Anyone Flown Early AM Out of LaGuardia Lately??

[cindala]

I was just wondering if things have changed any. A while ago there was a thread about getting to the airport at 4am for the 6:10am flight out of LaGuardia. This was to allow enough time to check in and get through security.

We're booking the car to the airport, and I just want to make sure we get there with enough time to do what we must, but not so much time to have to wait around.

Anyone flown lately from there early????

 

[adamak]

I flew out LGA late May, not that early (9am flight), and I arrived there about 7:30am. The check in (Delta) was very quick, and the security check gate was slightly long, but nothing major. We also do not have any carryon, which makes a big difference going through the gate area. I was at the gate by 8:15am or so.

I think you should at least give yourself 1.5 hours before the flight, just in case.

 

[mle]

My family and I left out of LGA for a 6:30am flight on 05/25, the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend. I allotted about a half an hour to get there (a normal drive at 4am-ish should olny take about 15-20 minutes) and gave us about 90 - 120 minutes for security/check-in. Even though I had stayed up all night washing clothes and packing, I still managed to run about fifteen minutes behind schedule.

I did however peek on the internet before we left and saw that I could do my airline (Delta) check-in over the internet! If it is available to you, definately take advantage of it. The taxi arrived on time but I was still scrambling to make sure I had everything. About five minutes away from the airport we were stuck in, fortunately minor traffic. Once we pulled up to the the departing drop off area, I was glad to have already check-in. All the lines were sooo looong; even though we only had to wait on the security line, we were still concerned about not having enough time before boarding! As the security lines grew longer, airport personnel did there best to control frustrations by allowing those who were departing soon to move to a newly formed lined, which, in turn, made the other lines move a little faster.

So if you are traveling around a holiday, I would, regrettably, allow about 2 hours for check-in and security. HTH

P.S. If you are returning to LGA and it is after 10pm, do not have your car service pick you up at the departing drop off area, in an attempt to avoid the baggage claim area crowds. They close the departing level to traffic after 10pm (at least when we were there they did) as a security measure, since there are no more departing flights at that hour.

 

[cindala]

mle,
Does checking in on line also print out your luggage tags?

I was just checking the Delta site, and they also offer check-in through their kiosks at the airport, which sound pretty easy to use. Has anyone had the chance to use these?

 

[mle]

cindala - check-in online only provide you with boarding passes. I only had carry-on so I did not require luggage tags. When you do check-in online you are still asked the standard security questions about your bags and must, of course, answer "yes" in order to proceeds with check-in. If you have baggage to check you would still need to go to the ticket counter or curbside.

I was reading about Delta's kiosks for check-in (make sure you have your SkyMiles card/PIN number!). Apparently you can even check you bags at the kiosk and then bring them to a dedicated kiosk baggage counter. If anyone has used this service, please post your experience.

HTH
-emily

 

[cindala]

Bumping!!