Originally Posted by
threeoh
I have personally seen this happen multiple times. People present at the gate at T-25 or T-20 with door still open and are denied boarding.
Every time? No of course not. But enough that it's not some wild exception.
Yes, I understand, but do you know for a fact those were connecting passengers? In my zillion UA flights I've never seen a connecting passenger denied boarding when the plane was still sitting there before departure time. For me, an IAD gate agent once walked me down the Jetway, knocked on the aircraft door, FA opens it and lets me on. GA said "Just take any seat, I already gave away your upgrade", they close the door again, and we start pushing back.