How Early Should You Get To Orlando Airport? | Simply Explained
Determining how early to arrive at the airport is always a huge point of stress, and unfortunately Orlando International Airport is no exception to this!
Luckily, we fly out of Orlando International Airport dozens of times each year and are here to provide a real-life take on how early you should get to the airport to make your flight!
Questions We'll Answer About Arriving Early To The Orlando Airport!
- How Early Should You Get To The Orlando Aiport For Domestic Flights?
- Checked Bags vs No Checked Bags
- TSA PreCheck vs No PreCheck
- How Early Should You Get To The Orlando Airport For International Flights?
- Checked Bags vs No Checked Bags
- TSA PreCheck vs No PreCheck
How Early Should You Get To The Orlando Aiport For Domestic Flights?
Orlando International Airport is one of the most popular airports in the world and you can often see this in the lines to check bags and at security.
While there are certainly busier airports in the United States, Orlando's airport seems to be to struggling to keep up with it's growth despite adding an entirely new terminal recently to ease the congestion at bag check and security.
In fact, the wait times to check a bag and to go through security at Orlando International Airport are amongst the highest we've ever experienced!
Below are our suggestions on how early to get to the Orlando Airport when flying domestically (within the United States):
- No Checked Bags: 2.5 hours before flight departure time
- Traveling With Checked Bags: 3 hours before flight departure time
- Have TSA PreCheck?: 1.5 hours if you don't have any checked bags, 2 hours if you do have checked bags. Be sure to Double check TSA PreCheck will be open at your time of departure!
If these times seem excessive, it's because they are! We've arrived at the Orlando Airport two hours before our flight in the past and have nearly missed the flight.
In fact, Orlando International Airport recommends all travelers arrive three hours before their departure time!
We've been to Orlando International Airport quite a few times to find gridlock traffic getting into the airport, hour long lines to check a bag (especially with discount airlines like Spirit and Frontier) and it's not uncommon to wait an hour to get through security during busy travel times!
Orlando International Airport is truly unpredictable - we've breezed through the airport in less than 15 minutes with TSA PreCheck, but we've also say in traffic and bag check for over an hour just days later! Because of this, we'd much rather play it safe than sorry when it comes to arriving early for a flight out of the Orlando Airport.
These arrival times are only our suggestions based on flying out of Orlando dozens and dozens of times of the years - if you believe you should get to the airport earlier, then please do so!
How Early Should You Get To The Orlando Airport For International Flights?
Taking an international flight out of the Orlando Airport sees many of the same unpredictable problems domestic flights do: gridlock traffic driving into the airport as well as long waits to check a bag and get through security.
With international travel however, you may find yourself needing to go through additional security screenings and passport verification that you typically won't see on a domestic flight.
This of course means you're going to need to arrive even earlier to the Orlando Airport for international flights.
- No Checked Bags: 3 hours before flight departure time
- Traveling With Checked Bags: 3.5 hours before flight departure time
- Have TSA PreCheck?: 2 hours if you don't have any checked bags, 2.5 hours if you do have checked bags. Be sure to Double check TSA PreCheck will be open at your time of departure!
As mentioned earlier, many of the unpredictable problems we've encountered at the Orlando International Airport still can occur when taking an international flight, but you now need to plan for even more time in case you are asked to go through additional security screenings.
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