DenverDean,
You already posted this message on a thread in the oneworld forum, and then after that, started a new thread here with a cut-and-paste copy of your message. Crossposting like this against the FlyerTalk rules.
Also, it would appear to me that in both cases, you didn't arrive at the airport early enough, yet you seem to be holding this against Mexicana.
Well I had an unexpected experience today trying to unsuccessfully check in at Mexicana flight 851 DEN->MEX, I arrived 95 minutes before departure
According the Mexicana website, their cutoff time for checking in for international departures is 90 minutes prior to departure. So, arriving at the airport 5 minutes before the cutoff doesn't give you sufficient time to check in.
At 55 minutes before departure the sole Mexicana gate agent comes out and makes an announcement in spanish. Naturally, in the good old US of A, I figured they would repeat the announcement in English.
This is the only part of your post where I can see the airline did anything wrong. In my opinion, for international flights, airlines should make announcements in the languages used at both ends of the flight (as well as that of the airline's home country, if different from the above two).
I walked over to one of the American reps working the flight, and he very politely told me that Mexicana closed the flight at the 1 hour limit for customs
That's right. For international flights to or from the US, the airline must upload the passenger manifest to the US gov't one hour prior to departure. This is not under the airline's control.
I ask if I could carry on and still make the flight and he said that couldn’t happen (20 more minutes had passed)….. I mentioned that I’m a million mile gold member,
What does you being a million mile gold member have to do with the airline complying with government regulations? Why would you even bring your status up in such a situation?
This is the second time this has happened with this airline….. The time (about 7 years ago) I arrived at 85 minutes, as they noted when I arrived, and I was told that denied boarding as I arrived late, and they were obviously oversold. Well so much for second chances…
Once again, according to the Mexicana website, their policy is that you must be checked in 90 minutes before departure in order to retain your reservation and seat assignment. You arrived 5 minutes after the check-in deadline, and were denied boarding. This is exactly what happens with any airline when they are oversold. Even if they normally process passengers past the official check-in time (but not past any government-mandated deadline as you found out on the other flight), when a flight is oversold, anyone not checked in on time is a prime candidate for being bumped, since they are not owed any compensation. That's how it works on any airline.
Having said all of that, Mexicana's check-in policies are a bit longer than most. They say "recommend 3 hours, require 90 minutes." Most carriers say "recommend 2 hours, require 60 minutes" for international flights.
In any event, your two arrivals were at 85 minutes and 95 minutes prior to departure, not even meeting the recommended minimum of the most lenient carriers for int'l flights. What happened to you is not Mexicana's fault.