I was doing my online check-in prior to returning to SAN for my weekly commute. I noticed that the plane boarded at 7:50pm for an 8:20 departure. 7:50pm!! It was 7:15pm at the time. I check my PDA, which showed my flight at 9:20pm. Turns out my PDA synched all times one hour later, but that's another story. So...Mrs. Redbeard and I get in the car and scream torwards the airport. We live near Boulder, headed towards DIA. We went the back way (Tower Rd.) which was not a good choice in this situation. We get to the curb at 8:00pm. Bypassing check-in counters I am running full speed through DIA towards security. Fortunately, for Sunday night it is quiet and I don't get stopped for secondary and go downstairs to wait for the train. I am at B28, so it's another full sprint to the gate, arriving at 8:08...the gate is not closed, and I am the next to the last person on the flight. Did I mention my upgrade was already confirmed?

Short story: without my boarding pass already printed from home, my seat would have been given away and I would have been screwed. I had called reservations on the way to the airport, and there were no flights later that night, and the first two flights the next day were oversold.

WHEW!