There isn’t really a difference with international flying when you are leaving the US. Take whatever you would normally do for domestic flights and just do that.
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This wasn’t true for me a few months ago, but that could have been COVID. Check in and security took a combined 90 mins or so.
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For international there is generally 15 minutes less buffer on the check in (45 for domestic check in vs 60 min for international), it’s more likely you need to check luggage, more likely you have to do doc check before boarding pass will be issued, boarding doors more reliably closing on time, and the consequence for missing the flight is much greater.
I try to show up 60 mins at the airport for domestic. For international, depends on the destination, but it’s more like 90 mins. If you aren’t accustomed to travel, with your family, don’t have precheck, etc, I would give it a full 2 or even 2.5 hours.
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Also I would download and use VeriFLY. You can do it before you travel and get all covid documentation done prior.
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I just did this at LAX last Sunday. It wasn’t really any different than flying domestically. It was turnoff to airport to sitting at gate in less than an hour, but traffic was super light (Sunday 8pm) at LAX. I’d still give it at least 2 hours, but aim for 3.
Some international flights check in at places other than the Tom Bradley terminal and you have to walk or take a shuttle. I did, but lines/traffic was very light everywhere. I guess that’s an uncommon time to fly.
Eta: no one asked for covid documentation anywhere, going there or coming back (I went to Mexico)
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As far as I can tell there are no entry requirements anywhere I’m going.
Thanks all for your input.
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I kind of feel like the people saying it’s the same as domestic are getting to their domestic flights unnecessarily early.
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What’s different? I didn’t do a single thing extra from a normal domestic flight?
No one had to check your passport?
Some of it is probably airport dependent and possibly destination dependent. Perhaps there are some places you could self-scan at a kiosk, but I’ve haven’t flown out of such an airport yet. But it has been a while since my last international flight.
Leaving the US was the exact same. I put my passport number in when I bought tickets. No one looked at it. Returning to the US is a whole different story obviously.
I am “get to the airport early” guy for domestic flights. Drive time to LAX is unpredictable, so I have to account for that off the bat. Then security can be a whole situation. I would rather sit at the gate for an hour and have a cup of coffee than be rushed.
Our flight to Italy has a 3:15PM scheduled departure. I don’t have seat assignments yet and am a little skeptical I’ll be able to get them via online check-in as promised. If I have to get seat assignments when I’m physically at the airport I’ll probably aim to arrive by 11AM. If I’ve already got seat assignments I’ll do noon.
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So no one at the airport actually checked if you had one and/or applicable visas?
That seems weird. I don’t think that’s standard. If it is, things have changed quite a bit since my last international flight.
wat
I’ve never been on an international trip where they didn’t verify 1) I had my passport and 2) it wasn’t expired or about to expire.
if you get denied entry at your destination, the airline is on the hook to return you (and may be fined for not verifying that you had the proper documents before embarking), which they absolutely do not want to do
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Thanks for chiming in. This is exactly my experience, but it has been years since my last international flight. I thought either I was going crazy or things have really changed.
That should be more that adequate.
Gotta be honest. The Bosphorous boat tour was a bit underwhelming.
I was hoping to get some awesome sunset photos. However, it was very overcast and even rained a little bit. There was an audioguide playing for everyone. But it kept getting cut off before it could explain anything. I assume somebody was controlling it and just skipped through everything assuming that no one was listening. But I was.
The holiday has thrown the bus schedule out of whack and Google Maps has not adjusted. The upside is that public transportation is free during the holidays. Since the bus I was looking to take wasn’t showing at the stop Google said it was supposed to, I opted to take a long ass walk back. While avoiding oncoming traffic, I stumbled and fell. My ankle must have hit something because I have some swelling right on the ankle bone and my elbow took the brunt of my weight. Apparently, proper pharmacies are closed but some chain shops nearby will have something I can grab tomorrow. I’ve traveled through worse injuries. I mean, I got up and walked the rest of the way back after all.
The whole animal sacrifice angle of Eid kinda messed with me. It was weird to walk past random areas in a bustling metropolis only to be hit by the stench of manure before seeing some area on a side street with a host of animals waiting to be slaughtered with various numbers of onlookers.
I’ll post photos later. A bunch came out pretty bad because my mobile phone camera sucks balls.
I said it was pretty much the same, but, of course passport. That actually caused a delay of my trip because renewing it took a long time, but everyone knows passport. It didn’t cause a delay at the airport, I just showed the passport for ID instead of a drivers license. As far as a visa goes, they gave me a piece of paper to hold onto after I got into Mexico. That may have been the visa.
The app called Trafi is pretty elite for Istanbul. For some reason Maps is kinda crappy there figuring out public transportation.
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The critical variable about arriving at the airport for international travel is whether they’ll issue a boarding pass before you get to the airport. If they do, I’m comfortable cutting it a lot closer (approaching one hour).
Other times, the app refuses to spit out a boarding pass until I see an agent and show my passport. Even in the premium lines that can be a 20 minute snag during Covid; for the general lines it could be an hour—highly airport/airline dependent.
I’ve learned during Covid to cut stuff way less close. In general everything is way less reliable than it used to be. Before Covid I cut it wildly close all the time (airport arrival 30-50 mins before takeoff for domestic) and hardly ever got burned, but not anymore.
I would legit have an anxiety issue with no seat assignment before arriving at the airport. In the past I’ve just kept calling until I get one, they’ve always done it.