When You’re Booked On A 5 A.M. Flight, You Do You

by Gary Leff

In 2017 Delta Air Lines ran a commercial “4 a.m.” that framed themselves as the airline for the corporate worker bees getting up early and dragging themselves out to the airport, to “Hi Ho” from Snow White in the background.

That was what business travel looked like before the pandemic, for the laptop class. They haven’t had to do Monday to Thursday trips in two and a half years. Here’s what 5 a.m. travel looks like now.

It’s the back half of 2022 and your hotel doesn’t have any coffee before 7 a.m. because of the pandemic. The few shops that are fully staffed at the airport had lines too long to get any. And you’re getting started this early because you know the first flight of the day has the greatest chance of being on time.

Anything that went wrong with the aircraft might have been fixed overnight. Crew haven’t timed out, and there aren’t any earlier flights for the aircraft to knock you back. It’s also the flight where the aircraft is cleanest, since it’s probably at least been vacuumed overnight.

Masks are no longer required on board, but some people wear them. That’s great – I wanted to wear one during flu season before Covid-19 but it seemed too weird. Now it’s acceptable. Your airline probably makes an announcement that masks are optional and to please respect whichever choice other passengers are making.

Airlines are one of the most small-d democratic experiences we have, where people from all walks of life with all kinds of backgrounds, experiences, and emotional baggage (the only kind of baggage the airlines won’t charge for) come together inside of a metal tube. We’re all different in our own way, and it takes a little bit of time after we wake up before we’re ready to conform. If you’re stuck flying at 5 o’clock in the morning, you do you..

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  3. Since we live in a hub, we don’t have 5 am departures (those are for “spoke” cities which connect in ATL), most of our early departures are 7am and later. But once, when flying non-dominant player at ATL (booked by TA) with 5:30 am departure, I plain refused, and asked TA to change to a later flight. Considering the size of both ATL and the metro area, to make 5:30am would mean leaving home BEFORE 4am. May as well get a hotel room at the airport, they MAY have coffee, and use their shuttle.

  4. Fifty-eight years ago, after three Bonanza Airline crashes around Las Vegas, passengers started referring to Bonanza Airlines as “Banana Airlines,” a subtle derogatory reference to Banana republics. If this flight was going to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, the passenger dressed as a banana might be an unpretentious reminder of the three Bonanza airline crashes in Las Vegas. Here is one of the accident reports.

    I think the Watermelon may travel using a buddy pass from the Banana.

    “On evening of November 15, 1964, while inbound from Phoenix, Arizona. Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 struck a mountain southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada while attempting to land at McCarran International Airport killing all 26 passengers and a crew of three.”
    Read more: http://bonanzaairlines.com/accident_history.html

    If I was a frequent flying Banana or a Watermelon, I would prefer an aisle seat.

  5. I had a 5am Sunday morning flight back in July. Left the bar at 2:30, airport at 3:30 and was 5th in line at tsa. Pretty relaxing overall minus the no sleep.

  6. I am lucky to live in Anchorage. I have TSA PreCheck and there is never much of a wait. AS and DL my two carriers of choice are usually well staffed and organized. I literally have left my home and been at the lounge 25 minutes later sipping coffee. That includes checking a bag. Only thing that sucks is the lounges AS and DL do not open until 5am AS possibly later DL ( new lounge)

  7. Mr. Morgan paints a picture of the time that once existed in most our of cities. We have waaay too many people now and too many people spoil everything.

  8. Joanie, people are not the problem. Morons are. Cities in east Asia are packed with people yet vibrant places because of (not in spite of) the sheer number of people.

    America is not like that. Yet. Just quit smoking, eat a healthy diet, stay active, and stay strong. Xi will make everything right once the Democrats and/or GOP finally bring this country to its knees.

    After Xi takes over, living in America will be like flying on the Etihad Residence.

  12. Fruit or no fruit I don’t do mornings they are for those that have no choice just like a red eye
    And if you fly first class all you are going to get is fruity pebbles

  13. I’ve never thought that getting up at 3 was any worse than getting up at 4 or 5. And the benefits of no problems on that first flight out far outweigh the early wakeup call.

  14. I’m actually amazed ANYONE willingly flies before 7 am. I try to avoid any early morning flight, because they’re basically “late red-eyes.” But last week I did take a flight leaving at 6:40. I was pretty close to the airport and could drive myself right to the terminal, but I still had to get up at 4:30 for the flight. Who the heck wants to do that?

  15. @Actual Statistician

    Your post was so offensive that you should be banned from posting, anywhere! Even calling you a troll is too good!

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