Delta earliest airport checkin time
 

Flying from JFK -DUB,Delta One. Have to drive 3+ hours to get to JFK, drop a rental car off and get to Terminal for check in. Not looking forward to driving to the airport. How many hours prior to boarding can we physically check in and check bags? Want to get to the airport, get through security and hang out in the Delta Lounge till the flight. Thanks

Delta's checked bags page says "When you arrive at the airport, you can drop off your checked baggage at the nearest baggage drop, marked with red "Baggage Drop" signage, or curbside check-in station (available within 6 hours of departure time)."

Sounds like if you check the bags within 6h of departure time you're set. That's a lot of SkyClub time, but if it works for you....

Thanks!
 

Honestly, we don't want to hang around JFK all that much. :) There are no longer any flights available from Albany NY to JFK. So we are renting a vehicle for the day and driving down. The flight to DUB isn't until 10 pm. So depending on when we leave Saratoga, we could run into all kinds of NYC/Long Island traffic. So we wanted to leave plenty of time for traffic, accidents or any thing else unforeseen. PIA

Thanks for the info. Years ago, you couldn't check in before 3 hours prior to your flight. Glad to see it is changed.

Why not take the train from Albany to Penn Station (about 3 hours) and then the LIRR from Penn Station to the AirTrain Station (Sutphin Blvd/Archer Ave)? I would think that would be a lot more predictable than NYC traffic.

I know my answer.

That is 3 trains - 1 to Penn, 1 to the Airtrain, then the Airtrain.

And of course the same on the return. With a 3 hour drive, I at least have my car waiting to head home.


By the way, we are doing the LIRR train from Penn Station after staying in a hotel near the station on our upcoming trip.

That's true. But that still may be preferable to sitting in NYC traffic. And OP is renting a car at least on the way there, so assuming the same on the return, and if so, "having a car waiting" isn't exactly true, as OP will have to transit to the rental car company, which I believe entails waiting for and taking the AirTran on both ends of the journey anyway.

One-way rentals are usually expensive, with the rental rate plus a one-way drop off fee plus mileage, depending on the fine print of the rate and the company. So it was just a suggestion for OP to consider if he/she hadn't already considered.