Originally Posted by
Often1
You need either a BP valid for that day or a gate pass. The latter can be issued by any carrier serving the terminal. Ask politely, give your explanation, and smile if it is denied. Go to somebody else. They are pretty freely granted.
Agree with this. Go to the ticket counter when you arrive at the airport, explain the situation, and request a gate pass. You generally have to have a pretty compelling case (e.g., passenger might be elderly, minor, disabled, non-English speaker, etc).
Originally Posted by
CApreppie
Book the cheapest one-way refundable ticket, check-in, then when you're done, call customer service and say you are cancelling the ticket and need to be offloaded from the flight.
I've done it once when I really needed to and it worked fine. Just make absolutely sure that the T&C of the ticket says fully refundable/cancelleable w/o penalty.
This works, too, but if you do this, make sure you book a flight at least a few hours after the other flight, and one which is at least the same airline!