Brko

What's your cut off number of hours from the "I better stay here so as not to miss my flight" mindset to "I have plenty of time, might as well check out the city for a little bit"

chris19992

It's not just how many hours the layover is.
It also depends on where, what time of day, do I need a visa and if so how easy is that to get and also how far from the city is the airport.

Tchiowa

Irrelevant to me. If there is enough connecting time to allow me to see the city, I book different flights. I never intentionally book a connecting flight with a long layover.

Josh1780

I'd say about 4 hours at most airports just to be safe. The airport also needs to have a rail connection.

LtKernelPanic

Depending on the airport and city 4-5 hours. One of my trips this fall is going to have an unavoidable 7.5+ hour layover at ORD so I hope the weather cooperates so I can head into town for a few hours at least.

travellight

Not always true. Seattle got light rail but it is slower than the bus, which was discontinued. The bus took the highway while light rail takes a roundabout way and stops.

In New York, light rail to LaGuardia might not be much faster than the non-stop bus.

In San Francisco, BART to downtown is not faster than the Sam Trans city bus.

Figure st least an hour in town plus transit time plus arriving back early enough and 3-4 hours may be needed. If you take a taxi and the city is not big, like Little Rock or Omaha, then maybe less time is possible.

worldiswide

I would agree with this sentiment for domestic flights. International sometimes longer connections may not be avoidable, and if there is a possibility of seeing the city/sights with a 5 or 6 hours Ill do it.

Tchiowa

SIA has a city tour you can take if you're on a long layover. Not allowed to leave the bus, IIUC, but you don't need a visa.

BuildingMyBento

Hmm...

If you're referring to the Jackson Heights transfer, at least one can sample South Asian/Colombian/much more food when switching between the bus and the subway.

steveben53

If you take Hong Kong for example. You have to allow an hour to de-plane and get through immigration - it can take under 30 mins, but can take as much as 90 on a bad day.

To get into the city takes 30 mins on the Airport Express, and you are required to be back at the airport 90 mins before your flight - so adding all those up its 3.5 hours beore you even get a chance to see any of the city.

So in my book, a very minimum of 6 hours

travelinmanS

This was a poor example to choose. I can get from plane to Central HK in less than an hour most times via the airport express. There is also no need to be back at the airport 90 minutes before your flight, especially with a BP in hand. 60 min is more than enough.

I'll do it at any airport with a 45 min or less public transit option to downtown if I have more than 4 hours to kill. I never arrive at any airport more than 1 hour and 10 min before my flight. Never missed a flight yet!

steveben53

As I said it can take less than 30 mins, but last time I was in HK, last November, 3 A380's had just arrived so there was a very long queue at Immigration and it took well over an hour to get through.

The airlines and the airport advise you to arrive at least 90 minutes before departure. I think I would be more prone to taking their advice rather than yours, but obviously you do as you think best

Even going on your estimates, that is is still over 2 hours and in all honesty if I only had a couple of hours to spare I think I would stick around the airport anyway

BuildingMyBento

I've had a couple of close calls in China, but I suppose the only blame can be placed on my affinity for public transit.

For instance, one can take the metro from Nanjing to NKG, but from downtown it's a long trip. Couple that with lesser frequencies in the early morning - that's not uncommon anywhere in the world - and I actually got to check-in (it was domestic) one minute before it closed.

The other time, I boarded an airport bus in Kunming, but ten minutes into the ride someone kicked me off (there were no available seats). Fortunately, it was right in front of a familiar bus stop, from where I took a bus to one of the bus terminals at which the airport metro line had co-located a stop.

Yes, getting to the airport as late as possible is a good thing - but I'll have to throw a bit less caution to the wind next time.

brendog

It depends on the city and the public transportation options. While I might venture into SIN or HKG on a 6 hour layover, I wouldn't bother with DXB, even if I had 24 hours to kill.

bibbju

Taking an hour to get out of HK airport is unfortunate and not usual. As a former HK resident (so I used the e-gates - but plenty of non-resident travellers also have e-gate access), I was usually out of the airport within 10 mins of my flight landing (although admittedly I walk fast and knew exactly where I was going).

HK Airport Express is fast and reliable and anyone with a few hours to kill (and no visa issues) should consider hopping on it into Central. You can be sitting by the harbour sipping a cold beer within an hour of your flight landing. Another alternative is to take the bus to Discovery Bay (runs every 15 mins, journey takes 25 mins) and you can be sitting on the beach while drinking your cold beer. ^

I do agree that 90 mins before flight time is sensible for departures from HKIA. There's no fast track security and if you get unlucky and the airport is full of mainlander tour groups, security/immigration can be very time-consuming. Combine that with your flight leaving from one of the satellite gates that use buses, it could be a very dodgy combination.

I should add, for people checking in at HK Airport Express station, some of the airlines stick to very rigid rules where they close check-in for flights at exactly 2 hours before flight departure. I was caught out this way once....check-in only opened at 5.45am (which is when HK Airport Express opens) for a 8am flight. I got to the Airport Express station at 6.05am and they refused to check me in because they'd closed check-in at 6am! Check-in had been available for only 15 mins. I was not impressed but that's HK for you...rules are rules and logic doesn't always apply.