Originally Posted by
orbitmic
Unfortunately, you are flogging a dead horse here by focusing on the wrong thing.
In your initial post, you mentioned that you were at the gate at "7.18-7.19". later you mention 7.16. I'm not entirely sure which it is but either way, the point is that you were not at the gate at 7.15 and that as a result you simply have no leg to stand on and no right to compensation.
I mentioned those times because for sure I was looking at my phone at that time - and it doesn't matter since the earliest I was sure I'm at the gate was 0716, after the official cut off time anyway.
Originally Posted by
orbitmic
You are trying to make a case that your being late did not matter because boarding was closed early so "if" you had been at the gate on time, "then you would" have been denied boarding. That is simply not how this works. Imagine if another passenger on your flight was a no show and did not come to the airport. Do you think that they should be able to ask for IDB compensation because the flight left early and therefore if they had come to the airport and arrived at the last minute then they would have been IDBed? No right? Well, it is exactly the case you are making it - a claim that you "could have been" IDBed even though you were not because you missed your flight.
Ive missed probably way too many flights, woke up late, traffic, saw 8pm instead of 8am, etc etc. It's entirely my fault for not being there at the gate at the cut off time.
The case I was trying to make was that if I had knew about the change in departure time I would have chose to go to the toilet on the plane instead in the lounge, but instead the gate agent was saying that I should have noticed the last minute change displayed on the board.
She, of course, has zero obligation to be sympathetic to me. It's a little frustrating to hear "it's your fault for not seeing the new departure time, we closed the gate early according to the new departure time" - even though the doors didn't close till 0719, but that's probably they're waiting for the paperworks for offloading me.
Originally Posted by
orbitmic
This is a painful experience. There is also a very frustrating situation (amply reported on this forum) that the boards in the lounges are not always accurate, so if you relied on them, it is quite possible that you did not show the flight as closing even though it was, but that is the reason why on this forum all of us regulars repeat that it is essential to arrive at the gate with plenty on time (I personally recommend leaving to be 25 minutes at the latest as there can always be silly issues like a problem with the escalator or what not which will mess up your plan by 1 or 2 minutes.
This is very good advice, thank you!