Originally Posted by
baccarat_king
I think it's all about how you read it. "Be at the gate" is a general reference. The T-30 is a, if you haven't boarded (or we haven't scanned your boarding pass) we can give away your seat. At least, that's how I see it.
Is T-30 a "hard and fast" rule globally? Or just ex-USA international? I never really paid very much attention.
AFAIK T-30 is stated as a rule for all international DL flights, including the transborder Canadian flights.
However, my impression is that often it's not enforced. I almost always see D1 passengers boarding after T-30. It's also not unusual for the lounge (I'm thinking of the F/G SC at MSP especially) to not announce the flight until about T-30, which means that leaving then implies getting to the gate around T-25 and maybe up to the scanner by T-20.
The KLM lounges at AMS used to always have the T-30 reminder on a sign at the reception desk. I've also seen ticket folders and stickers on boarding passes reminding people of the rule. However, AMS ahs the annoying habit of changing the scheduled departure times on their airport monitors to move the departure up by 10-20 minutes. When I've complained about the resulting panic, they say that they do it deliberately to encourage passengers to hurry to the gate.
BTW, do you forecast that security slowdowns at AMS will be a problem this summer, after whatever happens this week?