Airport Tips That Save Time: Check-In, Security, Gates and Delays

Published 23 Jul 2026 · Updated 21 Aug 2026 · FlyLemo

Most airport time is lost in three places: the bag-drop line, the security line, and the walk to a gate that moved. Each has a fix that costs nothing. Here is how an agent who plans airport runs all day would plan one of yours.

Twenty-four hours out

• Check in as soon as it opens. For most airlines that is 24 hours before departure; some open at 48. Early check-in helps on oversold flights, because the last to check in are usually the first to be asked to give up a seat.
• Load the boarding pass to your phone wallet and screenshot it. Airline apps log you out at the worst moments.
• Re-read the flight times. Schedule changes of ten or twenty minutes are common and easy to miss.
• Pay for bags now if you have not already. Airport counter rates are the highest the airline charges.

How early to arrive

Two hours for domestic, three for international, and add thirty minutes if you are checking a bag at a large hub on a Friday, Sunday or holiday. The buffer is not for the normal day; it is for the day security has one lane open. If you are cabin-only with a mobile pass you can shave some of it, but bag drop closes 45 to 60 minutes before departure on most carriers and that deadline is firm.

Skip the counter where you can

With no bag to check and a mobile pass, walk straight to security. With a bag, use the self-service bag drop if the airline has one; the line is usually shorter than the staffed counter. Passport checks for international flights can be done at the kiosk at many airports now, but some airlines still require a visual check at the desk. If the kiosk tells you to see an agent, that is what it means.

Security, faster

• Pack the tray before you reach it. While you queue, put phone, keys, watch, belt and coins in a jacket pocket and the jacket in your bag. At the belt you lift out a laptop and a liquids bag and nothing else.
• Liquids: 100 ml (3.4 oz) per container, one clear quart bag. Newer CT scanners at some airports let you leave liquids and laptops inside, but the rule varies lane by lane, so follow the signs at the lane you are in.
• Shoes you can step out of, no metal buckle, no bulky coat.
• Trusted-traveler programs pay for themselves after a few trips a year. In the US that is TSA PreCheck for domestic screening and Global Entry for re-entry from abroad; Canada's NEXUS covers both countries. Apply months ahead; interview slots book out.

At the gate

Find your gate first, then go for food. Gate changes are announced on the boards and in the app, and the app is usually faster. At big hubs a change can mean a fifteen-minute walk or a train, so keep checking after you sit down. Boarding groups are printed on the pass; standing in line before your group is called just blocks the people whose group it is. Keep your ID and pass out until you are seated, because some gates check twice.

Charge everything while you wait and carry a power bank. A dead phone with your boarding pass on it turns a good day into a bad one.

Connections

Read your connection time honestly. Ninety minutes is comfortable for a domestic-to-domestic change. Arriving internationally into the US or Canada, you clear immigration, collect bags, clear customs, re-check the bags and go through security again; two hours is the minimum that works, three is relaxed. Know whether your bags are checked through; the tag receipt shows the final destination if they are.

When the flight is delayed or cancelled

1. Get in two lines at once. Join the queue at the desk and call the airline while you stand in it. Whichever answers first wins.
2. Know what you are owed. In the US, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you choose not to travel, you are entitled to a refund to your original payment method, not only a voucher. If you do travel, the airline rebooks you without charge. Meals and hotels for long delays depend on the cause and the airline's own policy, so ask, and keep receipts. Flights departing the UK or EU have separate compensation rules for delays within the airline's control.
3. Ask for the next flight on any carrier. Many airlines can rebook you on a partner when the cause is within their control; they rarely offer it unless asked.
4. Keep your PNR handy. It is the six-character code on your confirmation, and everyone at the airline will ask for it.

If you booked through FlyLemo, call our desk as well. We see the same seat inventory the airline does, we are open around the clock, and a second pair of eyes on the rebooking options is worth having while you stand in line.