Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Pre-COVID, I used to fly a lot. There were several months that I’d be on a plane twice a month going back and forth between Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles or Atlanta or wherever. I know some of you travel way more than that, but it matters not — the point is this: A brotha was on a plane constantly enough to learn a thing or two about the various airports across the nation. A lot of times, I’d be traveling with other people for work, and most of our flights would be booked at the same time. And that’s when the conversations always started about when we needed to be at the airport.
And that’s the moment all of our lives changed forever.
Just kidding. But for some reason, social media has lately been aflutter with conversations that have moved into my group chats about whether or not you need to be at the airport two hours before your flight or not. I don’t know who started this latest round of conversations, but I’m fairly certain how you feel about that pre-flight time frame should be discussed before you marry somebody. I’m not even joking. But we’ll get back to that.
Let’s start with me. For as long as I can remember, I have held to the belief that you need to be at the airport two hours before your flight if it’s domestic and three hours if it is international. I don’t know who came up with the rule but it was passed down to me, and I will do the same to my kids. In my head, it was a nefarious plot hatched by the airlines and the airports to get people to the airport to spend money on food and things you only decide you need because you have time to kill so you peruse random stores in airport terminals. Airports have become so much more cushy and commercial that you can have a downright amazing shopping experience in one. If you’re in Charlotte, you can sit in a rocking chair…
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