Just wanted to post my experience from this morning in terminal A at EWR. Arrived in on SFO-EWR on time, transitioned over to terminal A for my eventual EWR-BDL. Since we arrived with enough time, I got myself and my companion on the standby list for the earlier flight. Once everyone had boarded, the gate agent indicated that there were two no-shows. He took us down the jetway, checked on the plane to make sure the seats were available, and then asked us to gate check our bags. We boarded and found that there was only one seat available, not two. Flight attendant called the GA back, who then realized his mistake. He said he'd accommodate us on the original flight, but that he wasn't going to be able to get our bags off the plane. I was pretty pissed, but acted calmly and said that while I didn't want to make trouble, I wanted the bags off the plane, and that I'd just wait on the plane until they were removed. He told me if I didn't get off the plane, he'd call security, so I relented. Back at the gate, he did get us back on the original flight and gave us a $100 TC for the trouble. I asked him why he wasn't able to get the bags off the flight and he said it would cause a 5-6 min delay for which they would be fined.

Anyway, the guy admitted his mistake and tried to make it right, but my bags are no longer with me due to his mistake, and I'm sitting here in EWR. While it'll probably work out fine, pretty annoying.

Thanks for letting me whine a bit, this holiday morning.