And the time wasted on transfers. I used to regularly fly from airports in NY, London, SF, Singapore, LA, Sydney, etc. I would block out the opportunities to work or rest, and the reality was that only the plane time was valuable for either. It was painful to see all the other blocks of non productive time, particularly the allowances for congestion and disruption between downtown and the airports. I would have paid thousands a flight to be able to check in/clear security at my hotel and then get driven to a holding bay at the airport, and then on to the gate, in a vehicle suitable for both work and rest.
Really? Obviously it varies by country, but there’s no customs/immigration when leaving the US, and security usually takes <5 minutes with PreCheck. Sometimes immigration takes a while on the other side, but it’s quick at airports with biometric gate systems. You still hear people talk about airport buffer time in units of hours, but I think that’s increasingly out of date.
Yes, ymmv (a lot). But alas buffer time is getting higher, not lower.
Yes, TSA is a big part of the problem. It's less "how long it took" and more "how long can it take". I've personally experienced those days where "TSA decided to go slow" and a couple hours disappears. The 5 minute days just make that worse.
Yes, the airport matters. If you're at some small regional it's no big deal. JFK or Atlanta etc is another thing entirely.
Yes, domestic or international matters. Yes, flying business class makes it faster. Yes signing up for "special status" makes things faster.
But airports are typically some drive away from city center (both ends, in traffic). Security and immigration both take time (often significant time.) Door to door time is easily 6 hours more than flight time.
I have _yet_ to hit a time where TSA can make multiple hours disappear. Precheck w/ touchless ID lines are virtually empty at most airports, the actual security screen itself is quite fast given almost nothing needs to be removed from your bag these days. I still tend to arrive early, but I don't mind getting work done at the airport, especially at a lounge - though I've arrived very close to departure other times and still make it to the gate with plenty to spare.
On international returns, both Global Entry or MPC lines are virtually empty when I arrive (SFO)
The worst part is international arrivals in foreign countries, where immigration can soak up a lot of time, and you have no choice but to stand in line. Luckily I don't have to fly internationally too many times a year.
So how long before the actual flight departure will you be at the airport?
If I catch a train that is 10 minutes before the train departs on a metropolitan train station in Europe.
With planes in my experience arriving two hours before the actual departure is not uncommon at bigger airports, since there are more insecurities involved like how crowded security checks are, where your gate is, etc.
In the US, generally one hour no matter whether it's domestic or international. In Germany, like three hours because security and immigration is insanely slow and inefficient. In the UK and other countries I'm less familiar with, two is usually fine.
If I come earlier, it's with the expectation that I'll waste some time hanging out in a lounge.
(Train situation is similar in the US, in places where we actually have those. Generally fine to show up right before departure.)
Not necessarily for extremely long haul flights. The airport side of things takes about the same amount of time regardless. For a transpacific flight, you’re looking at maybe 3-4 hours at the airport and 10+ hours in the air. Shaving down the airport side would be nice but a faster plane could save a lot more time.
This is a solved problem in civilized countries. The time between arriving at an airport and boarding your plane in Japan is ~10 minutes, most of it walking. Because they don't spend an hour fucking around with clownshow security, and because boarding doesn't take forever, as people don't try to stuff ten pieces of carry-on luggage into five overhead bin spaces.
Customs always takes time, though, even in the happy (no extra questions, no bag searches) path.
---
Do you want to know the secret to fast security lines?
Either reduce the work security does, or open more lines and hire more agents[1], until they can meet the throughput requirements. Both seem to be anathema to an American airport.
---
[1] This also works to reduce lines and improve quality and cleanliness in other aspects of society. It's not that Japanese people don't produce any garbage, or dirt, it's that their public infrastructure is regularly and meticulously cleaned and maintained.
This is already a solved problem for the class of customers they are going after.
And the time wasted on transfers. I used to regularly fly from airports in NY, London, SF, Singapore, LA, Sydney, etc. I would block out the opportunities to work or rest, and the reality was that only the plane time was valuable for either. It was painful to see all the other blocks of non productive time, particularly the allowances for congestion and disruption between downtown and the airports. I would have paid thousands a flight to be able to check in/clear security at my hotel and then get driven to a holding bay at the airport, and then on to the gate, in a vehicle suitable for both work and rest.
Really? Obviously it varies by country, but there’s no customs/immigration when leaving the US, and security usually takes <5 minutes with PreCheck. Sometimes immigration takes a while on the other side, but it’s quick at airports with biometric gate systems. You still hear people talk about airport buffer time in units of hours, but I think that’s increasingly out of date.
Yes, ymmv (a lot). But alas buffer time is getting higher, not lower.
Yes, TSA is a big part of the problem. It's less "how long it took" and more "how long can it take". I've personally experienced those days where "TSA decided to go slow" and a couple hours disappears. The 5 minute days just make that worse.
Yes, the airport matters. If you're at some small regional it's no big deal. JFK or Atlanta etc is another thing entirely.
Yes, domestic or international matters. Yes, flying business class makes it faster. Yes signing up for "special status" makes things faster.
But airports are typically some drive away from city center (both ends, in traffic). Security and immigration both take time (often significant time.) Door to door time is easily 6 hours more than flight time.
I have _yet_ to hit a time where TSA can make multiple hours disappear. Precheck w/ touchless ID lines are virtually empty at most airports, the actual security screen itself is quite fast given almost nothing needs to be removed from your bag these days. I still tend to arrive early, but I don't mind getting work done at the airport, especially at a lounge - though I've arrived very close to departure other times and still make it to the gate with plenty to spare.
On international returns, both Global Entry or MPC lines are virtually empty when I arrive (SFO)
The worst part is international arrivals in foreign countries, where immigration can soak up a lot of time, and you have no choice but to stand in line. Luckily I don't have to fly internationally too many times a year.
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So how long before the actual flight departure will you be at the airport?
If I catch a train that is 10 minutes before the train departs on a metropolitan train station in Europe.
With planes in my experience arriving two hours before the actual departure is not uncommon at bigger airports, since there are more insecurities involved like how crowded security checks are, where your gate is, etc.
In the US, generally one hour no matter whether it's domestic or international. In Germany, like three hours because security and immigration is insanely slow and inefficient. In the UK and other countries I'm less familiar with, two is usually fine.
If I come earlier, it's with the expectation that I'll waste some time hanging out in a lounge.
(Train situation is similar in the US, in places where we actually have those. Generally fine to show up right before departure.)
Not necessarily for extremely long haul flights. The airport side of things takes about the same amount of time regardless. For a transpacific flight, you’re looking at maybe 3-4 hours at the airport and 10+ hours in the air. Shaving down the airport side would be nice but a faster plane could save a lot more time.
This is a solved problem in civilized countries. The time between arriving at an airport and boarding your plane in Japan is ~10 minutes, most of it walking. Because they don't spend an hour fucking around with clownshow security, and because boarding doesn't take forever, as people don't try to stuff ten pieces of carry-on luggage into five overhead bin spaces.
Customs always takes time, though, even in the happy (no extra questions, no bag searches) path.
---
Do you want to know the secret to fast security lines?
Either reduce the work security does, or open more lines and hire more agents[1], until they can meet the throughput requirements. Both seem to be anathema to an American airport.
---
[1] This also works to reduce lines and improve quality and cleanliness in other aspects of society. It's not that Japanese people don't produce any garbage, or dirt, it's that their public infrastructure is regularly and meticulously cleaned and maintained.
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