Happened to me in Amsterdam, in May. I flew into AMS fcrom ALA on KLM, went to the lounge took a shower and at 7:45 am figured I would have a cup of coffee and be at the gate for 8:15 boarding of the 9:45 (or so) NW flight to MSP.

Well when I blinked, the clock said 12:45!!! I hurried to the Pier E transfer desk, sheepishly admitting my faux pas and looking for any flight stateside. The first response was: earliest I could fly would be the following day! This was disaster as I had a very important meeting and would have to leave for PEK next day. Itinerary dropping did me no good and I was reminded that it was my fault that I slept through repeated calls. I was also told that the flight was delayed for me, and my bags had to be off loaded!

They were right, and I had no ground to stand on, so I was reconciled to the delay, when out of the blue, one agent said he would give it a try, and sure enough, found me a seat on the Detroit flight. I was so thankful!!! A big box of chocolate changed hands as an inadequate measure of my appreciation!

While I made it to Detroit, of course my bag did not. my enquiries at DTW upon arrival resulted in the following response: "aren't you the guy who caused the flight delay... don't even ask us about the bag... maybe it will get here, maybe not! For once, I slunk away, with my head down!

Bag reached a day later! I appreciated the fact that NW was so accomodating, and never once raised the issue of excess charges for re-issuing the ticket after what was really my fault!

spc354