Originally Posted by
slidergirl
No reason to get to the airport when they would have gotten there after the last flight to anywhere that night. Airports do shut down, you know... [...] What started as a nice request for what they could do has degraded into another nasty thread. To those that actually offered good info, thank you.
The consistent piece of advice you've gotten is to tell people to get to the airport ASAP, even if it's after the last flight of the day, both because airport agents can do things that phone agents can't and because it makes the claim that it really is a flat tire situation more believable. The sad fact is that (partly because of airlines' inflexible policies) passengers try to get away with things all the time, and allowing passengers to claim "flat tire" without going to the airport at all invited abuse.
Also, you were reluctant to tell us where you are, but the airport is very relevant here. Yes, airports shut down, but a passenger is pretty likely to be able to find someone to help them when they finally do get to the airport, even after the last flight to their destination, when the airport is SLC. Much less so if it's a tiny outstation (say, St. George).