The AOL Travel Team

I'm one of those people who consciously disobeys airport signs and airline instructions -- in most cases, because they're either misleading, or wrong. And you should as well.

Consider the airport departure boards: they constantly lie. The words "On Time" are -- as I think we would all agree -- relative. Is the plane "scheduled" to leave on time? Of course it is. But that doesn't mean it will.

Here's what I do. When I get to the airport, I only look at the departure board to determine what gate my flight is scheduled to leave from. And then I immediately ignore all other information on the departure side. Instead, I go immediately to the arrivals board and check to see what is arriving at my supposed departure gate. If nothing is arriving there until next Tuesday, I now know I won't be leaving from that gate. The key here is to get solid information and to retain as many options as you can in the flying experience.

Now, I get to avoid the frustration of being disappointed at the gate. And many of my options are back -- including going right to the counter and finding alternate flights on my original airline -- or in many cases -- other airlines. I save time, and stress.

And the same applies to the instructions we've all been given over the years as to how much in advance of our scheduled flight we need to arrive at the airport. My rule of thumb is that there are really four times you need to watch -- not one. There's the time you need to check in for your flight (from home), the time you need to arrive at the airport. The time you need to arrive at the gate, and the time (at many airports) you need to arrive at the....bus.

If you're like me, and believe there are only two types of bags -- carry on, and LOST, then you'll save a lot of time by doing the following: check in for your flight and get your boarding pass at home within 24 hours of scheduled departure. Then, you only need to get to the airport 40 minutes ahead of your departure time, because you've got your boarding pass and you can go right to the gate. But when should you get to the gate? 35 minutes prior to scheduled departure time. With one important exception, especially on flights outside the United States. What many airlines won't tell you is that their planes aren't parked at jet ways. Instead, passengers have to take buses to get to the aircraft. Always ask ahead of time if you'll be leaving from a jet way or have to take the bus, because if you don't, the 35 minute gate strategy will not work -- you'll miss the bus and hence your flight.