How Early Should I Arrive at the Airport?

It starts from 2 hours before a domestic flight and 3 before an international one, then:

• takes off 15 minutes if you are not checking a bag, and 15 if you have TSA PreCheck;
• adds 20 minutes if you are driving and parking at the airport;
• reads how busy your airport's checkpoints typically are at the hour you would reach them, from TSA's checkpoint counts for the 8 weeks to Nov 7, 2026: -15 minutes when it is quiet, none when moderate, +20 when busy;
• never goes below 75 minutes for domestic or 2 hours for international.

The adjustments are our own planning rules. The 2-hour and 3-hour starting points match what several airports publish: ATL asks for at least two hours prior to scheduled domestic departures and three hours prior to international departures, MSP asks for two hours before domestic flights and three hours prior to international travel, PIT asks for two hours prior to domestic departures and three hours prior to international departures and RDU asks for at least two hours before domestic flights and at least three hours before international flights (read Nov 2026).

TSA does not publish a fixed number; its FAQ says: You are encouraged to contact your airline as times may vary depending on the airport and date of travel. In general, please allow time for parking/shuttle transportation, airline check-in, obtaining a boarding pass and going through the security screening process, which includes screening of your carry-on bag. (TSA FAQ, read Nov 2026). Your airline's bag-drop and boarding cut-offs come first.