17 before departure: "This flight is closed"
 

I was scheduled this morning to go from ORD-EWR on the 9:00am flight with my father. We checked in at the airport, I had been upgraded, and he isn’t elite so I had him added to the standby list for an upgrade as my companion. We went to the P-Club and about 30 minutes before 9:00 I checked with the P Club agent, Jeanne (very nice), who said FC was full. No big deal, so I told my father to go ahead and take my seat in FC- I would take his seat in coach. He left the P-Club, boarded the flight, and I finished up with my emails in the P-Club.

At about 20 minutes until scheduled departure time I headed to the gate. When I got there this is what happened next...

Gate Agent: “This flight is closed”.

Me: “Well it shouldn’t be, because there are exactly 17 minutes until departure, and I think the rule is 15 minutes.”

Agent: “Well, we paged you, but you didn’t show so we closed the flight.”

Me: “I was in the President’s Club and I’m not late. I want to take my seat on the plane. Why is this flight closed early without everyone on it? Why can’t I walk down the jetway and get on the plane?”

Agent: “The captain is ready to go and there’s nothing I can do. I called the P-Club and asked them to page you. I’ll try to put you on the standby list for the next flight at 12:55.”

Me: “That’s unacceptable. If you’re denying me boarding, I expect to be accommodated on another carrier immediately or compensated accordingly.”

She then whispers with her colleague and tells me I’m booked on a United flight at 10:45. Before I head over to United, I go to the P-Club only to find they were NEVER told to announce the closing or final boarding of my flight. The agents in the club were SHOCKED at what had transpired and encouraged me to complain, finally apologizing that I had been inconvenienced. I never received an apology from the gate agent who denied me boarding. Also, the flight was not full.

If you recall, my father took my seat on the CO flight, so I had his boarding pass. I went over to United and had to explain why I wasn’t the passenger who had a reservation in their system, and luckily they were understanding. I then took my middle seat in the back of the plane and arrived in EWR about 2 hours later. My father was waiting on me in EWR and in the end we were only inconvenienced, but what if the flights on United had been full? Shouldn’t flights stay open until the 15 minute mark unless ALL passengers have boarded? Has this happened to anyone else before?

I’m going to send a letter, but I’m not trying to whine my way into a free travel voucher. All I want CO to do is: 1) Find out who was working that flight and see to it that they aren’t closing flights early unless they’re sure all passengers are on board, and 2) credit my father’s Onepass account for the miles he would have earned. Am I out of line/being silly about this?

Unless the plane had already pulled away they should have let you on, especially as it was gonna cost them $$ to put you on UA.

BTW you said you were there 17 mins before, on whos watch? If yours , did yours and the one on the wall or somewhere else match. I ask that since at times my watch is a few minutes off, so if it was 12 mins before its a different problem.

No reason for the lying or actually for getting the flight out ahead of time, did your father say anything to the crew as he didnt see you pass by to go to the back? why not? I would have said youre closing the door yet my companion who I left in the PC Club hasnt boarded as yet, and we are leaving before the self-destructing time limit.

I dont know where the PC Club is but you said you left the Club 20 mins before departure time and then you were at the gate 17 mins before which is before the 15 min deadline. Is the gate really only a 3 min walk from the Club? When you said 20 mins was that from being outside the Club in the Term?

Dont want to pick on the small things but as I said I dont know the set-up at ORD or MDW, but from what I know of most Clubs its alot more then 3 mins to the Gates, and thats with most Airline Clubs not only aCOs PC.

this is bad but consider yourself lucky they accomodated you on united airlines (UA).

While I would never leave for a gate with only 20 minutes to go before flight time, I do know that the ORD PC Club is probably only a three minute or so walk. That being said, I would always get to the gate at about the 30 minute mark. But that's just me and others may differ.

Your comment should have been *AND*. "...another carrier immediately AND compensated accordingly."

-RM

I really don't feel bad for you at all. YOU should always leave the PC about 30minutes prior to departure. Not only did you risk missing your flight (you did miss it) you made 100+ other people wait while you took your sweet old time and they called for you. The plane got in early and took off at 13 minutes before 9:00 am according to CO.com. This means CO.comis wrong or the plane only took 4 minutes to TAXI if you saw it at the gate 17 minutes prior.

That's even more appaling. That means that it likely pushed back more than 17 minutes in advance in reality. Never heard of a 4 minute taxi at ORD.

Yes, I tend to leave clubs at least 30 mins in advance but I have occasionally gotten engrossed in something and looked up in the 20-25 minute time frame. I would be highly pissed if I got to the gate 15+ ahead and it was gone. Policy is policy. If they wouldn't let you on at 14 ahead even with the jetway connected then they should follow the policy the opposite way and allow you on at 15 ahead.

Agreed. I would have filed an IDB.

CO.com gives time the plane departs and arrives gate. Not take off. It departed gate 8:47am. Flightaware says it took off at 9:14am.

So, the plane did depart early, and at 8:43am, it should be still at the gate.

how does one "file" an involuntary denied boarding (IDB) claim?

Well claim it at the gate, if refused by GA and manager then with customer relations. If not, then with the DOT.

Thanks for everyone's responses. I love hearing your opinions. I wanted to clarify a few things... The P-Club at ORD is across from the few CO gates there, and I'd say it took 1 minute max to walk, and leaving at 20 minutes til (that is, walking out the door) was plenty of time- the CO area at ORD is small and the P Club close (like ATL or SEA). The watches I was using were those on my cell phone and the monitors in the P-Clubs, and those times matched. Regarding my father, he never flies so he didn't really know what was going on. Breakfast was his main concern at the time. Also, the plane did sit a while after the jetway was pulled away. Thanks again for everyone's 2 cents. I love FT!

The events were unfortunate, but I don't think I'd be rushing to file a IDB clain with the DOT. After all, you admit your father used your boarding pass to board a flight. I'm not sure I would bring that to their attention in the post 9-11 world.

Completely unacceptable behavior on the part of the gate agent. That said, I try to get to the gate 25-30 minutes prior to departure - why risk having to deal with such a situation? In any event, you arrived in plenty of time and should have been allowed to board.

I had a different experience recently waiting for CO 15 EWR-HNL. After sitting in the club for too long, I casually walked to the gate, which I found empty.

Puzzled, and yes, tipsy, I asked the G/A wether I was at the right gate. He said yes, and the flight was closed! Who am I? Oh, 5D? We've been paging you mr. Notsosmart!

He called the plane, then opened the door to the jetway, and told me to run to the A/C and BANG ON THE DOOR AND WAVE AT THE F/A THROUGH THE LITTLE WINDOW. I kid you not.

Long story short, they opened the A/C door for me, and I took my seat, much to the annoyance of everyone, I figured.

Here's the thing: I never heard a page, and the door was closed at least ten minutes before it should have been. So I think that the G/A realized that I would have a case for compensation (substantial since I was in paid B/F and this was the last flight of the day to HNL from the east coast on any carrier).

It was fun banging on that door though. Surreal, actually.