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6am flight out of Lisbon...how early should we arrive?

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Our flight leaves Lisbon at 6am on 8/26 (Lisbon - Munich - San Francisco. First leg on Lufthansa, second leg on United)...has anyone flown out of Lisbon recently at that time? How early should we plan to arrive at the airport?

We got stuck in a terrible line getting through customs on arrival due to the customs strike (4 hours just standing in one spot!), but I don't think the current strike affects outbound flights. Am I wrong? Any recent info/experiences would be great to hear.

Thank you!
Stephanie

UPDATE: We made it home!

We left our apartment in the historic district of Lisbon at 2:30am. We called an Uber which came to pick us up in 3 minutes. We also could have grabbed a cab at the Praca do Comercio (cabs always wait there) or we could have called Radio Taxi which runs 24 hours. Lots of easy ways to get to the airport so I don’t think it’s necessary to stay overnight at the airport for an early morning flight. It also means you don’t have to pack/unpack one more time for just a few hours at the airport hotel. Plus, there was zero traffic at that time of night, so the drive took 15 minutes from downtown Lisbon.

We arrived at the airport at 2:45am. Lufthansa started checking bags at 4:05am. By 3:20am people started to cluster around the four (closed) Lufthansa counters. This was not organized at all...no indication of where to stand. Unfortunately, even though we had been waiting at the counters since 3:20am, the area we chose to stand in ended up being the business class line (these are the left two counters) and we were told we had to go to the back of the EXTREMELY LARGE cluster of people. Total bummer!

At this point, Lufthansa started creating the queue (would have been nice if they had done this sooner). So we went to the back of the line and waited 1 hour and 15 minutes to check our bags, get our boarding pass, and have them review our covid test. By the time we were done with this, it was 5:20am. We breezed through security and made it to our gate with 10 - 15 minutes to spare. So there were no issues with the customs strike for us.

Our flight to Munich was about 45 minutes delayed taking off (not sure why). May have been because it was 100% full and it just took that long for them to board everyone. We arrived in Munich with about 10 minutes until our next flight started to board. Even though we had to walk pretty far for our connecting flight and go through two security checkpoints, we made it! In addition, Lufthansa had communicated with all connecting flights and we were told that flights were waiting for us...pretty much everyone on the plane was flying on to another destination.

So the answer to my question: What time should I arrive for a 6am flight on Lufthansa from Lisbon to Munich? I would arrive at 3:15am - 3:30am and immediately start waiting at the Lufthansa counter to check bags (the two for Economy are on the right side...If I remember correctly, they are counters #16 & #17). Once you are through security, you can grab an espresso and one last pastel de nata!

Posted by
99 posts

Hi Stephanie- I would suggest a minimum of 3 hours. Probably 3 and a half, as long lines seem to be forming as all the different forms have to be checked.

Our flight was 5 am out of Porto, and we got there just under 3 hours before the flight. So yep, 2 in the morning on that one. From the forums it sounds like the lines in Lisbon are even longer. I know it feels odd to be there so early, but we noticed it takes a while to pore over the negative tests during the check in process. Safe travels!

Posted by
23243 posts

If depends, GREATLY, on where the flight is going. It is a domestic flight so you do not have to exist the Schengen zone so two hours at 6am should be adequate. Double check to see when the airport opens.

Posted by
1189 posts

Hello from Wisconsin,
How early? Hours. I would do 1.5 to 2 hours. That early in the morning foot traffic should be light. Why not spend the night at one of the many hotels at the airport. Ask them how early you should arrive? They will know.

Being at the airport the night before departure eliminates transport problems that might prevent getting out to the airport.

Make sure your hotel is either walking distance to the gates or has early morning shuttles. A 6AM flight means leaving at 4:30-5:00 and they may not have all night shuttles.

wayne iNWI

Posted by
6 posts

I, too, have that same flight home in September -- 6:10 AM Lisbon to Munich and United to SFO. There are two hotels right on the airport property. One is called Star Inn. They are about a five minute walk to the terminal or less. However, after much thought, my husband and I are considering arriving at the airport late at night and "camping" a couple of hours before we go through security. However, by now, you have already taken this flight. I'd be grateful if you could share how it all went. Thank you!

Renee

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