Be at the airport four hours before flight time?

Four hours? I aim for two hours.

No bag to check and I get my boarding pass before heading to the airport. I head straight to security.

Yes, Brussels has been very bad for flights heading out back to the US. We had a 12pm flight on Sunday 6/4/23, but decided to get there by 8:30am just to be early and get a coffee, etc. When we got to the passport check station at 9:30am - the looping line was full and starting to back-up into the other areas. it was almost an hour and a half to finally get through and to our gate. So had we not gotten there 3 1/2 hours before, we would have missed our flight.

Steve, was your flight direct from Brussels to the U.S.? I wonder if it makes a difference if you have a connection within the Schengen, such as the OP's Brussels to Amsterdam? It's possible that you don't need the lead time that may be more necessary for a direct, international flight? Just wondering.

You had an early morning flight. Lines are always shorter at that time because there is no buildup at that time. A few hours later and it could be a completely different story.

We had an unexpectedly stressful time departing Geneva last month, headed for Dublin. We checked in two hours ahead of time and were told we could go to the lounge and that it was "close to the gate." At the lounge they told us we only needed 10 minutes to get to the gate, but allow 15 for Immigration. We hit the Passport Control lane 45 minutes before our flight -- we were already through security, of course -- and hit a long, serpentine line full of young people apparently returning from a school break. And it moved SLOWLY. Frighteningly slowly! As my blood pressure soared, I noted on the app that our flight was boarding and we were not all that close to the gate. Staff would not allow any line-jumping saying everyone had the same problem. Finally, we were through, and I did my best speed-walk, arms swinging, to our gate, #15 of 15 on the spacious and long concourse.

As luck would have it, the flight had not started boarding when the app said it had and the flight was delayed. Whew!

Even being at the airport early and safely through security is no guarantee of a leisurely departure.

I waited in a 3-hour security line at AMS last summer, Glad I showed up 3 hours and 20 minutes before my flight.

I'm sure the way it works is that when you show up 4 hours ahead, there's no security line, but when you show up 2 hours ahead, there's a 3-hour line. It's just science.

Wouldn't it have been easier to take a train from Brussels to AMS? Of course, you might have had security delays at AMS. As Hank said, it's science.

I'm with Frank II. It's been years since I've been to a check-in counter.

Hank, a three-hour line... wow.

But, highway traffic can be the big unknown. The interstates heading to Dulles can turn into a parking lot at any time. If you're aiming for two hours it's a roll of the dice. For example I-81 or I95 can come to an unpredictable dead stop even well outside of rush hour.

You other fine folks have mentioned the pitfalls of cutting it too close. Last year I got a flat tire and made it just barely in time having sweated through my clothes in July. Not fun.

I've been reading information online and just found a description of Fiumicino airport in Rome. It sounds like things are extremely slow for people flying on American carriers back to the USA. Recommended getting there 4 hours in advance, which can be a problem with the morning departure times. This would be the last day of my tour, so it would mean skipping the farewell breakfast in Rome. Does anyone have any recent experience there? Haven't booked flights yet, but after reading the thread about when to buy seats, I'm inclined to get moving on it.

@luntzt. If you would consider recent as mid April FCO was pretty painless at 8:30. They had just shifted the USA security / immigration to a new area (still some punch-list items going on) which made it more straightforward if not faster than the previous mid terminal area. Our flight was 10:30 so the two hour rule. Got thru to the gate by 9:30, enough time to attempt to get into the overcrowded lounge (that situation really needs help). Would have been thru maybe 10 min faster but my wife kept getting her rollaboard stuck in the newfangled immigration gates 🙄 which caused some colorful language from the Guarda. 😏

"This would be the last day of my tour, so it would mean skipping the farewell breakfast in Rome."

@luntzt: Assuming this is a RS tour...there really isn't a "farewell breakfast". It's like all the other breakfasts on tour...people come and go. Some will have left before breakfast is even ready to open. The goodbyes and farewelling will have been done the night before at the Farewell dinner. Sometimes the guide has even left.

I flew out of Fiumicino last October. I left in a cab from my hotel at 6A for a 10:05 flight to the US. I was very early but that makes me less anxious. I'm always at the airport at least 3 hours before an international flight. Any less and I'd be uncomfortable. In May at Heathrow, I was there very early and my flight was cancelled between the time I left my hotel and arrived at the airport. I was already re-booked on another flight to the US and it left 25 minutes earlier than my original departure. No problem since I was there in plenty of time.