Less than 3 hours ago, I was awoken by my girlfriend (who had advised me that I was free to sleep till noon because she was capable to getting her friend to the airport on her own).

fast forward 20 minutes; we're in the PDX departure lobby

She was able to check her bags at the 33 minute mark, in spite of the fact that the 2 separate UA agents told her that the 45-minute rule was now set in stone and enforced (OT: we got in line at the 44 minute mark, but ~15 others were in the same boat and the agents had their hands full charging pax for baggage, many of whom left those illegal bags behind), unilaterally, simply to discourage future infractions. On the downside, they did nail her for $252 in excess bag fees (totally legit; I helped her pack and weigh her first bag, but she did the second on her own, which clocked in at 76 pounds... mostly Costco purchases that could also have been accomplished in Japan).

Getting back on topic, I'm posting in order get feedback on how the FT crowd handles these early morning mishaps.

I've had two in my life, both on DL; once ex-LGA and once ex-BWI. In both cases, I woke up within minutes of my flights' departure time, called India and got rebooked on later flights (that originally cost much more the 6a flights).

But, I might have gotten lucky.

I'm curious to hear about your oversleeping experiences -- why they happened and how they were resolved.