FlightLeave

About FlightLeave

A free planner that works out what time to leave home to catch your flight.

What we are not

We do not operate vehicles, employ drivers, or take payment for journeys. We are not a taxi firm, a private hire operator, an airport transfer company or a parking company, and nothing here implies a Private Hire licence. After you get a leave time we may show links to transfer companies; if you book with one, they are the company you are dealing with, not us.

What it does

You give us your flight and where you are setting off from. We take the flight’s scheduled departure, work back to when you should be inside the terminal, make sure that is before bag drop usually closes, then subtract a few minutes to drop off and your traffic-aware drive time. What’s left is the time to leave home.

The airport allowance

Short-haul: 90 minutes before departure with cabin bags only, 120 with a checked bag. Long-haul: 150 and 180. These are our own planning numbers, not a live security queue — we can’t see today’s queues, and we never promise you’ll clear security by a given time. Your airline’s own check-in and gate times are the ones that count.

Delays

If your flight is running late we show it, but we don’t move your leave time. Bag drop usually still closes on the schedule.

Where it works

Flights departing from UK and Irish airports, with a driving start point.

What it costs

Nothing. There is no account, no sign-up and no payment. We may earn a commission if you book a transfer through a partner link on a result.

Where the data comes from

Flight times come from AeroDataBox, a commercial flight-data provider, or from the time you type in yourself. Drive times come from a traffic-aware routing service. Any airport details we show carry the airport’s own link and the date we last checked them.

Collecting someone instead?

Our sister site FlightPickup tells you when to leave to meet an arriving flight.

Getting in touch

Wrong result or a question — the contact form reaches us directly.

How it works

Leave at the right time, without a sprint to bag drop.

  1. 1

    Find your flight

    A flight number, or just “Manchester to Faro Saturday”.

  2. 2

    Say where you're leaving from

    Your postcode, and whether you're checking a bag.

  3. 3

    Get a leave time

    Drive, drop-off, airport time and bag-drop close, stacked up.

Flying from Heathrow, Gatwick or Manchester?

Frequently asked questions

How does FlightLeave work out when I should leave?

We take your flight's scheduled departure, work back to when you should be inside the terminal (earlier if you're checking a bag, earlier again for long-haul), then subtract a few minutes to drop off and your traffic-aware drive time. What's left is the time to leave home.

How much time do you allow at the airport?

For short-haul flights: 90 minutes before departure with cabin bags only, 120 minutes if you're checking a bag. For long-haul: 150 and 180 minutes. These are our own planning allowances, not live security queues. We also check you're there before bag drop usually closes (45 minutes before short-haul, 60 before long-haul), but your airline's own cut-off is the one that counts.

My flight is delayed. Should I leave later?

No, and we won't tell you to. Check-in and bag drop usually close on the scheduled time even when the flight is running late, so we build your leave time from the schedule and show the delay separately.

Does it use live traffic?

Yes. Drive times come from a traffic-aware routing service using your starting point and the departure airport. If that service is briefly unavailable we fall back to a standard estimate and say so on screen.

Do I need to know the flight number?

No. Type something like “Manchester to Faro Saturday 07:10” and pick your flight from the real matches. The flight number is quicker if you have it.

Can you book me a taxi?

No. FlightLeave is a calculator, not a taxi or transfer company. After you get your leave time we show links to a couple of transfer companies in case you want one — you book and pay them directly, and we may earn a commission.

Do you store my location?

No. Your location or postcode is used once to work out your drive time and is not saved to a database. We don't send it to analytics either.