I missed another flight, which meant I missed my business class connection on a premium transcontinental flight and several hours of productivity. While an overzealous gate agent was literally to blame, I blame myself for cutting it too close.
Another Missed Flight – Time To Learn My Lesson…
It was on a flight from Burbank to San Francisco. The departure was at 6:09pm and I arrived at the airport at 5:50p and was to the gate by 5:54pm, right at the 15-minute cutoff for boarding.
The gate area was deserted, the aircraft door closed, and the air stairs had been pulled away. A gate agent appeared, asking if I was Mr. Klint. I told her that I was on-time. She responded, “I paged you.”
Well, duh. I wasn’t at the airport yet. The plane was there right there. We were still 12 minutes before departure time. I asked if she would see if the captain would re-open the door. She refused.
Fine, I thought…arguing is simply not worthwhile.
That meant I missed my San Francisco – Newark connection in business class on the 777-300ER, which would have given me a few hours to work and have dinner at SFO, then sleep, then arrive early in the morning into Newark.
I looked at space from Los Angeles…all flights to Newark were full, even in economy class. For a few moments, I considered buying a $200 walk-up ticket on another carrier from BUR-SFO, but I could not justify the expense…every purchase, every trip is a cost-benefit analysis and I simply don’t have $200 here and $200 there to heap on what amounts to upgrades for leisure trips. That would have messed up the sequencing of the ticket too…you can’t just skip segments.
So I rebooked myself from Los Angeles to Newark…via Orlando. Why Orlando? It allowed me to upgrade LAX-MCO. Although MCO-EWR was full, the flight was less than 30% full in the back and I had an exit row all to myself.
So I lost my lie-flat seat (the LAX-MCO flight was operated by a 737 MAX), lost a bunch of time, and had to drive to LAX.
On a positive note, I went back home and enjoyed dinner with my wife and kids. That somewhat made the missed flight more stomachable. Somewhat.
I can rant and rave about the gate agent all day long and have written the airline about closing up flights early. But ultimately, if I had just allowed myself some more time, I would have made the flight. I cut it too close, even if I was technically on-time.
A wise person once told me to arrive to every appointment 15 minutes early. Use the extra time to read, pray, think, work, or relax. It’s a good strategy that I intend to implement going forward.
I have this bad habit of cutting things too close: I also wasn’t technically blame for a missed flight from LA to San Francisco earlier this year, but had I just allowed myself more time, we would have made it…it created quite a headache.
> Read More: A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way To San Francisco…
CONCLUSION
I’m so sick of missing flights. Rookie move. Such a rookie move. As easy as it is to heap blame on the gate agent, I am simply going to allow myself more time next time. At least that’s the plan…
I can sympathize with your situation. I hate waiting at airports. I don’t ever want to be a gate louse. I arrive as close to departure as possible, almost making a game out of just in time boarding. The risk is being burned by missing the flight. 99% of the time I succeed but it’s the 1% miss where the pain lingers.
I feel you. I’ve started arriving earlier to airports since June of this year (don’t want to talk about it).
I agree with you (earlier = better), but I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it. It’s inevitable that anyone who travels as often as you do would either miss a few flights or give up too much time with family or leisure or work to be perfectly on time.
The cost/benefit folks will point out that 15 minutes in advance of your target time will need to be effective pretty darn often to justify it. I consider myself lucky that I can be pretty efficient in a lounge.
Whatever works
Four minutes from airport arrival to gate arrival. Can see the appeal of BUR.
Indeed. It’s one reason I always push it so close.
I have been late because of unavoidable circumstances. Like the idiot protesters blocking a major road in England this past month because of global warming, making me miss a flight back to the States. But I’m never late otherwise, early, sometimes ridiculously so. I just wait in the lounge.
So did you have to eat the cost of the original ticket, or they rebooked you at no cost?
I was rebooked.
At no cost?
Do many of your business clients read your blog?
Is that a veiled insult? 😉
Not even close. It was simply a question that I thought might interest other readers besides myself. I find it intriguing at times to know what business acquaintances do outside of the work and after your post about your celebrity interaction and how it started, it seemed like a fun question. Sorry if you took offense but really none was meant.
Now you have me curious again (and still no offense or hidden meanings): why would that be an insult?
Thanks for the clarification – was curious more than offended. I thought you might have meant that clients would see me as an irresponsible person for missing my flight.
Feeling a little guilty? 😉
I’ve never missed a flight or even a connection because I always give myself way more time than I need to arrive and between flights. I can be very productive in an airport, so I just don’t see time spent waiting for a flight as unproductive time. Often, it allows me to arrive home with a clear inbox and, thusly, the ability to be fully present for family life.
“I asked if she would see if the captain would re-open the door. She refused.” Imagine this – if you were to call Kirby, the agent would greet you with a great smile “Mr. Klint, I texted and paged that you don’t have to run. We’ll wait for you, Sir.” 🙂
If you want to do a simple cost benefit analysis, consider always arriving at the gate at T-20 instead of T-15. You will always make the plane that way. If you miss 5% of your flights at T-15 (e.g. 1 in 20 flights), then those five minutes each flight will cost you 100 minutes per missed flight.
Can you get rebooked, get to LAX, fly via Orlando, and get to your destination in only 100 extra minutes? Not likely….
You handled it well
Surprised there was availability without an upfare
Maybe just stop at MCO and head north. I originated there this morning for my Air Canada status match R/T.
Speaking of cutting it close… Walgreens ID NOW tests are taking more than 24 hours. Mine hit my inbox on the way to the airport… 27 hours after test time.
Going to YYZ?
I’m there RN.
I never missed a flight because I was late. If I have to travel that becomes my priority and I know that missing a flight will ruin possibly a full week of work so I rather wait at the airport than miss the flight.
Now, getting to the gate and having the plane there but the door closed and a gate agent not helping is a disgrace. Just the other day I had this problem. Flying into Denver the airport was closed because of storms. All flights were delayed and I thought my connection was also delayed. It was not. I got out of my first flight and ran like crazy to the other gate. Got there in similar time as you did. It was a small regional plane so not many passengers. There were 10 passengers at the gate arguing with the gate agent. Plane was still there, still attached to the jet bridge but door closed. Gate agent ignored 10 passengers. It was the last flight of the day and we all had to figure out what to do at our own expense. I showed the gate agent an email I received from United telling me they were holding the plane. She ignored. Did I mention it was a United flight? What a disgrace.
I hope that United reads this blog and takes action on pax experiences like this.
It is the use of the word “again” in title that gives me pause. I assume you mean you’ve done this before?
If you have to ask the question then the answer is likely to be no.
Mr. Klint
Was the BUR-SFO a CRJ-200?
What’s your thoughts about that plane?
So many travelers hate it
I hate it too! I prefer row 8 over row 1.
Got really close last Sunday, flying SEA to IAH. Arrived at pre check T25 mins, breezed through security in 5 mins, hustled to the A gates, only to realize my plane was parked at S terminal. Since when does UA go out of S-term?!?! SPRINTED to the train, bolted onboard, and found myself next to two UA pilots. I asked them the very question and they were just as flummoxed, having just turned around from A gates. Lucky for me they were piloting the IAH flight…we arrived at T10 mins…
I’ve never myself missed a flight, no matter what airport I always plan to arrive an hour early at least (but usually 1hr is enough), in practice this has meant I’m as late as 45 minutes before departure. Any less than that and it’s too easy for the Straw to Break the Camel’s Back
Yeah, arriving that close is on you for your originating leg. What is upsetting though is when you are connecting and arrive that close (not by your own fault) and they won’t let you board even with the plane still at the gate. Quite a common occurrence at DFW with AA due to arriving a few minutes late and connection is in a different terminal. That’s when agents need to be proactive and patient. Yet rarely are.
I used to be a person who was always running through airports to get to the gate at the last minute, and occasionally missed flights. One time I missed an important one (mainly due to traffic, which I should have anticipated). More than just work efficiency – which is not really a factor much since with Wi-Fi, you can be productive practically anywhere, so airport time is no longer downtime – I simply realized that this was just adding stress for no good reason. I deliberately decided to make flying less stressful, so I am at the airport early (worst case scenario: more time in the lounge to eat or to work), and board at the beginning (no battles over seat poachers or overhead space, all electronics set up to start working soon after takeoff, and in the olden days, maybe even a PDB).
I like this much better. The reduction in stress is well worth it.
This is the opposite of a flight I had a month ago on Aegean. Gate agent greeted me: “The whole plane is waiting for you! 180 people!”
I’ve never felt more specialer.
Nothing wrong with missing a flight once in a while, I would say if you never miss a flight, you’re wasting too much time at the airport. Now of course, you need to be strategic in when you are willing to cut in close and when you’re not, but if you know there is a reasonable alternative, its worth the risk.
That being said, I would be outraged if I arrive at the gate at cutoff time and the agent has already closed the door. Barring unique circumstances, there is absolutely no need to be closing up the aircraft 15 minutes before departure. I certainly would provide the feedback to UA on this.
I’m one of those guys who allows more than enough time, every time, because the thought of missing a flight just scares the heck out of me. Only once did I cut it close, but because of something that happened AFTER I got to the airport.
Four years ago, my wife and I were flying from Dulles to Las Vegas. Got to the airport, checked in, and saw we were now on a flight over an hour earlier! No advance notice – email, text, nothing. Tried to get an explanation, and got something like, “They must have rebooked you.” Well, duh, but no time to argue – I gotta get my butt to the gate! TSA was a bad dream (just short of a nightmare), and the whole time in line, I’m watching the time tick away….
Hustled over to the gate, and thankfully the agents were there on the ‘com telling the plane “we’ve got our runners.” As we showed them our boarding passes, I apologized and said we were supposed to be on a later flight, but when we checked in our we found ourselves on this one. Got the same, “They must have rebooked you.”
We get on the plane and make the Walk of Shame to our seats….
The last connection I missed was SFO-SLC. 40 min connection time from the SAN-SFO leg. Runway construction in SFO caused a ground stop in SAN. Then we had a “go-around” on the first approach. Then the gate agent took over 10 min to get the jetway moved and door open. Lastly, the SLC flight was closed and departed 6 min early! It was the last US flight to SLC, You would think that UA knows that they have inbound passengers who are late due to irrops and hold the last flight of the day. I remember they were holding flights for just this reason pre-covid. I think you wrote an article on it.
Matt, completely feel your pain on this. Traveling extensively for decades I never missed a flight. Then the last 5-10 years…well…it’s embarrassing. I stopped keeping the tally in my head at some point. The sad thing is, nothing’s changed in circumstances. Not my house or my airports or typical traffic patterns. It doesn’t seem like I’m cutting things closer than I ever did. (Which, admittedly, is pretty close.) Each of the flights I would have made with 5-10 minutes more of runway. Every time I say to myself “This time I’ve learned my lesson.” and every time I really mean it. Truly really mean it. !!!
This is the danger of easy / fast airports with no lounges. Skywest FAs are frequently nicer than mainline but otherwise I’m not a fan. Their servers crashed today and grounded every flight they operate. This has happened to them before.. how can you not have redundant fail safe IT infrastructure and run an airline?
I don’t consider time spent at the airport to be wasted. I’ll be working in a lounge with a snack and a drink, not much different than staying at home till the last minute. Now, if I was just sitting at the gate doing nothing, that would be different.