Flying with Easyjet from Gatwick with hand luggage

marluc

Hi I have searched this forum and cannot find anything. I hope someone can help. We are flying with hand luggage only (have never done this before) I have printed off boarding cards. The flight leaves at 06.35 (gates close at 06.05). Do we still have to be at the airport 2 hours before? If so that would mean arriving at Gatwick at 04.05? Thanks for any help / advice.

jackieblack

You must just get to the gate before it closes.
You must leave enough time to get through security and then to the gate, which in theory could be the furthest gate which, according to this , http://www.easyjet.com/en/cheap-flights/uk/london/airports-lgw-ltn-sen-stn/lgw could take 15mins (of course that depends how quickly you walk, it could take more, or less)
If you arrive at the gate after the gate has closed then you will not be allowed to fly, irrelevant of what time you arrived at the airport.

dave127

as jackieblack said, there is really no need to be there 2 hours prior your departure. 1 hour is in this case enough and you still are gonna have just about the right time to make your way through the security to your gate.

peachyprice

I wouldn't leave it as close as 1hr TBH, 7am, especially if it's a weekday, can be a busy time through security, then you don't know how far your gate is, for a 7am flight with hand luggage I would still give it an hour and a half. Better to have half an hour to kill than be rushing around like a headless chicken if it's busy.

Moto2

I usually aim to hit the carpark about 90mins before the flight time

I'm not a Gatwick regular though so not sure what the queues are like for security.
I walked into LBA security last Tuesday @ around 7am and I was the only pax there.

Pollycat

I wouldn't leave it as close as an hour either.

I think the first flights out of LGW are around 6am so you will be queuing through Security with lots of people who are on early flights plus lots of people who have arrived at the airport 2-and-3 (or more) hours before their flight.

Also, it depends where you are travelling from.
Unless you are staying in a hotel close to the airport, don't you want to allow plenty of time in case of travel issues?
I'd rather be sat in Departures than panicking on the M25 because some lorry has jack-knifed.

soolin

Gatwick can be very slow and even at that time in the morning traffic on the M23 and M 25 can be horrendous especially if the roadworks are still there.

Last autumn we had a 7.15 am flight and unusually for us decided to drive to Gatwick on the morning rather than stay there as we usually do the night before. Intended arriving at car park 2 hours before flight , however roads were closed and they had a rolling road block and a diversion and we ended up barely making the gate. 5 years earlier we almost missed a flight to the Caribbean due to motorway closure (we were Already on it so couldn't divert)

It was so stressful we always stay in a hotel on site now the night before.

I'd rather be at the airport early and sit and read a newspaper for an hour than get that stressed again.

atro1

An hour is not leaving you enough time. The M25 is a nightmare at the moment with roadworks, security at that time off day can be anything from1/2 and hour to 3/4 of an hour and Easyjets gates are usually the furthest away which alone can be 25 minute walk..Stay the night before takes an awful lot off stress out of the travelling.

WTFH

It depends where you're coming from, how you're getting to the airport, what day/date you're travelling, and to a lesser degree, which terminal you're flying out of.

I live about 20 minutes from Gatwick (not going on main roads), and when I'm flying with hand luggage only, I'll try to arrive about an hour and a half before departure.
North terminal, there's no quick way through security, but in the South, go to the far right hand scanners - they normally go the fastest. Then when you're walking away from the scanners, there's a flight display board just before the escalators down. In front of the board, to the right is a set of doors which will be open. Go through them and turn left. That brings you straight out into the departures area top floor, rather than having to weave your way round through the duty free shop.

Pollycat

It amazes me that anyone would want to leave it as late as possible to get to the airport.

Moto2

Pollycat wrote: »

It amazes me that anyone would want to leave it as late as possible to get to the airport.

I always do that - arrive 90 mins before the flight at the car park, aim to be at security with 60 mins to spare.
Although, I think I could push it a bit tighter if I wanted to.

I also try to be the last one on the plane and the first one off