Airlines are adjusting the cutoff for their check-in times, lest any passengers might have thoughts of trying to cut it close to avoid spending more time at the airport.
United Airlines confirmed to Afar that it will change the check-in cutoff to 45 minutes before departure for all domestic flights. That’s a change from the previous rule, which stated passengers who weren’t checking in bags only had to check in at least 30 minutes before. Starting on June 3, passengers who don’t check in on time will be forced to look at “other options” and may not be able to fly.
“The change brings greater consistency for our customers by aligning with our current checked baggage deadline and the check-in policies followed by most other airlines,” a United Airlines spokesperson told Afar in a statement.
Customers checking in their bags will still be required to check in 45 minutes before departure, according to the United website. The requirement to check in 60 minutes before an international flight remains unchanged.
United isn’t the only carrier that recently updated its rules. Delta Air Lines recently changed its check-in cutoff for domestic flights as well. Starting April 8, Delta shifted the cutoff time for travelers with bags to 45 minutes, matching United’s policy. Passengers without bags can still check in 30 minutes before, according to the airline’s website.
The last of the big three, American Airlines, has a policy that matches United’s new one, requiring both customers with and without bags to check in at least 45 minutes before departure. Other airlines, including Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, and Spirit, all state a minimum check-in time of between 30 and 60 minutes, leading to a confusing landscape for travelers. Still more confusing, certain airports and flights have their own rules that supersede the general rules put out by airlines. For example, United had already required domestic passengers to check in at least 45 minutes before departure for flights from Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, even prior to the new rule.
Of course, many passengers these days check in online or via the airline’s app up to 24 hours in advance. These check-in cut-off times refer to those passengers who wait until they arrive at the airport to officially check into their flight, a process that lets the airline know you are intending to fly the flight you booked, allows you to get an assigned seat if you didn’t already have one, and enables you to obtain your boarding pass—important steps that need to be taken before you can board your flight. As for why airlines are changing the rules, it’s clear they are trying to streamline operations. As United said, it’s to provide consistency among airlines and in service, meaning bags, passengers, and planes all get where they’re supposed to go on time.
What can passengers do to avoid getting caught off guard by these rules? It’s actually really easy: Get to the airport early. Despite “airport theory,” a viral social media trend that made the rounds in March theorizing you actually only need about 15 minutes to get to your gate at the airport, unpredictable variables ranging from traffic to the length of the TSA security line make it a highly risky one. To avoid travel plans going south and missing your flight, the majority of travel experts recommend that you leave yourself plenty of time at the airport to check in, check bags, go through security, and maybe even get a snack or drink before heading to the gate.
Airlines usually recommend arriving at the airport at least two hours before departure for domestic flights and three hours prior to departure for international flights.
