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Catching a very early morning flight
blueisthecolour
Posts: 20,129 Forum Member
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I know this is a bit of a naive question, but how do you manage things when you have to catch a very early morning flight?
Say the flight is at 6am, that means you need to be in the airport for 4am. Which for most people means leaving the house at 3am or before. There's no public transport at that time so taxi is your only option is you don't drive.
Do you try and sleep until 2am? Do you just get to the airport the evening before and wait, do you get a hotel nearby?
Any tips?
Say the flight is at 6am, that means you need to be in the airport for 4am. Which for most people means leaving the house at 3am or before. There's no public transport at that time so taxi is your only option is you don't drive.
Do you try and sleep until 2am? Do you just get to the airport the evening before and wait, do you get a hotel nearby?
Any tips?
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If i lived further away i might consider a travel lodge or something
In reality, it all depends on how near or far your house is from whatever airport you are flying from.
e.g. I live in Rotherhithe, SE London.
I had an 06.55 flight out of London City airport recently.
As I was only going to be away for three nights, I took the bare minimum, four pairs of boxers, four shirts, two spare pairs of trousers, hair brush, toothbrush, razor, then bought shaving foam, tooth paste, deodorant after going through security, so I had hand luggage only, in a small wheeled case.
I walked ten minutes to Canada Water station, got the first Jubilee Line train at 05.37, switched to the DLR at Canning Town, and was at the airport by 06.00, having checked in online and printed my boarding pass.
When travelling for holidays etc. I avoid early flights like the plague, only taking ones that depart from noon onward, I'd sooner arrive in the evening than get up in the middle of the night to catch a plane.
Fair enough, some people may have no choice, either calculate the cost of a hotel at the departure airport, factoring in the relaxing, no rush to get there, against the hassle of early rising and then the fare in a taxi to the airport.
Of course in London, we have the advantage of taking a taxi to London Bridge, then 35 minutes by train to Gatwick, or taxi to Liverpool St. then Stansted Express to Stansted, around 40 minutes, or the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow.
See that's what I was wondering. I had to get up at 3:45 for a flight earlier in the year and it was definitely worth sleeping, but I wasn't sure if it would be worth it for less than 4 hours.
Then have a couple of pints in the airport bar and soon as you get on the plane you can go back to sleep again.
I stayed up one night for an early morning flight, and by god, it was bad! I have an early flight on Saturday so plan to at least get a couple of hours kip, just to take the edge off.
I live about an hour away from Heathrow and have a early morning flight booked to NY in the new year. I have chosen to book a cheap hotel near to Heathrow for the night before. Basically it means instead of having to get up at 4.00am to leave the house for 5.00 and get to the aiport around 6ish, I can still be at the airport for 6 but can leave the hotel at 5.30.
Also it takes all the worry out of going to the airport - will the car break down on route, will there be an accident which causes traffic jams and delays etc
Does it really take you an hour to leave the house?
But otherwise I agree that a hotel is usually a good idea. it also means that it feels like you holiday starts a day earlier.
If it's just a holiday then you can catch up on sleep when you are there. I would just go to sleep at whatever time is 'normal' and then wake up in time to go to the airport. If you don't drive you will need to rely on a taxi (presuming no-one will give you a lift at that time in the morning!). There is an airport coach running throughout the night here (Bristol) but it's only every hour and can be a pain to get to the coach stop in the first place, so it's probably easier to get a taxi.
If you are the type to get anxious about travelling then you might decide it's better to stay in a nearby hotel. I'm a really relaxed traveller so most aspects of travelling don't bother me but I know many people who get quite worked up about airports and would rather be on the doorstep, so if that makes it easier for you then go for it. Personally I wouldn't bother for the sake of three hours sleep, but I know it might make the whole experience less stressful (and I suppose you can go out for a meal etc so your holiday might feel like it starts a night early if you are in different surroundings).
You might find you don't sleep brilliantly anyway if you are anticipating having to wake up. If it takes you a long time to 'wake up properly' then you might want to consider having some kind of list so you can make sure you have everything packed when you are groggy-eyed at 3am.
Oh possibly one more thing to mention: some smaller airports won't have everything open in the middle of the night, so you might want to check cafe/shop opening times for your specific terminal if a coffee hit or whatever is important to you when you get to the airport.
Yes an hour at least - wash hair, apply make-up, get dressed, check passport, check tickets, check passport again, make sure lights are on timer and working etc
Even when we we flew from Birmingham International, we stayed over the night before despite living in Birmingham since the Travelodge was actually cheaper than a taxi from the centre at 3.30am.
Bad enough spending 2 hours in the airport never mind from the evening before but I suppose if it’s your first time it’s an adventure but after that, it’s a chore. Apart from that, friends, family or taxis (the latter preferred) is the thing for getting to the airport at unearthly times or local over night hotel (those near airports usually to have free drop and pickup to and from the airport) if you have a long journey to the airport.
The worst thing for me is late night flights coming home when you’ve been chucked out of your accommodation earlier in the day.
I once began to develop the urge for a number two in the check-in queue about halfway to the desk
What airport are you flying from and which airline?