ARGH! What is up with the checkin time issue?!
 

I need some advice from some of you who are more familiar with CO's policies than I am. Here's the story:

My cousin (not much flying experience) was supposed to fly tonight (Thurs. 3/10), PHL-CLE, flight 1600 (6:10 PM) for an interview tomorrow. Due to work issues and traffic, she arrived at the checkin desk at 5:43 PM. The ticket had already been purchased, and she did not have any baggage to check in for the flight. However, the customer service agent at check-in (male, but she didn't get a name) denied her the chance to board the flight, saying that she was checking in too late. As a result, she will not be able to leave PHL until tomorrow morning, and get to CLE at 8:11 AM (and her interview is at 9 AM, in Wickliffe). I took a look at CO's contract of carriage and it says that the cutoff is 15 minutes (at the gate) as long as the ticket has been purchased and no baggage has been checked in for the flight.

(Yes, I know that she could have - and should have - checked in earlier, and online, but I'm arguing a policy that they have.)

While the argument of "would she make it through security and to the gate in time" could be debated, I want to know the following:

Do you have any suggestions for a viable solution to the problem (for example, compensation for her being involuntarily denied boarding)? If so, who should I contact in order to deal with the issue?

Thanks for any advice you can give to me.
gmax58

You are required to check-in 30 minutes prior to the flight time. You must be at the gate 15 minutes prior to flight time. I've missed check-in before (prior to OLCI) by as little as 3 minutes. Your cousin needed to be checked in by 5:40 PM.

Just a clarification: Is there anywhere in CO's contracts, etc. that say this? I am looking around and can't seem to find this.

This story is the exact reason I check-in online...

Same thing that ran into my mind when she told me this; normally, she does check in online...I'm not exactly sure why she didn't in this case. (No viable internet connection at home is the likely reason.)

I would do several things:

1. Make a printout of the flight status immediately (i.e. before it is no longer available). It shows that the plane departed early at 6:02pm instead of the scheduled time of 6:10pm.

2. Check to see that Continental does not have a rule requiring check in at least 30 minutes prior to the flight. This is (or at least used to be) a typical rule that most US domestic airlines had.

If there is no 30 minute check in rule, I would contact Continental Customer Service and ask for denied boarding compensation, especially since the flight departed early. It is still possible to make it from the check in desk to the departure gate in that amount of time if the security line is not too long (although at this time on a Thursday evening it might well be too long).

I looked around for a bit and could not find anything. I just know it as a rule. I'm pretty sure that they state it somewhere, but I don't know where. I did check the Contract of Carriage and could not find anything (probably the same piece you read).

Additionally, it's possible that the 30 minute cut-off is now a federal rule... I'm sure someone else can clarify this if I am mistaken.

I called up WE (don't) CARE-2 and had an extended discussion with one of the agents (I really wish I remembered her name). Apparently, the (unwritten) rule is that at 30 minutes, the customer service agent can, at his/her discretion, say that the customer does not have enough time to make the flight (again, I would agree that she probably would not have). Personally, I think this is an incredibly shady rule (I did put a suggestion that this rule be made available, explicitly, to anyone looking through the CO website.)

She and I reached an impasse - I don't think she was about to allow Denied Boarding Compensation because of this, based on how things were going...but it may well be worth calling the number again.

As for a federal rule (unless WN is exempt), that can't be the case - WN check in cutoff times are 20 minutes.

As for the flight status, I've printed that too. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

I'm in and out of Philly a LOT. Something very strange started happening about I would guess 2-3 months ago.

My normal procedure was to get through security and sit in the United Red Carpet Club (yeah it's an AWFUL lounge but it's the only choice for me there), then a half hour before flight, I would pack up and hit D-8 for my Continental flight. One time I think in January, I did this, got to the gate 25 mins before departure (normally when they start the boarding) and the plane was already full and they had been paging me!

The flight left like 10 mins early!

So I don't know what is going on in that airport but now all the flights are loading up early.

I know if you have status you can generally bully your way through the system. The easiest way to do this is to offer them two options - either let you do what you need to do - or offer them so much paperwork and wasted time with annoying questions and repeated renegotiations over the next flight, that the natural human reaction to be lazy kicks in. And if they still don't let you on the flight, make them suffer in paperwork hell over it.

After they have you just about totally rebooked, fake a phone call and pretend that you have to change the flights again. Really dig into them subtly. If you have no status, play really dumb. This is an easy option. If you have status, start quoting rules and make them look them up until they get headaches. And at the end of it all, just wink and say "You do know that this would have been much easier if you would have just let me on my flight."

I really think there is a PhD thesis to be written on whether the smarter people opt for the work or the boarding pass, and likewise for the dumber.

Quality! That is one of the most amusing things I've seen in my limited time on Flyertalk! ;)

Nothing personal, but let me put it this way: As a hiring manager (which I am), if I were interviewing a potential employee and found out they didn't show up at a major airport until 27 minutes before departure, without a boarding pass and still needing to both check in and go through security, I would question their judgement, planning, and general problem-solving skills. This person seems unorganized and unprepared. Again, nothing personal.

I doubt I'd offer them the job.

I imagine the people at CO also ask themselves "What are people thinking - arrivng 27 minutes before a flight?" I can see the service reps rolling thier eyes when someone feels CO owes them something for not showing up until 27 minutes before departure time, with no boarding pass and still has to go through security.

I understand your cousin isn't an experienced flyer, but neither is my mother-in-law, and she shows up at the airport 3 hours early.

I also didn't see anything specific on CO's web site about 30 minutes, but I did see this:

The following tips will help ensure a stress-free airport experience:

Allow more than enough time to check-in and walk to the gate. Some airports may require as much as 2 1/2 hours for passenger processing. Check the website for average security processing times at major domestic airports.

Sounds like good-old common sense. CO's website shows processing at PHL is 2 hours at peak times, and this flight falls in the peak period. Real-world could certainly be less, maybe even a lot less, but between 5-6 pm it's a busy time at the security checkpoint in any major airport. But this is what is advised on Co.com and I'll bet CO will stick to that.

That being said, if you're hell-bent on finding a loophole to nail CO to the wall, good luck finding a sympatheic ear at CO. This isn't like the passenger was involuntarily bumped after being checked in and arriving at the gate per the 15 minute rule. That would be a slam dunk for compensation. I think you'll spend hours and hours on this for little or no reward. (Plus, I'd make your cousin do all this leg work. Chances are they'd learn not to cut it so close again!). Good Luck, anyway!

Totally agree with you (even though I'm often guilty of cutting it close). There were extenuating circumstances (traffic, problems at work), and yes, I agree with you that she SHOULD have been there earlier (I even noted that in the first post, I think.)

As for leg work, I just made a phone call (I offered to help her because I "know some people" - i.e. the people at Flyertalk - and I was confident I'd get a well-thought response and some sound advice.) Hardly a stressful experience for me :D

I'm thinking the answer is pretty obvious from the phone call I made and the responses I've received - thanks a lot for your help (even if it wasn't the desired outcome) ^ (After all, it couldn't hurt to try. ;) )

Isn't that a little extreme? There are many highly motivated, highly successful, hard working people out there who are late for a flight on the rare occasion. Unless they are applying for pilot or f/a or organ transplant courier, the on-time check-in statistic wouldn't register anywhere in my evaluation of a job candidate's skill sets and value to my company.

An Observation
 

You and your niece are obviously upset.

This is a critical thing because it may cost her a job.

Yet your niece was denied checki-n and knows it was a male - yet did not get his name. I would have been pi$$ed and gotten his name - even if it were my fault for running late.

Also - you called the WeCare line - do not know who you talked to (they always give there name at the beginning of the call) - and them call them the We don't care line. I have found them to be very helpful.

You have been given good advice above - and if truth be known - I would not be surprised if you had not taken the previous poster's advice and printed off the 6:02 departure time.

Not trying to be pi$$y here - just think that you and the niece need to take on more responsibility.

And oh yes - I agree with the poster above. Let's hope youe niece does not tell the company she was late because she got there 3 minutes late for checkin. I would assume if she were late to the airport, she would be late to work.

Whew....now I feel like slapping my wife and beating the dog...

Not at all. If you're not willing to put in a little extra effort to arrive on-time (if not early) for something as important as getting to a job interview, then why not expect you're not going to put in much extra-effort for an important assignment or project at work.

This person had a deadline to meet (making a flight) and didn't - and basically had no other excuse other than they "just didn't get around to it". I see that as a problem.

Apparently, other posters here do, too - including the original one!

Family emergency, flat tire, illness, etc. are understandable - stuff happens. "Just not getting around to it" isn't. If you're willing to accept lack of effort as an excuse not to meet a deadline at your company, good for you. I'm not.