Good shout on checking the arrivals monitor
davidjohnson6 - I'll be sure to do this regularly in the future
I must confess that I have had a few close shaves in the past (usually when pax need to be bussed to a remote stand on the other side of the airfield). My logic is thus: I take around 30 flights a year and I usually aim to arrive at the airport no later than 45 minutes before departure (just before the check in desks close). If I were to arrive the recomended two hours before departure I would waste well over a day of my life every year wandering around departure lounges, time I'd rather spend doing other things...
I can understand the logic of airports encouraging people to arrive two hours before departure but whats in it for airlines? Some (such as Ryanair and Wizzair) do not even allow passengers to carry a seperate duty free bag on board so there's little opportunity for their passengers to enjoy much of a "retail experience"...
When Ryanair and Easyjet first introduced online check in, it's main unique selling point was the ability to arive at the airport 30 minutes before departure, a point which they both agressively marketed. Whats changed? Did they perhaps learn the hard way that airport hype about "1min47sec" transitions through security are often mythical?
