I agree that this can happen with any airline not specifrically B6. I was Chairman's Preferred for a while on legacy US and a couple of times they left without me say 10-15 minutes early on the last flight of the night. One time it was so early in fact that legacy US customer relations sent me a travel voucher for my approximately $100-$150 hotel.

I got so frustrated with how they handled one of these when I was a US Chairman's Preferred that I jumped to UA 1K and shlepped out to IAD for a while because I felt that 1K recognition was better at UA IAD than US DCA. Again, this is well in the past with legacy US. I'm sure it helped also that at the time IAD fares were a lot lower than DCA.....as of now they are pretty comparable.

So how do you think this industry trend including B6 of early out times either benefits or harms the public? Is there anything to say the public is better off under this "new system?" Or is it just a way for the airlines to have even more time to pad their on time numbers? I mean if you close the door 15 minutes early, it gives you a lot more wiggle room for an on time arrival!

Also I have to believe some airlines use this practice more than others. I'm not saying B6 does it more or less, I would be curious in fact.

My mom, a non elite traveler in her 70's, actually got hung up at security at BOS trying to fly BOS DCA. The flight left without her. She told me that B6 insisted on charging her to put her on the next flight. She says they never offered her free standby which I think is official SOP for a no show who arrives at the airport.

I called B6 to try to reverse the charge and they said the notes in the PNR said she was offered standby but elected to pay. Again, she says she was never offered standby. I wasn't there?!

B6 did refund my moms charge as a courtesy though they kept saying how they were not obligated too.

I just bring this up because maybe these early out times are a sneaky way for the airlines to collect some kind of no show or rebooking fee.

I also have a co worker who was connecting on DL in JFK. She's by no means a frequent flyer or a travel hacker. She's a "normal person," as far as that goes.

So they closed her flight early and also charged her for the reaccommodation! I think she got it refunded but how many people have the tenacity to ask for refunds? Or how many people making a flight connection and remember they are totally out of their element at the airport will "just say no" when a gate agent trys to charge them a fee, and ask for a supervisor or ask that the fee be waived? I bet its more common for the normal pax to whip out their plastic!

I bet all the airlines collect a lot of fees from these early close times?