LimeyFlyer

I have a flight booked for 12/25 at 9am from EWR, and I just received this a few minutes ago, with respect to the reservation.... this is nuts! Ironically, with the storm approaching the NE, I bet a dime that the flight will be delayed anyways....

"We look forward to welcoming you on board soon! As you make your way to the airport, please keep in mind that we’re expecting the check-in process to take longer than usual due to an increase in holiday travel.

To help you avoid missing your flight, we recommend arriving at the airport no later than 4 hours ahead of your scheduled departure. You can save time by checking in on the United app, and if you’re checking bags, prepay any fees online before dropping them off at our curbside skycap. Thank you for choosing United!"

Repooc17

Storm? NYC area is going to be between mid 50F and low 60F around the time of your departure. Rain in the forecast but nothing to the degree of "storm" unless weather people are scaring people again.

If you are not checking bags, get there T-1, checking bags, maybe 30 minutes to an hour due to longer lines. I would personally get there by 830am.

LimeyFlyer

Should have blown through by 9am, but overnight it will be sucky with the wind and rain.

https://weather.com/forecast/regiona...eastern-states

WineCountryUA

domestic or international?

BlueZebra

The whole "check in early" idea was discussed here:

Anybody else get this? We recommend arriving at least 2 hrs early for domestic fligts

LimeyFlyer

Technically international.. but small plane, to central America.

In normal circumstances I would be happy to be there a couple of hours early with the lounges (especially since this is personal travel instead of business), but just no incentive anymore :-(

Kacee

Yep.

If checking bags, I'd perhaps leave a little extra time, otherwise I wouldn't budget any extra time beyond a normal EWR departure. Christmas Day is traditionally a very light travel day.

I flew out of PHX this morning and T3 was pretty quiet. Had to wait about 3 minutes to drop a bag with UA. On arrival, SFO was populated but by no means a holiday madhouse.

emcampbe

xmas is often a lighter day, but also fewer flights, so they are often full, espeically, IME from the NE down to Florida. Also, many people who don’t celebrate Xmas travel on the 25th, as it’s usually cheaper. Also, lots of once or twice a year travelers who, IME, tend to be slower through the process.

keep in mind that who knows what the curveballs are this year - everything seems to be different. Xmas also often features more employees calling in sick (I’m sure some honestly, others...not), so even with a full slate of check in agents, etc. scheduled, who knows how many actual show up.

Personally, I’d probably personally show up 30 minutes earlier than normal - maybe 30-60, but nothing more than that. I’m purposely not traveling this year, but if I was, also wouldn’t want to be there too early, either. Normally, I wouldn’t care about having to pass extra time at the airport - right now, I’d be inclined to spend as little time at the airport (and around other people) as possible.

Kacee

That has absolutely nothing to do with how early to show up for check-in.

The four hours suggested by UA is simply absurd.

Collierkr

Unless you have premier status and TSA precheck I would be there 2 hours before departure for your itinerary. Why risk it? If not checking any bags then maybe 90 prior.

and it is noted that OPs profile suggest they are GS. My post is for the benefit of everyone else who may have a similar scenario.

Repooc17

I have a UA scheduled flight tomorrow. I got two text messages in a span of a few hours - the first one was about the 4 hour one, and just now, the 2 hour (dom) / 3 hour (intl) variety message. Either the latter is the correction of the former (reverting back to the default message), or UA just programmed the 4 hour one on top of the 2/3 hour one.

Kacee

I got the 2/3 email today, the 4 hour text last week.

DErg

Departing EWR today on an 11:45am flight I got the same ridiculous 4 hour text. Needless to say the 1k/polaris counter was pretty quiet, clear to precheck was a breeze and it was under 15 minutes from curb to gate.

DELee

But did you go to EWR 4 hours early?

David