See - I'm with your mom. They say be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to your departure. I hear be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to boarding (so already at 2.5 hours). And then, the stage manager in me says 15-30 minutes early is on time, on time is late. So I pad in at least another half hour because...what if?? So, yep, usually 3 hours early for me. And it has paid off (ok, once). Traveling to Minnesota from Charlotte at Christmas...I was in the TSA line for 1.5 hours at 4:30 AM!!! I was one of the only ones in the line not panicking about missing my flight because I knew I had left 3 hours to get through the line and get to the gate. So yeah...sorry...on this one, my vote is for your mom!