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.

India wasn't helpful last time I overslept for a UA flight. The rep was happy to confirm me on a flight the following day but didn't understand the concept of stand-by for the next flight that day. I gave up after two calls to the ICC which resulted in the same "we don't have any availability today, you can fly out first thing tomorrow."

I headed to the airport by taxi (fastest way) and got there 20 minutes after my scheduled departure time. The kiosk automatically offered stand-by on the subsequent flight and I managed to get the very last seat on the plane.

Had the same thing happen 2 times, both of which were on United. Didn't both calling, just got to the airport shortly after the flight departed and stood by for the next one. In one case I was able to get on the next flight, in the other case I had to spend sometime convincing the agent to reroute me to OAK since all SFO flights were chock full that day. In both cases I made it to my destination within a few hours of when I should have, so it wasn't an issue.

do you realise how much fuel a plane burns when people like you abuse the baggage rule, why is it that you people always think that the allowance is to be broken, I really wish every single US airline would adopt the rest of the world policy on luggage 20KG max end of story and while you at it go metric

I never oversleep since I want to feel relaxed and not rushed. I work best when I have time to enjoy a leisurly breakfast and finish last minute packing. If the flight is in the late-afternoon I will go out for a nice lunch. But oversleeping and I don't mix