While I realize that most FTers like to get to the airport early and also board the plane ASAP, my strategy is the opposite. If the check-in deadline is t-60, I get to the counter at t-65 (this works best when I'm certain about my transportation time to the airport). And, if the boarding deadline is T-10, I hang out at the gate until T-10 (though I do board earlier if I know I'm the very last passenger, and they want to get the flight out).

Basically, I don't care about lounges, and I prefer to keep my airplane seat time to a minimum. Some people use the -- I need to find overhead bin space -- rationale in order to justify boarding early, but this honestly isn't a problem for me (I always check a bag, and have recently started putting my computer inside it, which makes my laptop bag lighter and saves time at security).

I've been burned by this "cut it close" strategy 5 times during the course of the past 10 years at a cost of $1,000 and one missed meeting. On the flip side, I've saved ~2,000 hours.

When I was visiting my friend in HK last week, he really impressed me because he left his apartment in Wanchai at 8:05a for his 9a flight to MNL, and wasn't the slightest bit stressed.

I'm curious to hear if there are others like us, and how often you've been burned (as a percentage of flights).