Flying with southwest and checking my bag. Three people in my party. Had soon before the flight should I arrive at the airport?

Flying with southwest and checking my bag. Three people in my party. Had soon before the flight should I arrive at the airport?

The standard guideline is 2 hours before departure. But check online for the airport you are flying out of, some airports are busier than others, so it could take more or less time to get through security.

Depends on the airport. But as a rule of thumb, show up two hours before scheduled flight departure for domestic flight; three hours for international flights.

Do you know how to get your boarding passes online 24 hours in advance for Southwest?

As Southwest does not reserve seats it's worth knowing how to do that. You can get better seats by being near the front of the boarding line at the gate. If you don't know how to do that I advise you get someone to help you do it.

Generally 1 to 2 hours before your flight leaves.

Be sure to check-in online the day before. This way you can just use their kiosk to print your luggage tags which will save you a lot of time. After you get the luggage tags you just need to go to the front to weigh your luggage and hand it off to the crew.

Checking in online the day before also helps get you a better position in line to get on the plane, as well as get your boarding pass sent to your phone.

It is recommended at least 2 Hours before departure at the check in area. NOT THE ENTRANCE to the Parking Lot.
It is your choice to get there a little early and relax after you do what you do or come later and rush around hoping to get on before the door closes.

WARNING on bad weather days really good idea to verify your flight before you leave to the Airport. When over a 1,000 flights get cancelled like today your Airport could have thousands also wanting next flight out. Days of long lines the next few days.
3 for 4 hours before departure would not be a bad thing this weekend. Just expect it to be busy and crowded with others looking for a way to get where they want to go.

Total cancellations today: 5,448

Total cancellations tomorrow: 610 Saturday as of this time
When a flight is cancelled you do not get next flight out. You get next available seat. Might be a long wait.

You can speed up the process and do part of it online the day before.
@ pPoohBearPenguin gives good advice too.

Personally I like to give myself enough time to not be rushing to the gate. There's definitely no harm in arriving early and to be honest the airport experience takes as long whether flying domestic or international these days. Allow a good 2 hours from arriving inside the terminal building, and a little more if you are looking for a pleasant experience

Do you like to hurry up and wait or do you want to have "just" enough time.
How big is the airport you are going to? What day and time of day is it?

You are going to need significantly more time if you are going through Chicago O'Hare vs Redmond-Bend, Oregon…
You need more time on Sunday night, Monday morning, Thursday afternoon/evening and Friday, than you do on a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon.

If you are going to a small regional airport, 1 hour is usually plenty of time.
If you are going through a large international airport, you will want 2 hours.

You don't say whether it's a domestic or international flight. For domestic, at a small airport, one hour should be enough, but for international, at a large busy airport, three hours isn't too much.

It's ALWAYS better to allow too much time and have to spend maybe an hour sitting over a coffee knowing your bags are already checked in, than to come racing up five minutes before scheduled departure time and have the gate slammed in your hot, frantic, sweating face.

Read all the stuff the airline will have sent you. Or look at their website. It's all there if you bothered to look.

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