Originally Posted by
stut
There's balance to be had in all of this. I've travelled with people who freak out if they're not going to get to the airport 3 hours before a puddle-jumper, which I don't really have time for, either.
On the other extreme, I've been informed, when trying to find a faster way to get to the airport, not to worry because "they will wait for me". Hmm.
The only reason i get to airports early is because there is always a risk here of the trains being delayed (I dont have a car and even if I did, risk of traffic jams...). Once I am in the airport I'm completely fine. It's very easy to lose an hour due to train delays; if the train goes tech (or, worse someone commits suicide on the track which sadly happens very often) you have to wait for a replacement bus which takes forever to arrive and cannot hold 2-3 trainloads full of people, or you have to take a detour which will also take a very long time.
This is why, despite living only about half an hour from AMS, I will always leave quite early on, MAX 1 hour before departure and that's without luggage. (with luggage at least 2 hours and preferably more)