Early Morning Flights: The Masochistic Travel Habit I Won’t Give Up

Early Morning Flights

Matthew at Live and Let’s Fly recently published a thoughtful article about quiet airports.  It spurred my recollection of what I’ve occasionally asked myself to inform decisions over the years.  If I want or need to be in a particular place, how can I make that experience more pleasurable (or less revolting)?  Multiple answers exist for a given location, and naturally, they can vary based on the destination.  One frequent answer is the time of day I choose to visit a place.  As a fellow chaser of quiet airport utopia, I often book early morning flights.  In my experience, so much good comes from such a selection, with one glaring negative.  I’ll start with the latter.

Rising Early

I’m not a morning person.  You’ve probably heard many use that statement as an excuse, but I feel it’s a justifiable one.  It’s a simple fact for many of us.  Bravo to the subset who genuinely thrive on an early start.  I’d also like to give a shout-out to that large other group who have tricked themselves into being morning people to merely get by.  But I don’t belong with that first group, and I hope to indefinitely avoid the second.

Early morning flights are something I embrace overall – more on that in a bit.  But the requisite action involved for such a success involves something I abhor.  Waking up extremely early is a particular exercise in masochism that has surprisingly not backfired on me yet.

Invariably, the split-second moment I hear that shrill, unforgiving, constant blare from my phone and alarm clock, I want to groggily cancel the trip.  Every single time.  But my setup is intentional to mitigate such a misstep.  I set each alarm to the loudest setting, ensuring to select the most unwelcome noise.  Neither item – my phone or alarm clock – is within arm’s distance.  I must get vertical to extinguish this aural hell.

But once I’m erect, I can perform.  After deliberately standing, I turn off each device.  With that, I’ve flicked my mental switch, as well – and for so many good reasons.

Why I Keep Taking Early Morning Flights

I easily counterbalance that single, huge, unavoidable negative to early morning flights with all of the positives which come from them.  But first, I must acknowledge a wrinkle in my situation.

My primary regional airport is midsized, and the others farther afield are even smaller.  Early flights are often my only daily option for certain destinations, or to set up (what I find to be) desirable connections for additional flights.  Love ’em or loathe ’em, taking early morning flights is sometimes the only game in town.  I have to suck it up and deal.

But even if I have later alternatives, I routinely opt for early morning flights for a variety of reasons:

• Since I’m out while most others aren’t, my drive to the airport is consistently smooth.
• The long-term parking experience is a quiet one. I particularly appreciate this since parking structures and lots may be my least favorite destination which I cannot avoid.
• Airports are noticeably quieter at these early hours.
• I have a wider selection of places to sit, including more spacious areas away from the mild action.  I particularly appreciate this at my home airport, which doesn’t offer a lounge.
• Airports I visit early seem to have been cleaned overnight (partially, at least), leading to a more satisfying visit.
• By selecting early morning flights, I’ve done what I can to minimize a late flight departure since the aircraft is already there from the night before.
• There’s an oddly-disarming, “it’s so f’ing early” comradery I’ve experienced with other travelers, airport workers, and airline staff.
• Boarding and takeoff is generally uneventful.
• Each time, I’m surprised by my “wow, I have so much time in the day” feeling.

Conclusion

While taking early morning flights is a fact of life for much of my travel, I find myself routinely opting into it even when later departures could work.  The benefits I obtain vastly overwhelm that huge, fleeting cost.  That split-second nightmare brings on a travel experience where I feel more alive.

But I wrote this article just as much, or maybe more, for me than any of you.  Indeed, after I wake up for my next early morning flight, I’ll probably need to click back over to this one to remind myself just exactly why I do it.

Which travel decisions haunt and help you?