Check in at Gatwick

[ExRAFRadar]

Hi all,

The missus and her brood are all off skiing next week from Gatwick. The official site says 3 hour check-in. Is this realistic or should I say get there 4 hours early ?

Plus she is asking what we can take through checkin these days (ie clear shampoo etc)

Thanks for any help

[A2QFI]

All baggage queries answered here, within the site

http://www.baa.com/

If the check-in is quoted as 3 hours why be earlier? If you get there 4 hours before T/O you might not even find the check-in open - depends who you are flying with. Some have 2 desks for specific flights and others have "All BA flights check in here" with about 8 desks open. It is only more time to get bored or be ripped off in the shops!

[ExRAFRadar]

Fair Point A2 - I'll check out the BAA site. Cheers

Actually I ws hoping someone would say 'get there the night before' as the missus and about 15 of her family are spending the night at our house ( we live near Heathrow and most of them live up north)

Mostly women and and about 6 kids. Heaven. :)

[MarcJF]

I travel through Gatwick regularly, it's not really the check in that's the issue, it's security. Queue can be quite unpredicatable. Three hours is a touch excessive though, that's just to get you shopping as you're so bored waiting for your flight!!

[JEM60]

I am a frequent holiday traveller, at least 4 times a year. I never find airports boring. I ALWAYS plan to arrive early, for you have to allow for punctures, breakdowns, road closures etc. Get there early, have a nice breakfast, and the experience is part of the holiday. Frequently on the news programmes one hears about the stress of airports etc. A lot of this stress, in my opinion, is caused by the passengers themselves arriving late, and putting themselves under pressure, and then expecting to be treated like royalty when going through check-in. Been to a lot of the world, never had a problem Oh ok, Kenya the slowest and most uninterested check in.

[jack_essex]

We flew from LGW North earlier in the year. We got to the airport around 3.5 hours before are STD. Everyone else in our group told me that was TOO early but I like to get there early to make sure there will be no problems. One we checked in, had breakfast and a walk around the shops in was just about time to walk to the gate. So I would say get there early too, have breakfast and then you haven't got to rush to the gate at the last minute. As the previous poster said, stress at airports is only caused by unprepared travellers, who turn up at the airport too late, with too much luggage and then do not know where they are going.

[leeUK]

I travel through Gatwick fairly frequently both North and South Terminals and have found the on line check-in facility, where offered, to be a lifesaver.

[Doobs]

As previously stated, its not the check in thats the real problem but the lengthy wait in the queue at security. If you have an early morning flight then the queue will be at its worst (up to a hour on some occaisions). The best advice is to get there as early as poss, get through security and then put your feet up and look forward to your holiday.

[vslf]

I have to say that security delays have significantly reduced over the previous six months. I've been doing a weekly flight (sometimes North terminal, sometimes South) from LGW over that period and since about November he number of security staff and the number of scanners operating seems to have about doubled.

I used to check in on line (hand luggage only) but still leave two good hours from arriving at the station to boarding, now I'm very comfortable with just an hour and a half. Even that is generally over the top, but I just hate the feeling of leaving it to the last minute. As an example a 10am flight last week from the North terminal, I had a choice of three scanners, not one single person in front of me at any of them.

It will be interesting to see if this is maintained as we start moving into holiday periods,

vslf

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

Not sure if it's representative, but Mrs Outlaw and I used online check in with luggage on Monday and we were through the BA bag drop and security at LGW N in 15 minutes. Every scanner was open. I noticed they've taken away the Fast Track lanes now too, everyone uses the same lanes as was explained to a couple in front of us.

Even though we were Club it made no difference as we've queued for longer than that when they were open !!

Can't be a bad thing.

NEO

[Bluejay]

You can check in the night before. The following is quoted on ba.com:

"Customers departing on British Airways scheduled services from the North Terminal at Gatwick can check in, deposit baggage and collect their boarding cards, the day before their flight departs.

Who can use this service?
This service will be available for customers travelling on any British Airways service departing before 15:15 the following day.

Self-Service Check-in details/Self Check-in process:
Early check-in is available only between 16:00 and 22:00 on the day prior to departure for those passengers qualifying as shown above.

All customers using this facility will need to present themselves, their documents and all their checked baggage as though they were about to travel.
They will be asked to use the Self-Service Check-in kiosks at Zone C, and then proceed to drop their bags at the Fast Bag Drop Desks in Zone C.

Those Customers that hold Premier, Gold or Silver Executive Club cards will also be able to check-in at their appropriate Premium Check-in desk in Zone C (although still not prior to 16:00).

Day of Departure process:
Customers using Early Check-in will need to present themselves on the day of departure at their departure gate at least 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure time for Intercontinental services, and 30 minutes prior to departure for passengers travelling to European and Domestic destinations.

Please note: Once checked in, British Airways will not be able to retrieve baggage for customers.

Customers will be required to provide a telephone contact (preferably mobile number) at time of check-in to enable use of the facility.

We will not be able to check-in non-present members of families/groups."

Just typew in early check in in the search ba.com box and it will appear. As far as what can go through security best check the baa web site as I have moved on from check in and am out of the loop as far as what can go through.

Hope this helps

Bluejay