I am sending this message as a caution to my fellow passengers on USAirways. You must be at the gate fifteen minutes before the original departure time even if the flight is delayed. Thus, if the flight is originally scheduled for 4:05pm you must be in the gate area by 3:50pm even though the flight is listed on the television monitors with a 4:30pm departure.

I have flown extensively for over forty years as a USAirways Chairman Preferred and I never knew this fact. I thought I would share my discovery so that someone else does not get caught in the same bind.

The problem took place for my wife and I on a connection through LaGuadia. She is a Platinum Preferred. Upon arrival in LaGuadia we discovered that our flight to Ithaca (4697) was delayed until 4:30pm. We headed to the USAirways Club and relaxed for a few minutes. We checked the scheduled departure time a couple of times while in the club and it continued to 4:30pm.

We left the club around 4:00pm heading directly to the gate and the departure time was still showing as 4:30pm. Since the flight was operating out of gate 2, just around the corner from the club, we were at the gate by 4:05pm.

When we arrived at gate 2 at 4:05pm, there was no one at the podium and the gate area was empty. The plane had already loaded but the cabin door was still open and the plane was being serviced. The customer service agent returned from the plane to the podium in a few minutes. He informed us that he had given away our confirmed seats to two other passengers and that we could not fly on the plane.

We were told the plane was weight restricted, which seemed strange for a chilly late November day with clear skies but I accepted that the flight was weight restricted. The gate agent checked with the pilot and said that we would not be allowed to board because the flight was weight restricted.

The plane actually left the gate around 4:30pm. Since we were the last two passengers to present our boarding passes, we were the folks who drew the short straws and were denied boarding. To my knowledge, at no point in time did the airline personnel ask for volunteers to be bumped. Even though we were at the gate 25 minutes before the posted departure time, with confirmed seat assignments, we were denied boarding on our confirmed flight.

We were not given involuntary denied boarding compensation. I requested involuntary denied boarding compensation for both my wife and myself. We were at the gate 25 minutes before the posted departure time with confirmed seat assignments.

I have pursued this matter through Customer Relations, the Chairman’s Desk, and directly to Doug Parker but have been told that we should have been at the gate 15 minutes before the original departure time (ie., 3:50pm) even though the TV monitors were showing 4:30pm. The times posted on the television monitors are irrelevant.

I am sharing this tale of woe with my fellow travelers so that you do not get caught in the same situation.

Happy travels.