Originally posted by amazing nj:
When I travel alone it is carry on all the way. But when I am traveling with my wife and two children, carry on's are not an option with all the clothes, strollers, car seats, etc that we need. If I or anyone gets to the airport late because of our own fault it is tough on us. But when we arrived 80 minutes early in June at CO's hub in EWR the lines were so long at 6 am that we would have spent over an hour on line and probably missed our flight. The day before we spent 65 minutes on line with only 7-8 people ahead of us. The next morning there were hundreds of people on line It was a zoo. Something has to be done - perhaps an off site luggage check in where you can drop your luggage a day advance. I might even pay small fee for the service.
80 minutes is cutting it close on a normal day (check-in 60 minutes before departure gives you 20 minutes to wait in line). Since your flight was cancelled the previous day, with no available seats the rest of the day, you definitely should have arrived at EWR earlier. By cutting in line, you may have caused someone else who arrived earlier than you to miss their flight.
When my wife and 3 kids and I travel, we arrive at the airport two hours early. The kids don't mind looking at planes (neither do I)
BTW we only take one normal size suitcase and one stroller. We use a laundromat, and rent a car seat with the rental car if the destination doesn't have mass transit.
[This message has been edited by JSrombough (edited 08-04-2000).]