Arrival buffers are not wasted travel time

A soft first block can protect dinner, check-in, and the rest of a short itinerary from airport friction.

An arrival buffer is not empty time. It can be a station cafe, an indoor market, a hotel-neighborhood meal, or a short walk that works even if luggage, transit, payment setup, or rain slows the first hour. The point is to protect the first fixed commitment, not to make the trip slower.