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How Early You Need To Arrive at the Airport [2025 Data Study]
Alex Miller
Alex Miller
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There’s a fine line between arriving early enough for your flight and spending unnecessary time waiting at the gate. While most travelers follow the general rule of getting to the airport 2 hours before takeoff, that buffer might not cut it at every airport.
From packed terminals and long security lines to sprawling layouts and unpredictable traffic, some airports make getting to your gate more of a challenge. Plus, you’ll want to stop at that new shop that just opened and maybe even try that new restaurant.
To find out where travelers need the most extra time, we analyzed data from 50 of the busiest U.S. airports. We looked at 15 factors that can impact your preflight experience — everything from parking options and TSA wait times to departure delays and airport shopping options. The result is a data-driven look at which airports demand the earliest arrivals and where you can afford to take your time.
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The Airports Where You Need To Arrive the Earliest
Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Not all airports operate at the same pace. Some are smaller and offer a more relaxed arrival experience while others are sprawling high-traffic hubs where getting to your gate can feel like a race against the clock. To begin our analysis we want to focus on the latter.
Based on our analysis of 50 major U.S. airports, travelers should aim to arrive an average of 2 hours and 5 minutes ahead of their domestic departure. However, depending on the airport, that time can vary significantly.
If you’re flying out of one of these airports, give yourself plenty of time to fight traffic, park, get through security, and find your gate (and maybe bake in some shopping time for good measure):
Several of these airports rank among the busiest in the country, which helps explain the longer recommended arrival times. Chicago and Los Angeles, in particular, are known for congestion inside and outside the terminals. Houston stands out with the longest estimated time — its large size (in terms of square footage and passenger count), high number of gates, and relatively long TSA wait times can add time to every step of the preflight process. Orlando’s high tourist traffic and Denver’s expansive terminals also play a role in pushing arrival times higher.
Many of these airports serve as major international gateways, which adds to the overall congestion. Miami and New York, in particular, handle large volumes of international traffic and experience more frequent delays. San Francisco and Seattle also see heavy passenger flow and are known for longer security lines during peak travel times. Detroit might fly under the radar, but its number of gates and outlying traffic volume mean travelers should still build in extra time.
The Airports Where You Can Arrive the Latest
Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Let’s be honest, we all know we should arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare, but that’s not always the most realistic scenario. From wrangling the travel party to finding a rideshare to locating an appropriate place to (quickly) eat, what we really want to know is which airports we can arrive at the closest to our scheduled departure time.
Now that we’ve identified the airports where travelers should plan even further ahead than normal, let’s take a look at the other end of the spectrum.
If you’re flying out of one of these airports, you may be able to cut it closer without stressing:
John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) – 53 minutes before your flight
Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) – 55 minutes
These airports tend to have less foot traffic, fewer security delays, and more compact layouts. Columbus and Palm Beach, in particular, come in so low because of their smaller sizes and fewer number of shops and restaurants (making it easier to arrive and hop on your flight without any distractions). Kansas City, while being relatively large in terms of square footage, doesn’t see as many passengers as larger hubs and boasts better than average departure delays, so travelers can rest assured that their flight will take off when it’s supposed to, making the trip to the airport a bit less stressful.
Across all airports analyzed, the variation in arrival time recommendations reflects everything from terminal size and gate count to parking availability and local traffic. While the 2-hour rule is a helpful benchmark, some airports clearly demand more time than others.
Whether you’re traveling for business or heading out on vacation, it’s clear that size and volume make a difference. Even if these airports don’t top the list, they still require extra time to navigate smoothly — especially during busy travel seasons.
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Full Data
Interested in how your local airport fares when it comes to arrival times? We’ve compiled our full data study for all 50 U.S. airports we analyzed into the interactive table below. You can search directly to find a specific airport or sort through the individual factors to see how yours stacks up.
Methodology
To determine the U.S. airports where passengers should be arriving the earliest before their scheduled departure time, we analyzed data on 15 different factors that would impact one’s ability to get to the airport, get through security, and get to their gate in a timely fashion.
We scaled each data point to allow for accurate comparisons across airports and weighted each factor based on its importance. The closer an airport’s score to 50 is, the earlier travelers should plan to arrive. The ranking factors and their respective weights and sources are listed below:
The preflight arrival time for each airport is an index calculated from each airport’s total airport score using the standard 2 hours ahead of time as our median. All data points and analyses are based on domestic flights.
Final Thoughts
No one wants to start a trip stressed and rushing to the gate. While the standard advice is to arrive 2 hours before a domestic flight, our analysis shows that some airports call for even more buffer time.
Large terminals, heavy traffic, and security delays can all add minutes, or sometimes hours, to your travel day. Knowing what to expect at your airport can help you plan better, avoid last-minute scrambles, and start your trip off right.
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