Two hours is plenty. Never missed a flight and I’ve been on many dozens, unfortunately. If I want to eat, drink, or shop beforehand, pretty much anywhere is cheaper than an airport, so I’ll do it elsewhere.

Shit like this is why I avoid flying wherever possible. Such a miserable experience. I yearn for the day they finally somehow build that train tunnel across the Atlantic.

I aim to get there ridiculously early, and have a beer or coffee while I wait. There have been times when the airport train was cancelled, so I want to know that I have time to use an alternative route.

I've never flown in the US; I live in the EU and generally aim for 2 hours if I have checked baggage, 1.5 hours if not. That usually causes me to still have significant waiting time after the security check, but better safe than sorry.

My dad almost had a heart attack when I told him my flight was in 2 hours. Check in ended up taking 30 minutes and then I just waited for my flight.

On my way out, from my normal airport, I've got it timed pretty well so that I leave my house 90 minutes from boarding and I'm through security with 15-30 minutes to spare.

On my way back, from the scary unknown airport, I like to arrive at least 2 hours before boarding, because who knows what kind of crazy hoops you're going to have to jump through.

Given that your dad had to pay for the plane tickets and probably won't get any refund if you miss it, and flying is fucking expensive, I side with your dad on this.

Once me and my wife discovered the magic of airport lounge bars, we appreciate the time before departure.

fun fact, the four hour figure comes from average wait times during a rush at LAX and then, for some reason, got applied to every airport at all times.

They actually only starts check in 4 hours prior to the flight. Don't ask me how I know, I don't have a life.

I live in a small town on an island with 8k people in it that has its own international airport. I arrive an hour before if I have checked bags, drop bags off, go home, pick up the family, drop them off at the airport, drop the car off next door at my work, walk back to the airport, walk through security and board the plane.

I'm sure I sold my soul to the devil, but I did TSA PRE and CLEAR. I spend maybe 5 min going through security.

My soul wasn't doing much anyway, but MAN is it nice to just breeze through without waiting.

Then I am in boarding group 38 where you are not allowed to carry anything more than your feelings onto the plane and your seat is behind the toilet. You have to get up every time someone wants to take a shit. I ain't paying SHIT for a seat upgrade, fuck that.

As early as my wife will allow. Hurry up and wait is just how life is to me and I have no issue sitting in a chair patiently... My wife does not feel the same and I'm okay with that, we understand how each other feels so we just leave when she says it's okay lol.

I'll rather spend couple hours there drinking than be late

What the hell are you talking about? They say 2 hours, not 4.

Dad: “Spend the previous night in the airport just in case of a freak storm that morning.”

In Denmark, the official recommendation is 2h, most people do 60-90 minutes, and it seems to work fine.

Granted, the airports here tend to be significantly smaller and the people fewer, but I still say that better organization (AKA optimizing more for user experience rather than 100% only for squeezing every penny out of everyone) and less understaffing are crucial factors as well.

I like to get there about 45 minutes before the flight. Usually the only thing the ticket agent will say to you is "run"... I am not a big fan of small talk or waiting.

I prefer to get to the airport plenty early. I always have a book with me so I can just hang out and read without stressing about time.

45-60 minutes before boarding. The only reason to get there earlier is if you fly at dumb hours like really early in the morning or really late at night.

The airport won't take luggage less than 45 minutes before the flight so that's when I check in.

Crackpot tinfoil hat time: TSA telling you to be there so early when it almost never takes that long to get through security is a conspiracy by the airport stores to get you to eat, drink, and shop more than you otherwise would if you timed it better.

Had one time we were going to meet a friend before heading to the airport. A semi caught fire and shut the interstate down for a few hours in both directions. We didn’t see our friend but we made our flight, it was a bit close though

Shout out to fucking Air Canada for keeping me standing in line for ages and then locking out all check-ins 2 hours before flight time without doing reschedules or refunds. Fuck you very much guys. If you're travelling Air Canada I would definitely recommend getting there 4+ hours before.

Look up wait times the night before, do what the googs tells me.

I'm terrified of flying, so this doesn't concern me at all. Happy enough in mainland Europe, and when I need to travel to the UK or Ireland, I enjoy a cozy ferry trip.

If I don't have checked in luggage I usually do one hour before take off.

On our recent trip home we were stood in the check in queue for two whole hours while nothing moved due to some problem with border control. The airline barely said anything about it, and when most other desks had cleared their queues ours had still barely moved. Ugh. But they did tell us that the flight wouldn't be leaving without us.

As someone who had a dad with undiagnosed ADHD, I had the opposite problem (he refused mental health treatment because he was a Boomer). We were always late to everything. And because he was a Narcissist too it was always everyone else's fault.

This is why you buy lounges

I've been through a small handful of airports in North America. Definitely far from the most traveled, but I'd guess more traveled than the average person. I've never spent more than an hour getting through security and getting to my gate, even in quite busy times.

Four hours to me seems like quite antiquated advice. The security process alone has been really streamlined in the last ten or so years.