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An international flight originating from TPE is boarding tonight at 22:30. What time should one arrive at the airport to check-in, clear any security, customs, etc?

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    What airline? What destination? What class? Do you have status? Do you have any checked bags? Can you check in online? What is your citizenship? Any possible visa issues/questions? Do you already have a seat assigned? Are you alone or travelling with family/kids? If you have to ask, the answer is probably at least 2 hours, ideally 3 hours, though.
    – jcaron
    Commented Aug 31 at 19:22

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The usual recommendation for international flights almost everywhere is to arrive at the airport 3 hours before the scheduled departure time.

This accounts for:

  • Delays in getting there
  • Finding the right check-in area
  • Queuing
  • Checking in before the deadline
  • Possibly going through extra steps like paying for luggage over the allowance
  • Going through security
  • Going through exit passport control, if applicable
  • Getting to your gate in time

However, this varies a lot based on:

  • The airline (each airline has its own policies and recommendations)
  • The airport (some airports have longer or shorter deadlines due to their size or specific local procedures)
  • The destination (some destinations imply extra checks and thus earlier deadlines)
  • Whether you have checked bags and whether you are able to check-in online (you may be able to skip the check-in/bag drop part)
  • Your class of travel and/or status (which may give you priority for check-in/bag drop and/or security and/or passport control)
  • How familiar you are with the airport
  • How familiar you are with the usual airport procedures (such as going through security and the whole charade that goes with it)
  • Whether you're a fast walker
  • The gate you are departing from (in some airport some gates are easily 20+ minutes away). ...
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    Pretty complete answer +1. There are probably also a few places (not TPE anymore) where you still have to pay a departure tax in cash at a separate desk or where export of their currency is prohibited so you have to get rid of it. That used to be the case technically at TPE (in practice nobody cared about small amounts) but now it's more like $3k USD equivalent, above which exports specifically in CNY or NTD is banned.
    – Spehro 'speff' Pefhany
    Commented Sep 6 at 21:18
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    @Spehro'speff'Pefhany If one wants to be exhaustive then I should also add the duty free stamping exercise, though in some places you should probably budget a full hour just for that.
    – jcaron
    Commented Sep 6 at 21:22
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    Don't remind me. It's not in their interest to make it easy I guess. At least that's an optional activity.
    – Spehro 'speff' Pefhany
    Commented Sep 6 at 21:26

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