We haven't flown out of Dulles much and never had a 6am departure flight. The flight is on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
What time should we arrive for checkin for our flight. Normally its two hours for domestic flight, but since it is so early, how about 1 1/2 hours in advance (4:30am)?
Things to keep in mind...it's one of the busiest flight days of the year. Do you have luggage to check or just carry on? What time does your airline counter open? What time does TSA open? Do you have TSA precheck? I wouldn't risk 1 1/2 hours that weekend at any airport but that's just me.
We have TSA Pre-check, but will have luggage to check.
TSA Pre-Check lines at Dulles are not necessarily faster than general security lines. There won’t be as many TSA employees working at that hour so the lines will be longer. If you had CLEAR, you’d save time.
Considering the government shut down is making going through security that much worse and you’ll be traveling on one of the busiest days of the year, you should be there A MINIMUM 2 HOURS IN ADVANCE.
The flight is on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. What time should we arrive for check in for our flight
Depending on the weather and government operations, "Noon Saturday", may not be a ridiculous suggestion.
I do hope that is bad advice.
Good luck.
(90 minutes sounds scary short.)
Are you taking a taxi or uber? The last time I dropped someone off in the morning over Thanksgiving weekend, there was a bit of a backup to get to the main terminal. I dropped her off at the arrivals level to avoid the mess of cars heading to the departures level.
I would base my decision on how critical it is to make that flight. There are times when less than two hours is okay - but - my last experience at Dulles suggests giving myself the best stress free opportunity to travel is arriving early.
In an ideal world 90 minutes would probably be okay.
But, you're not flying during an ideal time. One of the busiest travel days of the year plus possible continued government shutdown will affect everyone.
Check in on line on Saturday so you can use the kiosks to check your bags on Sunday morning.
Pay attention to your local news sources. In Chicago every tv station does a live report from O'Hare airport during the holiday weekend.
