Extended time in Airport..... What to do?

geordiescouse

Hi will be flying home from the US but have found that I will have a few more hours at the airport than I had originally thought. Could I check my bags and head to the city for an hour or two? I am likely to have in excess of 5 hours and can get to the city in less than 15 mins.

Any thoughts?

silvercar

You won't be able to check your bags in before check in opens. That depends on your airline and your flight and, to a certain extent, the time of day, your class of flight and if you hold any loyalty status with the airline.

mcfisco

Which airport?
Some have luggage storage facilities

Nick_C

Is your five hours at the airport because you have a connecting flight?

If it's a designated connection on a single ticket, ie you can see both flights on the same itinerary on the airlines website when you enter your booking reference, then your luggage will be checked through to your final destination when you check in for the first flight. This should leave you free to leave the transit airport.

browneyedbazzi

Which airport it is, which airline and where you are arriving from/flying to will make a difference - on some routes your bags will be checked through to your final destination so you don't need to collect and re-check them yourself.

Airports also have different facilities and transport links so what would be best to do will depend on where exactly you are.

olias

If its a big airport, then 5 hours is not a lot of time to kill. Once you take out the time it takes to pass through arrivals, and departures, Have a drink and a meal and have a look round the shops, I'd be surprised if it left you much time at all.

Last time I passed through the US on the way back from Fiji, we had 3.5 hours between flights and due to the strict and lengthy security systems you have to go through, we literally made our connecting flight with only seconds to spare.

olias

opinions4u

Some airlines allow bags to be checked in the night before.

kacie

I have a few hours to kill at MSP during a connecting flight, and while the Mall of America is close by I'll probably stay in the airport as the gates have ipads available to use, so I'll grab a drink and something to eat and play on them for it.

geordiescouse

Thanks for your responses.

It's Boston that we're flying out of. It's not a connecting flight and we're flying with Air France.

After a trip around the NE corner of America we've seen enough of the inside of airports to last a lifetime! We were hoping to drop the bags and head to town for a bite to eat from Quincey Market.

cazziebo

Boston has a free bus/train (couldn't work out which it was) which will take you direct from the airport into the city centre and also out to Harvard which is beautiful.

Too good an opportunity to miss, I'd say!

Doshwaster

cazziebo wrote: »

Boston has a free bus/train (couldn't work out which it was) which will take you direct from the airport into the city centre and also out to Harvard which is beautiful.

Too good an opportunity to miss, I'd say!

In Boston you need to take the Silver Line which is free. It starts off as a normal bus at the airport then goes on a guided busway to South Station. From there it's a short walk or a couple of stops on the subway to the downtown/Qunicy Market area.

http://www.mbta.com/riding_the_t/logan/

With 5 hours to spare I wouldn't bother going up to Harvard but there is plenty to see and do in downtown Boston - and if it's raining then plenty of bars to hang out in.