Originally Posted by
the42ndstate
The four hour rule caught me by surprise last month at SEA. I needed to check my bag with large liquids inside and planned to work for several hours in the Lounge. The F checkin agent said I needed to wait about 10 minutes until I could check my bag… but that worked out to four hours before the boarding time. I stood off to the side and after about 10-15 minutes, the same agent called me over and said it was fine to check my bag. As soon as she scanned my boarding pass, there was a problem. It was still outside the four hour flight time, but she did override it and checked my bag. So it’s definitely possible, but YMMV.
I have also had the experience of an agent overriding an alert on their end. I arrived with a group heading off to different destinations and it was clear I wasn’t just trying to stick them with a bag. I’m not sure how close I actually was to the four hours, but I’m guessing that they need to reconcile “4 hours” somehow and, similarly, including the boarding time would’ve made sure to meet that number (I definitely wasn’t at the counter 4:40 early). While my itinerary/circumstances allowed for some sort of override, one I wasn’t going to question, I wouldn’t ever rely on that (not that I usually arrive more than an hour before departure anyway…)