I know you're nervous Mom, but that early?? (flying)

Anything can happen on the 401 to Pearson.  Yesterday the 401 west of Bellville was closed for 4-5 hours because of an accident.

After the time change, there are higher incidents of collisions, so I would leave by at least 4pm.

Plus it is March Break.  Hope your mom has a good time in B.C.

That's early, your timeline sounds good to me. Just be grateful you're not going with her and sitting there. And that it's an 8 PM flight not AM or you'd be getting up that much earlier!

I don’t even have to get on a freeway to get to my local airport and I prefer to leave with plenty of time. I’d rather get there early and wait at the gate rather than rush through and stress.

It may be that 4:45 sounds like it might as well be 5:00 and that sounds like rushhour, whereas 4:00 is before rush hour for the whole trip.

I have driven on the 405 many times and the 401 is far worse in the Greater Toronto Area. I have driven many times from LA to Long Beach and then taken the PCH to Newport Beach in daytime/rush hour traffic.  A piece of cake compared to driving from the where the 404 meets the 401 and then west towards the KW area.  There are now eight lanes on part of the 401 with construction to last until 2055!.

Hwy 401 stretches 828 kilometres (514 mi) from Windsor in the west to the Ontario–Quebec border in the east. The part of Highway 401 that passes through Toronto is North America's busiest highway, and one of the widest.

Wow, I've lived in places in the US with fucked up traffic, and the 405 is probably the worst I've seen on a regular basis. I will certainly make a note of the 401 as we plan an across Canada trip.

And insult to injury, how long it takes to work on roads that dare to have winter. They must only get to work about 3 months a year on road work up there.

I am always early for everything, and would think nothing of waiting a few hours or so at an airport;  I have to wait somewhere, so it may as well be where I can do some people-watching,  get a coffee & something to eat, sit in a corner and read, do some more people-watching maybe while I do some knitting or play some games on my iPad…….

In a decision between being early, being just on time, or being late because of something unforeseen, I will choose early every time. Whether it’s 20 minutes early for a doctors appointment or a few hours early for a flight, there’s always something I can do while I wait.

I think people that don't fly that often usually like to be earlier than needed. When I traveled for work, I learned how to get to the airport with about 15 minutes to spare and still leave the 60-90 minute baggage rule in tact. I never had a problem getting through security in time if I had my luggage there on time. For our little tiny airport, I can leave my house 80 minutes before the flight and still get there. For Denver, ugh, you have to figure there could be terrible traffic or long lines at check-in in Denver. I happily pay $50 more to travel from Colorado Springs to miss the Denver shuffle.

Depending on the airport the security lines are long, very long, even the TSA pre-check lines are long. I too prefer to go early. I don't like the feeling of being rushed to find wherever it is I need to be.

It's ok......let her sit and people watch.

Sounds just like my DD. She loves being at the airport super early. She travels all the time so it’s not that she’s worried. She gets anxious if she’s late for anything. She loves airports (I know!) and got lounge access so she could sit and have a snack and a drink and watch the planes.

I prefer early flights just for this reason. I cannot relax waiting to leave for a flight. I'd prefer leaving early at spend it at the airport than stress at home worrying that I am going to forget and miss my flight. Not that I've ever forgotten and missed my flight, but it makes me anxious to wait. Added to that, I LOVE to hang out at the airport. I love the energy of all the people traveling to different places. I don't particularly like flying, but I do love the airport.