I often say that if you’ve never missed a flight, you’re spending too much time in airports. That’s an idea usually attributed to Nobel laureate George Stigler. You shouldn’t usually show up hours in advance. That’s wasting a lot of time in your life that you could be doing something more valuable.
The thing is, though, that sometimes you should build in that buffer. You should show up early to avoid edge cases where the terminal is just busy, there’s no parking on peak travel days, and security gets backed up.
And you should give yourself longer connections, and fly earlier than you normally need to in order to build in the option for back up flights to get you where you’re going in case your flight is disrupted by weather or goes mechanical (knowing that many of those flights will already be full), in order to have options to make it where you’re going in time.
The point is that the optimal time to fly depends on the trip. Here are a couple of cases where you should build in plenty of buffer:
- You’re a lawyer scheduled to make an argument in front of an appeals court (or the U.S. Supreme Court)
- You’re flying to the NBA championship game and you care desperately to see it.
Once was on a flight that landed at DCA. We were running about an hour late. Lawyer on the plane was frantic to get off.
He
had
an
appellate
argument
to
the
DC Circuit.
That afternoon.
Who does that? https://t.co/jyKayLYWXr
— Christian Stegmaier (@cstegmaier) June 13, 2026
When your flight was supposed to leave from LGA at 12:30, then got delayed to 2:30, and now delayed to 4.
Which means not getting to San Antonio in time. Thanks @AmericanAir
A flight full of Knicks fans and you just messed us all up. pic.twitter.com/5zavzM1GVd
— EverythingKnicks (@EverythinKnicks) June 13, 2026
You have to ask yourself, how important is this trip? How much does it matter if I miss the opening of what I’m going to see? There are times you might travel and say ‘well, if my flight delays and I don’t make this, I’ll just go home.’ The trip was worth making, but not life or death. And there are times where deep down it just matters and in those cases incurring the extra cost is worthwhile insurance.
How much insurance you buy depends on how much you value what you’re insuring (and the cost to you of losing out on it)! And the cost of that insurance also factors into how you should make the decision.
- Is traveling the day before, or going to the airport early, time away from something important?
- How much of a deadweight loss is that time – for instance can you make your time arriving early at your destination valuable or enjoyable, or are you just sitting and waiting?
If you’re missing important time with your family then the insurance is costly. If you’re doing something you value in the airport and at your destination with that extra time the insurance isn’t all cost.
Maybe have dinner with friends, arrange a work meeting or visit a museum? Are you able to enjoy the time at the airport, having a nice cheese tasting at the Capital One lounge at New York JFK? Or plug in and work rather than just sit at the gate – so it doesn’t much matter whether you’re working at home, the office, or the airport?
So yes, if you’ve never missed a flight, you’re probably spending too much time in airports. But if you miss the one flight that mattered most, you didn’t save time you mispriced risk.
The smart traveler doesn’t always arrive early. The smart traveler knows when early is cheap insurance, and when it’s deadweight loss.
I love to hear stories about cruisers who complain about missing their ship because they tried to fly into the departing port the day of the cruise. (But the flight gets cancelled, delayed, re-routed etc.)
And then they try to sue the cruise line for a refund.
“I often say that if you’ve never missed a flight, you’re spending too much time in airports.” Yup, Gary, you really do say this often on here. Bah!
Smaller airports no less than one hour (to give time for traffic delays) and 90 minutes for large airports. The hassle of sitting at a gate for an extra 30 minutes is well worth avoiding the stress of a missed flight.
Connections try for two hours and track your plane. Know options if things go south and never, ever think anyone at the airline is going to get you good options. Don’t care if you’re AA CK or UA GS.
Or you have that award business class ticket, and if you miss it, you may be lucky to get a middle seat in economy. That’s when I often spend the night at the airport ahead of time.
Gary, you need to give sound, objective advice, not personal whims. You may be 1 in a 1000 who savor saving every minute during a trip. Life is different for the majority of others. Air travel is very often unpredictable due to weather, maintenance, and a host of other issues. Anyone who thinks that airlines will always meet their published schedules is living in a fantasy world. I have no pity for the person who books a flight to CTL with a 30 minute connection to MUC or LHR, and they land at E45 and have to hoof it to D13! I try to always book with a 90 minute connex and then use the Admirals Lounge if I’m on time. Why put stress in a person’s life, trying to save a few precious minutes. Enjoy life, take time, speak to people, and be thankful when the flight is close to on time.
@George Nathan Romey — “Don’t care if you’re AA CK or UA GS.” … does Delta 360 mean nothing to you, sir?! (@Tim Dunn… sorry, sir, we’ll get this sorted out, right away…)
@1990
GREAT NEWS TODAY. EU PARLIAMENT PASSED A LAW THAT ENSHRINES EU 261. AND IT ALSO ENSHRINES THAT ALL PASSENGERS ARE AT LEAST ENTITLED TO ONE PERSONAL BAG AND ONE CARRY ON BAG!!!!!
Just two years ago the airlines were trying to gut it. When the people said no to that BS, the Parliament said no to that.
I am proud to say that the President of the Parliament, from Malta!
@AlanZ — YAY!!! Well done! EU still cares for consumers, workers, and privacy, all of which I wish we cared more about in the US. Hopefully the Maltese saying is true: “Min jistenna jithenna.” Some day.
Basically agree, but there’s also the issue of how frequently a route is served and the load factors on the later flights. Don’t want to miss the flight and then take 2+ days to get there after the travel need is gone. I learned that lesson.
I fly international biz class, and often booked via US carrier or Air Canada miles. If I miss an Etihad J or F class flight in AUH, I may have to wait one day at a minimum. Very likely, AA or AC will NOT be able or willing to rebook me on EY J or F. Since they don’t fly there themselves, they may offer me economy as a best case. And even then, may take a day.
This is an extreme example, but it illustrates why missing your flight can lead to a massive downgrade.
Even in the best case — domestic short haul flight between 2 well served airports, arriving a little early and spending the time reading or on a laptop is fine with me. A few hrs delay if I miss may still disrupt plans at the other end.
So, not most sensible people prefer not to miss flights and arrive in advance barring unexpected circumstances.
@Jon F — Yup. Been there, too. Major downgrades, but still recoverable. Sometimes, it’s worth waiting for the preferred re-routing in the same class of service; other times, we just gotta get to where we’re going, and even if it’s in a middle-seat with limited-recline in the last-row of economy.
This is why I still get travel insurance policies for major trips where expensive prepaid accommodations/tours are on the line. However, this is also where I wish we had better consumer protections, like EU/UK 261, APPR, and bringing back Rule 240, so that airlines would compensate us for the inconveniences that they cause, and truly have to get us there as soon as possible. Because, currently, in the US, we don’t have much other than the option of refund or re-routing. I know I’ve said this countless times on here and elsewhere, and that you mostly agree.
How is a little more time in the airport a waste? This isn’t the 1990’s. There’s wifi, and I work on my laptop. You can work from pretty much anywhere.
Cutting things too close has a big impact on your stress level. If you’ve ever missed a flight because you cut it too close and that does not stress you, maybe you are wasting time flying places you don’t need to go. In my family, the same people who often repeat that saying about spending too much time in airports will freak out when they miss a flight. Personally, it is also a rare thing when I am on a plane and I don’t need to be where I am flying to, and not cutting it close reduces stress. I learned that after many years of running through airports.
Long gone are my days of running through the airport because I thought security would only be a 10 minute slog. I’d much rather work on my laptop at a gate or in the lounge than be stressed, sweating, running, panicking that I may miss my flight and subsequent connections… Nope, I’m fine being 60 minutes early and not having travel stress be in my head.
Curious what the likely consequences are if you miss your flight these days. Not for someone whose flown a million miles with that airline, but for someone who flies a handful of times per year. The standby list? Paying extortionate last-minute prices? Something else that isn’t so terrible?
“Just pop over to the Club,” says Gary, who spends WAY TOO MUCH time in airports. Cut the cards, and skip the hogs at the trough.
Disagree !
The smart traveler keeps their blood pressure low by not having to risk missing the flight by an accident on the highway or just general horrible traffic
I get to eat in the lounge or concession this way without wolfing things down. If traffic goes sideways, I miss the lounge, not the flight.
Why does he keep posting this? It’s algorithmic gold, and can draw in some new blood who might need a credit card too.
This take is more nuanced than before: basically, know what your time is worth and have a plan.
I’ve missed connections, but flights? If it’s for business, it’s usually me who’s paying, and I’m only getting reimbursed if I travel. I can work well on certain tasks in the airport, so I plan for that. I build in a buffer that can account for two disruptions on the way to the airport. Have I had to go back for my passport? Go multimodal at the last minute? Sure. Have I been disrupted to the point that I be show up after boarding began? Yes.
But I still await the day I miss a flight.
It’s only worth the cost to me once every 500 flights.
I have never missed a flight that was the first flight of my travel that day. I am kind of OCD about choosing my preferred aisle seat, aircraft type etc. I really want to do my part to being on the flight I selected in the seat of my choice. I have missed lots of connecting flights thanks from the airline being late. I kind of have a personal 2 hour minimum connection time especially when I have lounge access, as a buffer to help minimize missed connections. I am happy with my methods.
“if you’ve never missed a flight, you’re spending too much time in airports.” But, for me, arriving early means I’m spending less time at home. With wifi and a lot of quality shows and movies I’ve yet to stream, trading an hour or two at home for an hour or two at the airport is worth the insurance it provides. I just booked my cold weather sojourn that has me flying DFW-AKL. There is obviously only one of those flights a day. And, there are three flights from my home airport to DFW after the one I booked, all with valid connection times for AA. I’ll happily leave about noon and sit for 8+ hours in the DFW Flagship lounge. What would I have accomplished sitting at home an extra 5/6 hours?
BTW, the “exact” trip this year (open jaw into NZ out of Australia in J) cost me nearly 4% less as last year, booking and flying roughly the same calendar dates. I was surprised when I booked last Wednesdsy (but then it went up 10% the next day—call me lucky!).
@This comes to mind… bringing about J to Australia again…
This is meaningless, oft repeated post. East of Suez you have excellent lounges, sit, eat drink and get on a flight without tension. What is not to like about it? Of course, if you are flying western airlines and stand in a queue for a crappy lounge this article is meant for thee
A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.
@Merlin the Duck — Sure, Gandalf.
For a road warrior like you, I agree. For casual travelers, low stress is the way to go.