How early should I leave for the airport?

Work backwards from the gate, not from the door. Check your airline's check-in and bag-drop cutoffs; the TSA advises asking your airline because times vary by airport and date (Transportation Security Administration [TSA], n.d.). Some airports publish their own advice on top of that — Orlando International, for example, advises arriving two hours before departure (Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, n.d.). Then add the drive, and then add what the city does to a drive at that hour.

That last part is what catches people, and it is why one number for the whole state would be wrong. The same drive can take far longer at evening rush hour than mid-morning, rain or a nearby event adds more, and the cushion that is generous in Naples on a Tuesday morning is thin in Miami on a Friday evening.

When you book a car, the concierge sets the pickup from your flight time rather than asking you to guess it, and the car is scheduled to arrive before that time rather than at it. You are not watching an app to see whether anyone accepted.

The airports we drive to are Miami International Airport (MIA), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), President Donald J. Trump International Airport (PBI), Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), Key West International Airport (EYW), Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Tampa International Airport (TPA). Ask the desk what to allow for your own flight and the answer is about your date and your hour, not an average.