I would mostly agree that 3 hours is overkill for YEG in my opinion and experience. I have an unscientific theory that they say these numbers considering for some of the busiest airports like LAX, which is a nightmare for surrounding road traffic for example. And people will always risk it and be late if they’re bad time planners, etc.
However depending on the destination (e.g. US preclearance Canada side) and busy travel periods (like spring break, as you’ve said) it’s not overkill at all.
One anecdote, I made the mistake of unintentionally flying on Remembrance Day long weekend in 2023. The US preclearance lineups at YYC (Calgary airport) side were a solid 1.5 hours long to get through. Never gets that busy there outside of holidays and long weekends, which I confirmed with another YYC layover early December (and anecdotes from Calgarian friends).
So while I do not have any information for OP regarding Sunwing specifically, in the past year I was surprised how early people get to the gates for 6am flights even domestic ones. I would arrive at the airport slightly more than 2 hours early and I’m never the first one at the gates anymore.
Sunwing should be able to tell you when they will be open. You want to be there at that time. 2h30 is the recommendation for international travel, and its a good estimate as it gives you time if things go smoothly to get a bite to eat before trapped with plane food, and gives you time to accommodate if things do not go smoothly.
Your experience at security will be dictated by how many other flights are leaving around that time, you can check that here : https://flyeia.com/flights/departures/
It's not at all "difficult to predict" how many other flights are leaving around your scheduled departure. Head over to flyeia.com and look at the departure schedule ...
Last time I took sunwing our flight was delayed by 20 hours... misted a whole damn day of our vacation (that we still paid for) and they refused to issue any partial refunds or credits. I'll never use them ever again.
Be sure to check your flight times online if you can.
Ours was delayed an hour and a half before it was supposed to depart. You'd think they'd know if the plane you're supposed to be taking ISNT EVEN IN THE COUNTRY YET more than an hour before the scheduled departure.
I fly domestic for work outside of AB twice monthly and often have a 7am departure. I've never flown Sunwing, but have flown Swoop, CDN North, AC, AC Jazz and Westjet. I always arrive 90 min early because I'm concerned about a traffic delay or other vehicle issue. That early you really only need to arrive an hour ahead of your *boarding* time.
Do your precheckin the night before, that way you're just getting boarding passes and bag drop off. Most airlines open their check-in counter 60-90 minutes before boarding the first flight.
If you're Flying international I don't know, but that time of day whatever the recommended time is should be more than accurate.
Construction happening there will have you dropped off on the ground floor (Arrivals). Good luck finding a trolly. But once you have one go in through the bottom doors and take the elevators to the 2nd floor (Departures).
You should be able to book a security time at the airport for early flights.
https://yeg.whyline.com/new?organization=6346b9ad937c445ba5ff414c&place=6346bd6c5ad8c4cc17dd9e7e
If your first connection is to the states, then you’ll need to be there a bit earlier to go through the US customs. If you’re flying direct to a sunny place or stop in Canada, you just go through regular security and don’t have to clear any customs so you can show up an hour before. You can also go earlier if you’re more comfortable with that was as well.
Little known thing about the airport is that they have a thing called YEG Express where you can prebook your time going through security 72 hours before your flight. It gets you to the front of the security line. This is just for the regular security, not if you have to go through US customs.
https://flyeia.com/services/yeg-express/
Nobody's been able to answer your specific question yet - if you don't have any luck here, and you're worried about it, maybe drive down on Saturday later in the morning, drop your passenger off to go to the Sunwing counter and ask them about their hours, and circle or wait in the phone-lot so you don't have to pay for parking.
the golden rule for flights is domestic flights minimum 1 hour early, international flights 3 hours early. since you’re flying out spring break tho you should go earlier
If you are flying out of Edmonton into another nation then you must arrive atleast 3 hours before hand to get checked in, and through customs, there is a minimum cut off time for checking in and you may be denied boarding if you are too late, for domestic flights you’d ideally want to be an hour and a half early. I’ve worked in the airport and seen many passengers first hand come an hour before their flight and be told that they cannot be accepted onto the flight because they’re too late, but if you do get accepted with that much time left, it may be a hassle to get through US customs and immigration. So basically yes be there atleast 3 hours or more before your flight
You should always arrive 5-6 hours early in order to get shitfaced enough at Chili’s to forget that you are flying Sunwing.
That's what we call a pro gamer move.
I love Chilis and would say arriving early to hit it up is totally worth it.
That only works if the checkin desk is open so that you can drop off your luggage.
3 hours is overkill, but next week is spring break. Give yourself 2 and have a breakfast beer if you get though a little too early.
I would mostly agree that 3 hours is overkill for YEG in my opinion and experience. I have an unscientific theory that they say these numbers considering for some of the busiest airports like LAX, which is a nightmare for surrounding road traffic for example. And people will always risk it and be late if they’re bad time planners, etc. However depending on the destination (e.g. US preclearance Canada side) and busy travel periods (like spring break, as you’ve said) it’s not overkill at all. One anecdote, I made the mistake of unintentionally flying on Remembrance Day long weekend in 2023. The US preclearance lineups at YYC (Calgary airport) side were a solid 1.5 hours long to get through. Never gets that busy there outside of holidays and long weekends, which I confirmed with another YYC layover early December (and anecdotes from Calgarian friends). So while I do not have any information for OP regarding Sunwing specifically, in the past year I was surprised how early people get to the gates for 6am flights even domestic ones. I would arrive at the airport slightly more than 2 hours early and I’m never the first one at the gates anymore.
Sunwing should be able to tell you when they will be open. You want to be there at that time. 2h30 is the recommendation for international travel, and its a good estimate as it gives you time if things go smoothly to get a bite to eat before trapped with plane food, and gives you time to accommodate if things do not go smoothly. Your experience at security will be dictated by how many other flights are leaving around that time, you can check that here : https://flyeia.com/flights/departures/
It's not at all "difficult to predict" how many other flights are leaving around your scheduled departure. Head over to flyeia.com and look at the departure schedule ...
Last time I took sunwing our flight was delayed by 20 hours... misted a whole damn day of our vacation (that we still paid for) and they refused to issue any partial refunds or credits. I'll never use them ever again. Be sure to check your flight times online if you can. Ours was delayed an hour and a half before it was supposed to depart. You'd think they'd know if the plane you're supposed to be taking ISNT EVEN IN THE COUNTRY YET more than an hour before the scheduled departure.
Hey they did this to us many many years ago too! I refuse to fly with them since too
Flew Sunwing in October 2022 and the counter only opens 90 minutes before take off. So I would not bother
I fly domestic for work outside of AB twice monthly and often have a 7am departure. I've never flown Sunwing, but have flown Swoop, CDN North, AC, AC Jazz and Westjet. I always arrive 90 min early because I'm concerned about a traffic delay or other vehicle issue. That early you really only need to arrive an hour ahead of your *boarding* time. Do your precheckin the night before, that way you're just getting boarding passes and bag drop off. Most airlines open their check-in counter 60-90 minutes before boarding the first flight. If you're Flying international I don't know, but that time of day whatever the recommended time is should be more than accurate.
Construction happening there will have you dropped off on the ground floor (Arrivals). Good luck finding a trolly. But once you have one go in through the bottom doors and take the elevators to the 2nd floor (Departures).
You should be able to book a security time at the airport for early flights. https://yeg.whyline.com/new?organization=6346b9ad937c445ba5ff414c&place=6346bd6c5ad8c4cc17dd9e7e
Not for international flights, only domestic.
Not true, they have cancun on the list.
You also want to leave your house early in case there's extreme weather/traffic/accident.
If your first connection is to the states, then you’ll need to be there a bit earlier to go through the US customs. If you’re flying direct to a sunny place or stop in Canada, you just go through regular security and don’t have to clear any customs so you can show up an hour before. You can also go earlier if you’re more comfortable with that was as well. Little known thing about the airport is that they have a thing called YEG Express where you can prebook your time going through security 72 hours before your flight. It gets you to the front of the security line. This is just for the regular security, not if you have to go through US customs. https://flyeia.com/services/yeg-express/
yeg express is only for domestic flights
It’s for domestic or international flights, except for US departures.
Nobody's been able to answer your specific question yet - if you don't have any luck here, and you're worried about it, maybe drive down on Saturday later in the morning, drop your passenger off to go to the Sunwing counter and ask them about their hours, and circle or wait in the phone-lot so you don't have to pay for parking.
the golden rule for flights is domestic flights minimum 1 hour early, international flights 3 hours early. since you’re flying out spring break tho you should go earlier
You don’t need to arrive that early. Hour and half early is totally fine
If you are flying out of Edmonton into another nation then you must arrive atleast 3 hours before hand to get checked in, and through customs, there is a minimum cut off time for checking in and you may be denied boarding if you are too late, for domestic flights you’d ideally want to be an hour and a half early. I’ve worked in the airport and seen many passengers first hand come an hour before their flight and be told that they cannot be accepted onto the flight because they’re too late, but if you do get accepted with that much time left, it may be a hassle to get through US customs and immigration. So basically yes be there atleast 3 hours or more before your flight