Opinion: When do you get to the gate?
 

I started this following a discussion with a few others and we came to no conclusion (not that there is a 'right' or 'wrong'), but the question as per the title of the thread: When do you arrive at the gate (when travelling alone)?

A common answer in the discussion was just before boarding starts (supposedly), but personally boarding never starts when at the 'boarding' time at LHR so I usually aim for a couple of mins before gate close. At T5, the gate agents seem to never care/boarding is still in full swing but I flew AA out of T3 the other day and the gate agent was in some sort of limbo panic.

When the BA IT used to function, I arrived at the last minute.

Now that I have zero trust in the information it's showing me I tend to err on the side of caution and arrive just as boarding starts.

In the absence of other information, I am to get to the gate 22 minutes to departure. Maybe slightly before that for A4 and A10.

The big differentiator is class of travel: in economy, I aim to be there early in order to secure overhead bin space (I’m a dedicated hand luggage only traveler). In J/F I’ll get there much later.

It depends who is with me; if I’m alone, 10 mins before the advertised boarding time, as I am OCD. If the eternally-late worse half is with me, then at the advertised boarding time.

I would not push it any finer in T5 as I find it an overly complex terminal and do not trust the information displayed, either in app or on the screens, like I do in other airports.

For an A gate, we leave the lounge 35 minutes before departure if there isn't any delay showing - maybe stretch that to 30 if it's a high A gate.

The lounge boards & BA app can't be trusted these days so I use the Heathrow one and go off whatever that's showing.

The BA standard is that the gate closes 12 mins before departure so, I would suggest before then, as flyer will lead to an offload.

i tend to get to the gate very early and stand by the tensa barrier, all to alleviate the usually unfounded hand luggage stowage anxiety.

For an LHR A gate I leave B lounge 40 minutes before departure. Then all too often spend 30 minutes at the gate waiting for it to open :(.

And 20 minutes if a bus gate.

I must admit, I get to the gate earlier than I used to. Probably about the time they are starting to board people with kids, roughly 40 minutes. I really don't like the idea of boarding CE behind everyone else as so many times I've got to row 2 to find row 1 has put all their bags - casually as you like - above row 2. I've also seen so many people board last in row 4 or 5 and can't find anywhere for their bags either.

I know people here don't like sitting unnecessarily on the plane, but I find I can just get the laptop out and connect to 4G - no worse than sitting in a packed lounge. Maybe more pleasant, actually, by the window, in CE, doing your thing.

What does make me chuckle though is when you turn up to the gate and see privileged businessmen already forming queue waiting for the Group 1 and 2 call.

That'll be me, usually front of the queue, though I would not call myself privileged and many would deny I'm a businessman.

Depends on the airport,cabin I'm in and whether the wife's with me or not.

Where do you expect them to put their luggage? Often crew have taken the space above row 1, or there is equipment or supplies stored up there. Even if there is space it’s often only enough for one standard cabin bag on each side.

On LH as late as possible as there’s never an issue with bin space. But once I’m at the gate, I’ll just board as quickly as possible as sitting on the plane is much nicer that sitting at a packed gate.

On SH with a small backpack I’m not stressed about bin space. In a perfect world, I’d love to bird last and just saunter straight to my seat. But this is very hard to actually pull off. Usually boarding either hasn’t started or they’re just calling group 4 if I get to the gate 20-30 mins before departure. And even if you can time it to be the last on, you’ll still have spend ten minutes in the jet bridge to actually get to your seat. So once I’m there, I’ll usually try and wiggle my way to the front. I know people say they like to spend as little time as possible on the plane, but I find being at my seat reading or looking at cat memes on my phone is infinitely better than standing in the mêlée that spills into the pub at gate A5 or A6.

if I have a rollaboard, I’ll be much more proactive at getting on early, particularly if in row 1. Have to say recently, crew bags and safety equipment has been much less of an issue.