lallied

My understanding is that it’s the crew/GA decision whether to hold or close. All the concierge can do is radio ahead - and they always do - and get you there quickly. The concierge team always go out of their way to make this happen - and have had them run ahead with int-dom connections where I was going through security so that they can say ‘they are just behind me’. All of which is , in my opinion, heroic and largely beyond the call of duty. If they had held, missed a slot, and or timed out, then the knock on effects with misconnects and delays might have been much worse.

Plumber

I get that, but not everybody has the same sense of urgency....My guess is that some percentage of Pax will stop along the way to make a phone call because of a crisis at work/home OR have to go to the bathroom OR aren't feeling well and need to stop for a break/water OR cannot move fast etc, etc......Concierge nor GA nor Crew have any idea who they are dealing with and how long they will take to arrive. Just ask some of these AC employees what kind of weird things they see on a daily basis.

As to why they sometimes hold flights, I have no answer!

krayZpaving

I understand Concierge can flag not to offload you because you're already in the Terminal (or whatever - they can write a freetext note that comes up on your reservation on the screen for the gate agent), but they don't have the authority to stop the plane leaving.
Very unfortunate that the door was closed before they knew about the eventual delay to 22:00...

lallied

.......and not all of us can run as fast as a 20 something concierge. It’s ok with the BMW but in reverse it’s a looong way (well, 5-6m running door to door, while leaping over baggage and ducking past passengers and begging folk to let you in the security queue)

yyznomad

(bolding mine)I remember one time last year I was running along one of the people movers in YYZ Domestic to board a flight that was about to close and they had already announced my name three times - I ran past several AC employees along the way. As I ran past a concierge (not knowing right away they were a concierge), the concierge spoke out loud to me "Sir - which flight are you on?", so I slowed down and shouted back "XYZ" (I now forget which flight) - she then asked me to stop and she radioed to the gate to leave the door open for me. We then jogged together to the gate, while engaging in small talk. She said she saw my SE luggage tags which prompted her actions to assist, even though I didn't ask for help. Yes, this was a 20-something concierge who can run with this old-fart SE.

vernonc

Oh so now you admit to who you are :-).
I have had concierges do what several posters above have mentioned i.e. pick me up from arriving aircraft, rush thru customs, etc and also radio the gate that they we were on our way. Seems off that they would close the gate in this instance when they would have known how close they were.

SparseFlyer

Yeah but this is flight specific.

I've experienced this on AC430 many time before. My guess is that AC430 doesn't connect to anything, but has a lot of inbound passengers. Definitely makes more sense to hold it.

But no one in their right mind would hold a large international flight if it meant risking the connections of 150 passengers, even for (gasp) an SEMM.

What ducks for OP is that he arrived and the plane was still there. If it was only about opening a door and letting someone hop on, I'm sure any gate agents would be glad to help. But they have to draw the line at some point and close the flight to push it back, and I don't think reopening a flight is as simple as pressing a couple of buttons.

yyznomad

I have also benefited/experienced such cases, where they are waiting for me and golf cart or run with me with radio in hand.

I've basically experienced the entire gamut of possibilities with concierges... and sometimes even concierges can't hold the flight.

I think every situation is different and decisions are made on the fly - sometimes in favour of the SE and sometimes not in favour of the SE. Sometimes it depends on how busy they are, or how competent the person/people working on your "situation" is/are.

YEG_SE4Life

Are you referring to the black b(r)ag tags that serve no practical purpose but to stroke an ego?

yyznomad

Yep. They've helped me in several similar cases.
I try to handle everything on my own, however, often concierges (and occasionally, other AC staff) take notice and assist unexpectedly after they notice my tags. I'm always grateful for their assistance, especially when it is proactive and unsolicited like that.

canadiancow

Stop lying. The brag tags are only useful to show others how important you think you are. They serve no practical purpose.

The Lev

According to the post, those blag tags can serve a useful purpose.

CZAMFlyer

not gonna bite

yyznomad

It's ok. I know they've proved useful to me in many ways, and I guess that's all that really matters and is nobody else's business, but they can judge me as they eat their Grey Poupon if they so please. I don't really talk much on here about all my stressful situations of when I receive unsolicited assistance, or get the shaft by AC employees... and believe me I've been through a lot. Those luggage tags have also helped me in ways I would have never expected, and that's all that really matters.

Plumber

My guess is that it was impossible to help as I believe the OPs seat may have been given away.