We are departing Barcelona airport for Geneva, and trying to figure out how early to arrive at the airport before flight? I have found a few sights posting arriving at airport 3 hours before flight,about 30 minutes through security and long waits through passport control and barely making their flights.
We are looking at either a 7:20 flight on Vueling at terminal T1 or an 8:50 flight on EasyJet at terminal T2C.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
... 45' is the legal bare minimum for checking in, and 2h is the recommended allowance but most of the time you won't need that much. In truth, it alls boils down to the specific day... sometimes security is a breeze, sometimes it's not, sometimes checking in is fairly quick, sometimes it's hell. When exactly are you flying out?
We will be flying on Thursday, September 15th.
I flew home from Barcelona last week. I got there 2.5 hours early for a flight back to the US. My biggest problem was finding my airlines ticket desk. After that it was easy. Security then passport control right around the corner. Then down to the lower level to visit the shops. I did notice that the lines for passport control got much longer an hour later. I also noticed that the check in for inter European airlines like Vueling had huge check in lines. Something to think about. I would say 3 hours to play it safe. There are tons of shops and restaurants to spend time in. Have a safe flight.
@tablerocklaker... I wouldn't get there more than 90' before, 2h if you want to play it safe. Yet it'll probably take you much less to pass thru everything. But that's me, of course.
For info, "Europe" is not a uniform entity, within the continent, there are different organisations/treaties to which different countries adhere (or not) namely: European Union, Schengen Area, Council of Europe, EEA, Eurozone, etc. This means that not all "internal" matters, flights in this case, are treated the same. Thus, once you're in Europe, depending on the country you're flying from, the one you're flying to and the ongoing agreements you might need or might not need a VISA, to pass thru customs, to show your passport, etc. which in turn makes flying a light -or no so 'light'- affair. In this instance, a BCN-Geneva flight is within the Schengen Area, so -in principle(*)- no documentation to be shown anywhere.
In short, flying within Europe is not like flying within the US.... visitors should take that into account.
(*) Noting that these agreements provide for temporary suspension for security reasons. France, for example, did call upon this clause and did suspend the Schengen Agreement for a while after the terrorist attacks in Paris so incoming visitors were screened regardless they might have been flying from another Schengen country.
Thanks to all for the info!
I flew out of BCN at 11:15 AM last Friday on a United non-stop to IAD. I arrived at the airport around 8:15 AM. The United check-in line was quite long. I waited in that line for about 45 or 50 minutes. It got a bit longer while I was waiting but was considerably shorter by the time I got up to the counter. The security line was shorter. That may have been a 10-minute wait. About 15 of us on the flight were tagged (they said randomly) for extra security screening. They went through my carry-on bag and purse. (While I was in the first (check-in) line, a security person wanted to see the hotel receipts for my 89-day stay in Spain. Those being unavailable, he settled for perusing the photos on my phone. Not sure what that was about.) The extra screening was quite time-consuming, but I had arrived very early so I was OK.
In Terminal 1, I found no way to get to the main shopping area/food court after going through security. There was just one accessible food source, limited to prepackaged sandwiches and maybe a few salads, plus a fair selection of (large-sized) snacks at the duty-free shop.
This is a domestic flight. There is no passport control between Barcelona and Geneva. Only a normal check-in and security. Two hours and at that time of the morning probably 90 minutes. EasyJet is similar because there is no check-in and only a luggage check for size and weight. For EJ, you need to print boarding pass prior to the airport.
... this is not a domestic flight, it's an international flight, it departs in one country and lands in another country. I explained above.
