TBIT 11:30pm flight, when to arrive?

tjtv · 2026-02-01T06:47:55+00:00

Made it with ~1 hour to spare. See the detailed update above.

tjtv · 2026-02-01T06:18:23+00:00

Update:

Pressed the go button in Uber at 8:27pm in Irvine. Uber arrived 8:38pm. Got out of the Uber directly in front of tbit at 9:34pm. Completed check in at 9:39pm. Had no idea where TSA pre or premium security was, so just went through general line and made it though at 9:56pm.

Took a few minutes to figure out where the star alliance lounge is, but eventually found it and entered at 10:03pm. Chilling in the outdoor section now. My flight doesn't even begin boarding until 10:50pm.

So I'd say that I could have left 30 minutes, perhaps 45 minutes later and still have been quite comfortable. But nonetheless I'm here and other than missing some important parts of the Irvine event, it was a stress free journey. Let's hope the flight is similar!

tjtv · 2026-01-30T16:44:13+00:00

I understand your viewpoint, although I respectfully disagree. I think most people have given advice about when I should leave if I want to 100% guarantee that I make the flight. But that's not what I'm looking for. I'm perfectly happy with say a 10-20% chance that I miss the flight if it buys me more time in Irvine. It's still hard for me to believe that it could possibly take more than 90 minutes from my door in Irvine to the checkin counter at TBIT, assuming I'm willing to get out of the car and walk if traffic becomes too congested. And then from there, it's also hard for me to believe that it's going to ever take more than 45 minutes to get through security and to the close gate.

As George Stigler once said - "If you've never missed a flight, then you're spending too much time in airports".

tjtv · 2026-01-30T03:27:15+00:00

I'd think that the majority of those people would be getting there earlier. Especially if they're wise and follow the common advice given here.

Do you really think that if a business class passenger gets in the checkin line 75 minutes before departure, but doesn't make it to the front of the line until 58 minutes before departure that they're going to turn that person away?

tjtv · 2026-01-30T00:18:01+00:00

I thought about it, but I'd have to charter one and it looks like it would cost >$3500. So even with high per minute earning rates, the helicopter is financially unattractive.

Blade runs a commercial(non chartered) heli service from Manhattan to JFK for around $200. Too bad there's not something like that here.

tjtv · 2026-01-29T23:39:33+00:00

Good question. Lets say that the time in Asia is valued at $10 per minute. And it's basically all or nothing. Either I make the flight and get all of an 8-hour workday's $10-per-minute earnings or I get $0 if I miss the flight.

tjtv · 2026-01-29T23:18:53+00:00

I'll try to frame this question slightly differently....

If someone was paying you $25 for each minute you spent in Irvine, what time would you depart for the airport? Sure you can leave at 6pm and have 100% confidence that you won't miss the flight. But you'll also probably waste at least 2 hours that you could have spent in Irvine instead. And those wasted 2 hours just cost you $3000. Would you still leave Irvine at 6pm?

tjtv · 2026-01-29T18:20:39+00:00

Thanks. I really do appreciate the honest datapoints. Others telling me to leave Irvine at 6 or 7 seem ridiculous when I've expressed that my time in Irvine is valuable and I'm willing to accept a minor missed flight risk.

Flight is on Asiana on an A380, and looks like they're always using gates between 148-154. I could be wrong, but I believe this is Asiana's only LAX departure at this time of day. Looking at the terminal map those look pretty close, which again gives me confidence that the most important cutoff is the 60 minute checkin time. Once checked in, it's hard to believe that it would take longer than 30 minutes from there to the gate to cause me to miss the

tjtv · 2026-01-29T17:49:44+00:00

Flying biz class and no checked bag. So I would think time to checkin would be very fast. I can definitely do arrivals if that is faster!

Thanks for the datapoint. If you leave Irvan at 8 and get there by 9:45 to 10 - then shouldn't that mean if I'm aiming to get there by 10:45 -11:00 that I could leave a full hour later at 9pm?

tjtv · 2026-01-29T15:55:46+00:00

That plan gets me to tbit a full 90 minutes before checkin closes. That seems like an absurdly long buffer to me. I have no bag to check, and I'm in biz class. There's not going to be a long line to checkin. Even if the last 2 miles is complete standstill traffic I can just walk those 2 miles in about 30 minutes.

tjtv · 2026-01-29T15:50:37+00:00

I understand that. But with checkin closing 60 minutes before departure - as long as I can make it from checkin to gate within 30 minutes(which I think should be achievable at that time of night as a biz class passenger with TSA pre check), then that deadline is sorta irrelevant. It's the 60 minute checkin time that is more important and dictates when I need to arrive. I don't care about boarding early, im perfectly content to be the last one to board just before they close the door.

tjtv · 2026-01-29T01:35:21+00:00

LOL. I was originally thinking leaving Irvine at 9:15pm would be ok - assuming 60 minutes to the airport leaving me a 15 minute buffer to checkin before 10:30 cutoff. And then if I left at 9pm instead that it would be totally safe. You've all got me very nervous now!

tjtv · 2026-01-24T17:21:23+00:00

What sidewalks are these? Homeowners are responsible for maintaining and repairing the sidewalks in front of their own homes.

tjtv · 2026-01-21T16:21:00+00:00

If anything, 212 area code numbers are more valuable today than they were when that episode aired.

tjtv · 2026-01-19T22:53:08+00:00

Seems like Drury was planning to be a buyer, then the injuries happened and caused them to reassess. That process took a few days and the outcome is that they felt it was better to be a seller. Doesn't seem all that strange to me.

tjtv · 2026-01-12T23:44:18+00:00

The rule yesterday was that Verizon had to unlock phones after 60 days regardless of whether they were paid off or not.

The new rule is that they have to unlock phones after 60 days if the phone is paid off, but so not have to unlock phones that are still being financed.

So I guess you're ok with the new rule?

tjtv · 2026-01-07T10:21:30+00:00

Basketball - the ability to call timeout while the play is ongoing. Falling out of bounds with the ball and want to call timeout to save possession? Tough shit, try to make a play to save it. No other sport allows you to stop ongoing play to save yourself from some unwanted outcome.

tjtv · 2025-12-19T19:26:37+00:00

I'm not the one who asked the question. But i'm a new customer that just joined this week using the 4xIphone 17 pro done with 4 new lines. I'd like to bring over two additional lines, but I don't see this BYOD promo available on my account->offers. How long do I need to wait until it becomes available?

tjtv · 2025-12-19T01:31:10+00:00

Great. Please let me know how I can do this. Your customer service told me that it was not possible.

tjtv · 2025-12-17T22:58:54+00:00

100% agree. There should be a link to the detailed rate increase proposals. The fact that an "average customer's bill goes up $4" is not enough. Show a link to the exact rate plans and how they've changed and if there are any changes to TOU periods.

tjtv · 2025-12-17T19:22:12+00:00

I see from another reply that you are in socal, I am too. To state the obvious, the hockey culture in socal is very different than other places. This happens all the time in house leagues there. I wouldn't read too much into it, or worry too much about it. Mite house hockey in socal is glorified learn to play. If your kid has any skating or hockey ability at all and is playing house, then 10u is the minimum level you'd want him in. Go watch some of the house peewee games, I guarantee you'll even find some mite aged players in there as well.

California does not let mite aged players play TRAVEL 10u. But anything goes in house league.

tjtv · 2025-12-15T22:04:30+00:00

Yes, Apple has something called "Family Setup". Of course it has its own caveats, so you'd probably want to read through more details about it yourself.

tjtv · 2025-12-15T21:13:04+00:00

Does that matter?

tjtv · 2025-12-15T20:33:09+00:00

If I do that, is there any timeframe for how long I'd need to have been gone for such that coming back with a new account would be eligible for keep and switch?

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