"Gate Closes" time - whose fault
 

Hi,

This is just a general wondering...

I recently had a connection from BA to BA in London T4. My incoming flight arrived at 1405 with the connection flight leaving at 1510. We were in a big rush at the end and barely made the flight even though we skipped all of security. We got to the gate at 1502. The funny thing is though, the 2nd boarding pass says gate closes 1425. We werent even off flight#1 by 1425, and I was wondering if we didnt skip security, and just waited in line - what would have happened? According to this boarding pass - we have already missed the flight and therefore there is no point skipping security. (The screens said final call / on time before we entered security) - no announcements were made for us even with 8 mins till departure.

I would think it would be BA's fault since they are telling you their gate closed 40 mins prior to departure even though it wasnt. Would they compensate you / put you on the next flight etc etc?

Cheers

If your connecting flight departed at 1510, I think the gate closes time should have been 1455. Are you sure you read it right?

But I don't understand the question, in any event. You knew that your flight was departing at 1510. Why would you have done anything other than what you did? Making arrangements for an alternative, later flight is something you do only after you know for sure that the aircraft has gone without you, not simply because your boarding pass says that the gate closes at a particular time.

And what were you doing between 1425 and 1502 that took so much time, considering you were making an airside connection in the same terminal? It's just a question of going upstairs in Terminal 4.

If you are within the minimum connect time and you are on a through ticket, yes BA would put you on the next available flight (and pay for overnight accommodation, meals if necessary). If either of these conditions is not satisfied, then BA has no responsibility.

Things may be different in North America, but here in Europe the gate time printed on boarding passes is the time they start boarding, not the time the gate closes. They like to have everybody at the gate at the time printed on the boarding pass, but that doesn't mean they won't let you on if you're not.

For long-haul flights the gate time can be as much as an hour before departure (I think I may even have seen 90 minutes). If you arrive at the gate half an hour before your long-haul flight you will find that they have just about finished boarding the long line of people that was there half an hour earlier, and you walk straight through. Of course if everybody were to turn up at the gate at the last minute they wouldn't get the flight off on time...

Yep, it said 1425. However, 1 of our 3 boarding cards has to be reprinted at the gate since they jammed it in the machine :rolleyes:. The new BP said 1455.

If I knew there was no way I would make the flight (i.e. the gate was closed) I would have just waited in security like everyone else and gone to the BA desk after getting through.

First, I walked a lot :D We were at one of the furtheres gates. Then, I was in security for around 25 minutes, I was about 1/3 through security when I decided to go up front and request the jump the queue. This was before I went up the stairs

Cheers