Originally Posted by
WeekendTraveler
I've seen people in the boarding area with gate passes; I'm not sure how to get one, but I've seen them (this past weekend). That might be easier than booking and cancelling a flight, although the US Airways Club staff specifically told me to book a ticket and then cancel it in order to get through security without flying.
I'm sure plenty of people have driven to the airport instead of dealing with phone agents. I sure have. It seems odd that it's newsworthy, although I guess the story of "the airline made someone wait 4 hours so he just gave up and drove to the airport" just helps create the image of bad airline customer service that people want to see.
I don’t see many people taking away from this a sign of bad airline customer service when there are thousands of phone calls coming into a call center due to systemwide cancellations at any given time . An experienced flier with elite status knows to take matter into their own hands and show up to the airport . I’d rather arrive at my destination three hours late than the following day or cancelling all together.