way I've managed to make this more efficient. If you travel enough to rack up flyer miles, you can probably use them to get membership of some sort of airport lounge, or even if you have to pay for it, it might make sense. Then you take a laptop with you and go straight there when you have checked in. Use your "dead time" to do anything you can on a laptop remotely.

Even if you don't join a lounge, you can usually find somewhere to sit with a good internet signal and near a powerpoint to plug in if you need to. But laptops nowadays frequently have 8 hour battery lives or longer, so you might not even need to plug in.

If you can get your boss's okay on this, you might not need to take leave (or as much leave) even if you are leaving the office at lunch time. It's also worth seeing if there are airlines that allow you to use electronics during take-off and landing, and preferentially flying them. Here in Australia that has been possible for a little while now. (They still don't let you use laptops, but you can use iPads from gate to gate, and so I can at least read work-related things).

If there isn't free wifi at the airport, consider investing in a dongle-thingie, if you need internet access to work. Or (what I do), tether to your phone.

If you can get permission to do this, and you are still concerned about the travel time to the airport during your workday, it might be worth going in the morning instead of your work commute, and working in the airport lounge all day on the days you travel.

If remotely working isn't possible with your job, of course, then that's annoying.
posted by lollusc at 4:45 AM on November 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Echoing an hour to an hour and half wait time before flights - the 2 hours nonsense is ridiculous.

Also - do you have an airline club pass? You could easily work from the airport in the club prior to your flight Much quieter than the main airport, better wifi, free snacks and drinks, and the desk people will notify you when you should head to your gate (and are full gate agents who can rebook your flight in case you have a delay/cancellation)

Also - have a standard outfit you wear for travel days - I find it makes security much faster as I don't have to think about removing belts/jewelry/ undoing complicated shoes etc.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 4:50 AM on November 19, 2014

Agree that you are planning to arrive at the airport way too early! I travel regularly for work within Europe and usually plan to be at the airport an hour in advance, and usually include eating whatever nearest meal is necessary at the airport in that time. Top tips:

1) Learn to sleep at will. Even if you can't get a lot done on the plan, if you can arrive at your destination rested you'll at least be breaking even. For me this involves earplugs, managing caffeine intake carefully, and having a cosy scarf which I use as a blanket, and a preferred spot on the plane (aisle). For you, you might need a travel pillow, eyemask, whatever.

2) For using the travel time better, just get better at planning and organising in advance. It might be a good idea to physically be at the gate for boarding 20-30 minutes before the plane leaves, but that doesn't mean I can't spend ten minutes of that time putting on my makeup. If I know I'm going to be stuck on a bus for an hour, I know ahead and can plan to use that hour to do whatever personal "life admin" stuff I'd otherwise do from my desk, like, I dunno, renewing my insurance or phoning my mom. A good mobile data plan is invaluable for all the bits apart from the bit when you're actually on the plane. If I have any long documents I need to read for work, I print them out and read them on the plane so I have something useful to do, that I'd have to do anyway, that I can still do during that "no devices" bit at the start/end of flights. It took a long time for this to click with me.

3) Air travel can f- you up. Self care is important. Remember to eat decent food (a nice piece of fruit and some nuts brought with you and consumed mid-flight can be lovely), drink lots of water (I have a refillable bottle I refill post-security to avoid airport prices), keep your skin and sinuses hydrated, and wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.
posted by bimbam at 5:00 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Hope that didn't sound rude, it wasn't meant to be! In that case I would go Barbican to Paddington on the circle line, then Heathrow Express. Should be more like 40-55mins (the trains are every 15mins). And look into frequent flyer points, it doesn't take many flights to get fast-tracking and lounge access.
posted by tinkletown at 5:06 AM on November 19, 2014

Normally I'd recommend an Uber from Barbican to Paddington, then the Express, but I did a hired car last time I was in London and the drive through the city was stupid! The Tube is the best.

I usually fly from Hartsfield, and I too spend a lot of time in transit. Mostly because of the wait for security and the schlep to the gate. I actually prefer an airline because once through security, I can go straight to the gate without having to get on an escalator to the basement, board a train, then take an escalator back up. It cuts about 30 minutes in all from my time in the airport.

Do you have a program in Europe like Clear or Global Entry that expedites going through customs and security? If you do, it would be money well-spent to get it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:42 AM on November 19, 2014

Can you fly from London City instead? My experience was that with London City I could (as a non-frequent occasional flying pax) arrive 30 minutes before the flight was due and walk onto the aircraft with no trouble whatsoever. I used to fly with CityJet, but pretty much all the airlines that fly out of London City have a 15 minute final check-in time for walk-on luggage only passengers.

It was worth the (relatively small) extra expense of the flights to save the hours of faffing about getting to Heathrow and checking in for me.
posted by pharm at 5:43 AM on November 19, 2014

City flights are also much cheaper than they used to be, at least the routes I fly. Definitely worth checking this if you haven't looked in a while.
posted by StephenF at 5:57 AM on November 19, 2014

Ask yourself what happens if you miss your flight. Is there another an hour later you can get on?
posted by J. Wilson at 5:59 AM on November 19, 2014

Where are you going in Europe? Have you considered overnight trains? Seat61.com has you covered. You'll probably spend about the same amount of time travelling, but for some of it you'll be able to work and you can also leave later and spend some of your travel time unconscious. Nothing like waltzing out of London in the late afternoon and waking up in Madrid the next morning, well rested.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:02 AM on November 19, 2014 [3 favorites]

I have major lateness-anxiety

Rationalize, break down your planned time into smaller steps, realise 'what could happen' in concrete, experience-supported terms, and realise that few travelers likely ever actually died by missing a flight from Heathrow to, what, Düsseldorf?

Lateness-anxiety may also impair your ability to either read properly or relax during the trip, which might make it feel more tedious although it's relatively short. Are you someone who obsessively listens to all the passengers being called who are late to their flight to Singapore and will have their baggage offloaded? Do you instinctively grab your bag at every security announcement? Do you start circling the announcement screen as soon as you enter the hall, even though the boarding time on your boarding card is 1:30 away? (okay, all exaggerations, but check yourself for milder representations of similar impulses).
Get earplugs and park yourself close to the flight-announcement screens, start checking for the gate when it's time for that. Before and between, have something worthwhile ready to read or work on, and train yourself to remain undeterred by other travelers not having their act together. Also, treat yourself generously to good drinks and food.
posted by Namlit at 6:10 AM on November 19, 2014

Are you flying from T5 this much (presumably BA?) and not accruing the points and miles that make all this worth it? I get to the airport early and with my status in another alliance have enjoyed lounges and been able to block seats and even get a few upgrades in my time. BA's hub isn't perfect but even flying in economy can accrue you enough miles/points to get you some very nice perks. Check out Flyertalk's BA forum for some true expert advice. :)
posted by mdonley at 6:15 AM on November 19, 2014

If you feel you need to arrive early at the airport (and I definitely understand that impulse) is there more you could get out of your time there? Two hours is enough to get a good bit of work done, or could you have a late lunch when you get to the airport and reclaim the time you spend on that before you leave for work?
posted by crocomancer at 6:31 AM on November 19, 2014

I also fly short haul London-Europe weekly, and minimum it is 5.5 hours door to door for me.

Early in the game I decided to switch to EasyJet and mostly fly out of Stansted as I can get the bus from Liverpool St or Stratford which is slightly quicker and for some reason doesn't seem to have all the frequent delays and problems that the Gatwick and Luton lines have.

I would say you can't arrive any less than 90 minutes ahead, public transport is just too unreliable at this time of year (leaves on the line...) to risk it. Unless you only take the tube to LHR which is a bit more reliable.

For killing time, I always aim to eat a meal at the airport. When flying from Gatwick, I treat myself to a dinner at Comptoir Libanaise. If the trains are messed up, I'll just grab something from Pret.

City costs an absolute fortune more at peak hours, forget it.
posted by wingless_angel at 6:35 AM on November 19, 2014

If:
1. Your employer is paying for your business travel - and does not mind paying extra for flexible fares.
2. You can afford to miss the odd flight without it being too disastrous
and
3. You are temperamentally suited to leaving things to the last minute without getting too stressed.
- then you are clear to minimise your time buffers on the understanding that things will sometimes go wrong.
If (like me) you are self-employed, buy your own flights at the cheapest rate going and are likely to get very stressed by the experience of just missing/just catching a flight - then your best strategy is going to be to make the best use of your buffer time.

I have major lateness-anxiety
So - you are in the second group.

The real pay off is in minimising the number of trips that you have to make. If you can cram in more activities into the trips you do make - and generally communicate online - then you will make the best obvious savings

Also - remember that the train can end up being a more calming and rapid method of travel - nobody will want to x-ray your shoes, drone on about flight safe mode or make you walk 3km to a gate.
posted by rongorongo at 6:53 AM on November 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Another vote for train here. If your total travel time ends up being 4-5 hours anyway, why not just make one leg and have the four hours to rest, work, read, etc? No anxiety about missed flights, switched terminals, security, or baggage/weight restrictions. Sometimes more expensive, but worth the expense in my book.
posted by stillmoving at 7:05 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Most overnight trains are being cancelled due to lack of demand so this is no longer an option. Eurostar/SNCF/NS etc gets you as far as parts of France, Belgium, Netherlands in the same time as a plane would take. Unfortunately, there are many disputes between operators and the schedules don't quite line up. For instance - I often travel London-Netherlands, there is a 45 minute gap between trains at Brussels. Brussels Zuid is a really horrible place to kill time. And it still takes 6 hours.

I presume OP is not traveling for work, because they mention taking annual leave to do this. The only other option would be a work from home arrangement (which all employees have the right to ask for) and get to the airport slightly earlier to put in a few hours instead of taking leave. My husband does this when he visits me.

Also, BA points are very slow to accrue. You get basically nothing for a short haul Europe flight. Skyteam is slightly better in that you get to the next level after 15 flights which gives you priority checkin and boarding, saves a bit of time.
posted by wingless_angel at 7:14 AM on November 19, 2014

Usually Heathrow, usually Friday afternoon, but this often varies.

Try to vary it even more often. Friday afternoons are one of the busiest times of the week for short term flights - and Heathrow is busy to the extent that the knock-on effects of anything going wrong are far reaching. Catching a budget airline from a smaller or regional airport is often not only cheaper but more reliable and less stressful than going via Heathrow. Planes visiting smaller airports also spend less time taxi-ing or circling and more actually flying. Both Easyjet and RyanAir have worked to make their services a little less misanthropic recently and you are less likely to encounter an ogre who wants you to jam your hand-luggage into a box or pay a fine before you can get on the plane.
posted by rongorongo at 7:34 AM on November 19, 2014

Chat up a friendly gate person to see what the real rules are currently for someone late. I've seen someone arrive minutes before the gate closed and be shifted at no cost to a different flight (and arrive at the destination before the scheduled multi-hop). Being late is not a crisis. Even if you see the gate close, knock on the door. Really, push the envelope the other way a bit.
posted by sammyo at 7:58 AM on November 19, 2014

When I was traveling a lot the biggest thing that eased the pain was to get club membership. I could get to the airport with as much time as I wanted to feel comfortable and then sit in a cube and catch up on email and phone calls with coffee and snacks at hand. I could leave my suitcase in the cube while I went to the rest room. If I had a particularly long flight ahead of me I could take a shower, and take a shower on landing if I felt like it. Some airlines let you cash in miles for club access, but even if they don't I was able to justify the cost by the recovered productivity.
posted by Runes at 7:59 AM on November 19, 2014

Also, if you're flying out of a smaller airport and are recognized as a regular your path through the airport can be greatly shortened, especially if you build a relationship with the staff by the occasional box of cookies/etc. I had one instance where I was running late, called ahead to get rebooked on the next flight, and instead they greased the skids so that I went from the door of the airport to on the plane in less than 5 minutes.
posted by Runes at 8:07 AM on November 19, 2014

I just flew LHR-CPH on Sunday. I left King's Cross on the Picadilly line with supposedly enough time to arrive only 1 hr before my flight.
I am doofus though, and didn't get on the terminal 5 train (I swore it said 5! but then later it said 4!) but even though that happened, and I don't have status so had to go through the normal security line, I had not trouble making my flight (I walked up just as they started boarding all rows).

If I did that flight regularly, I think I'd work on getting status, though; it really does make security shorter. And yes, I might spring for the Heathrow express; Picadilly stops pretty frequently.
posted by nat at 8:18 AM on November 19, 2014

As someone who formally had lateness anxiety and married someone who decidedly does not have lateness anxiety (or, really, a comprehension of the concept of lateness), getting over the anxiety is amaaaaaaazing.

I frequently take short-haul flights out of JFK, which I imagine to be similar in busy-ness and size to Heathrow. A 1hr flight is generally on a small plane, which realistically does not board until 20-30 mins before takeoff. So, for a 5pm flight, you want to be at the gate by 4:40. True, you can board at the last minute, but if you need overhead space, boarding early is best. Factor 30 minutes for security and navigating the airport. Why 30 minutes? Because if you're about to miss your flight they will (almost always) bump you to the head of the security line. So, for a 5pm flight, you want to arrive by 4:10.

If you do arrive way early, check with the gate agent to see if you can go standby on an earlier flight. Also, the nice lounges (the ones you can get in with first class tickets, Amex platinum, priority pass, etc), really are worth it -- quiet atmosphere, free drinks and snacks, outlets galore -- I didn't think it was possible to be treated like an actual human person at an airport, but the lounges are where it's at.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:11 AM on November 19, 2014

Get Heathrow Connect to split the difference in price between Heathrow Express and the Piccadilly line, or even the coach from Victoria (quite a few different coaches serve that route) would be quicker from Barbican. I've only flown once from terminal 5, but I'd suggest picking up whatever food and drink you want and getting to your gate as quickly as possible before sitting down at all. The shopping/food part was absurdly busy when I was there. If your gate hasn't been assigned, then find somewhere quiet to sit anyway. If your plane flies from terminal 5B or 5C, get the train across to there immediately, and things will be much quieter.
posted by ambrosen at 10:40 AM on November 19, 2014

Also, if your fare includes checked baggage, consider trading off the time it takes waiting to collect it against how much easier it is to board the plane and get to the gate and suchlike without carrying any luggage. You may well prefer to check your luggage.
posted by ambrosen at 10:44 AM on November 19, 2014

I usually try to avoid the cost of the Heathrow Express (though strongly rethinking that, based on cotton dress sock's reply above) so end up taking the Piccadilly Line from Kings Cross,

You can get 12 Heathrow Express singles for the price of 9. They are good for a year. Even if you only use them on the tip out it will save a lot of time. Or Heathrow connect from Paddington, as suggested, via the Circle Line from Barbican.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:59 AM on November 19, 2014

To summarise thus far:

You can get from Barbican to LHR in under an hour if you time the ~£9 train correctly from Paddington.

You can cut a whole hour out of the time you spend at Heathrow because seriously nobody at all arrives more than an hour before scheduled departure except you, and you can lop another 15 off that if you don't have any checked bags.

That's nearly 2h you're up so far.

Finally: never fly to Paris or Brussels or Amsterdam. Get the train which departs 2 tube stops from Barbican instead, and save yourself the airport transfer time and money at both ends.
posted by genghis at 8:46 PM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

A small percentage of the trips that you book will run into major, stressful and potentially expensive problems. If you are an infrequent traveller then you could go for many years without having the bad luck to encounter one of these trips - but for frequent travellers this is a much more constant fear.

The biggest cause of these problems will be YOU! (if you are a person who books your own trips and if you are anything like me). You will select the wrong date when you are buying the ticket, you will turn up on the wrong date - or at the wrong airport.

My tactics for mitigating this sort of problem are:
1) Create a travel spreadsheet showing all the planned details for the trip - departure date and place, flight reference, cost and so on. Dates are probably the easiest thing to screw up.
2) Fill in this spreadsheet as you make the travel booking (which is best not done when you are stressed, tired or distracted).
3) Re-visit the spreadsheet the day before you leave - double check those details.
4) Get a well reviewed annual travel insurance policy.
5) But realise that this is not enough: you need to be mentally prepared and to budget for occasional spectacular failures.
6) Be very wary of the larcenous terms and conditions attached to the cheapest travel deals - particularly those for combined flight+hotel. I bought one of these last week, was unable to take the outward leg - or to change it - so went on to book a separate "out". Trip. The airline noted that I was a no show on the outward trip and cancelled my return flight with them too - I had paid for that flight and I still wanted to take it - but this was dis-allowed by the Ts and Cs.
7) Call the airline in advance if your plans change (that might have helped me in the above case).
8) As an air traveller you sit at the top of a large pyramid of support by others: pilots, gate crew, cabin crew, security people, bus drivers, travel agents, cleaners and so on. Many of their jobs are stressful and poorly paid. Being super-nice to them is not only good karma, but also a strategy that pays frequent dividends. Especially when the shit hits the fan.
posted by rongorongo at 5:51 AM on November 20, 2014

This thread is closed to new comments.