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How one minute can cost you $530 at Calgary International Airport
Last Friday at Calgary International Airport (right), 22-year-old Florida student Samantha Hydes learned a new lesson: Hydes arrived at 7:01 AM for her 8:00 AM flight home to Tallahassee and was unceremoniously denied. She had driven in from Banff. Guess she should have driven just a hair faster, not paused so long at stop signs, and walked faster from the car to the check-in.
Northwest Airlines does "recommend" that travelers arrive two hours in advance of international flights, but Hydes said there was no mention of the one-hour rule which left her stranded. The Northwest Airlines attendant told her the computer had "closed for booking."
According to the Calgary Sun: "She eventually booked a flight departing five hours later with Delta Airlines, Northwest's corporate cousin, shelling out $530 above the $750 round-trip fare she'd already paid. Of that sum, $150 was for a flight change fee, said Hydes."
Okay. She was late. But not very. And nobody told her there was a one-hour rule. Airports do need time to process their passengers, especially international ones, so definitely take your airlines "recommendations" seriously.
As for Northwest Airlines in this particular case? We think that's lame. We are suspicious that the gate attendant stood there typing "asdfjkl;" into the computer while the 7:00 turned to 7:01.
Check out these other stories from the airport checkpoint!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Marvin S. Mar 17th 2009 1:06PM
Rules are in place to allow the airline to operate efficiently (imagine if EVERYONE showed up 10 minutes before flight time). At the same time, there needs to be some level of reasonableness. 1 minute? If there wasn't a tremendous line, they should have cut her some slack. If the computer system is the constraint, they need to fix that.
I once was travelling from Newark to Toronto on AC. I got to the gate (pre-9/11 and pre-online check in) about 65 minutes before flight time to find a huge line to check in and no gate agents. The agents showed up 10 minutes before flight time and my pre-reserved seat was given away to people who checked in at the ticket counter (as was about 30 other passengers). I eventually got on the plane when a passenger mysteriously debarked before they shut the door, but still...
That was one of the last times my rear has been in an AC seat.
Tom G. Mar 18th 2009 8:19AM
Recommendations are just that: a recommendation, not a mandate. The airline can "recommend" anything they want but unless it is made in the form of a mandate with the repercussions of not following that mandate clearly spelled out for the consumer it is unfair for everyone. The airline owes her the difference in price.
Stephanie Mar 18th 2009 10:41AM
This is not true. For an international flight from the U.S. to Canada, Air Canada requires that you are checked in with your name on their manifest 45 minutes before your departure time or you cannot go on the flight. This is so that their government has time to run your name through their computers for a security check. I do not feel sorry for the woman who showed up at 7:01 for an 8:00 international flight. It puts everyone on the aircraft at risk if a passenger is allowed to do that. It makes everyone scramble just to get this passenger on board, and when that kind of chaos takes place for an airline flight, security measures can be breeched.
howiej Mar 18th 2009 9:29AM
This was just a way for the airline to make extra money. I recently traveled from Arizona to N.J. As I was boarding my flight there was a boarding announcement from the same airline that a direct flight was leaving for N.J. a few minutes earlier (mine had a stop over). I was able to change my flight since I had no checked baggage. This took place about 15 minutes before take off. I guess the computers were still working because I freed a seat on a full flight.
p.s. The doorway for the ramp to the plane had already been shut when it was reopened for me to get on board.
Dawnecmiller@aol.com Mar 18th 2009 9:27AM
Here's a story - my daughter was flying out of Orlando on Northwest with 7 friends for her 21st birthday. They arrived 1 hour 45 minutes early, and my daughter was the only one who needed to check a bag. After standing in line for 20 minutes - a JERK agent said "I'm sorry - you needed to check in 1 hour 30 minutes early - flight is closed"! 5 minutes!!! And she had been there - in line! All of the other girls easily made the flight he just wouldn't check her bag. One friend stayed with her - and it cost us over $1,000 including change fees for the 2 of them and a night in hotel as there were no other flights available until the next day. All avoidable had she she gotten another agent who wasn't on a power trip and would have tried to help this poor girl. Never in my life have I been so mad -
Julie Mar 18th 2009 1:55PM
STEPHANIE: did you look at your post prior to publishing it? You state "Air Canada requires that you are checked in with your name on their manifest 45 minutes before your departure time or you cannot go on the flight..." then state (paraphrased) you don't feel sorry for the person who showed up at 7:01 for an 8:00 flight. My skill in subtraction show that she was 59 minutes early. That is 14 minutes more than the 45 minutes you stated. According to you, the person showed up MORE than 45 minutes early. AND, as TOM G. stated, a RECOMMENDATION is just that, not a MANDATE.
I absolutely agree that when an airline unreasonably inconveniences a patron, said patron should not have to pay for the mistakes made by the representatives, but that is often the case. My spouse and I flew from Baltimore to Seattle, Washington last May. We arrived 2 1/2 hours early only to find that the airline representative I had made some reservation changes with a month earlier had deleted my husband's outgoing ticket, though he had made the proper reservations for the return trip from Washington to Baltimore. Part of the problem with the snafu was the person who I had to deal with was in a call-center in India and he had problems understanding me. We had to pay an additional $750.00 for my husband, which was over $400 more than I had paid for his original ticket. Because of the intricate changes I had made a month before, my husband did not catch the fact the original price for his outgoing trip was refunded.
This was definitely a case of an error by the airline's employee. However, because the agent did not send a proper email confirming he had deleted my husband's ticket, we were stuck and had to eat the overcharge. I will never fly either Northwest or Delta again. I would take a covered wagon where I need to go first.
Stijn Mar 17th 2009 3:54PM
I'm wondering why this lady didn't check-in online. Doesn't nearly everyone do that these days?
That would have allowed her to take an extra 20 minutes, assuming a 9-minute walk to the gate is she had hand baggage only.
And she probably would have made it for baggage drop-off as well, since that also doesn't close till half an hour before departure usually.
Mike Mar 18th 2009 8:26AM
WRONG!
Stefan Mar 17th 2009 8:52PM
I travelled thru YWG on NW for a number of months. As it is a small airport we got to know the ground staff, but even then we had to be sure to check in online as we often arrived after the 60 minute cutoff. And it is a hard cutoff.
With online check-in your already have the boarding pass, so you just need to clear immigration/customs and show up at the gate.
mikeywes Mar 18th 2009 6:13AM
Northwest has a lousy business model, highly inefficient in how it operates (Detroit as a hub?) and treats its customers like cattle......I am not surprised, having flown on their domestic flights and walked away in a state I have not known since my student days in the 60's...when will these guys get it? I would fly a lot more, regardless of price, now only when my wife makes me or their is an emergency
William Ward Mar 18th 2009 6:37AM
(MILITARY). Last week end, my Son missed his flight, leaving out of Memphis, TN. Though this was his fault, he was in Military Uniform (Navy) and still needed to get to Virgina to the AirCraft Carrier. The first ticket (money value) was lost. They did offer to get him out that same day, but we would have to pay $1,000.00 and for him to get out the 2nd day would be $350.00 (What a rip-off). Good thing he was returning to the ship 3 days early or we would have been forced to pay the $1,000.00 (This extortion from the airlines should be against the law)!
MississaugaPeter Mar 18th 2009 6:41AM
She was an idiot and deserved to pay for it.
I too, have missed the hard cut-off by mere minutes 3X - once in Paris, France, once at La Guardia in NYC, and once in Edmonton, Alberta.
Excuses are crap. She learned a hard lesson and all those who are reading this article should do the same:
Be on time. Wake up a few minutes earlier. Take into account traffic/transit obstacles. Don't pack last minute.
The world does not revolve around just her or around just us.
James Mar 18th 2009 7:37AM
You appear to be the idiot to me she was a minute late .What
about the airline when they over book and leave you stranded
I am sick of the airlines treatment of its passengers.
Jim Mar 18th 2009 6:49AM
yeah and trains are so efficient and time saving
Jim Mar 18th 2009 6:49AM
Having traveled for most of my life, I have flown many different airlines, both domestically and international. You can rip Northwest all you want, they do some stuff poorly, and other stuff very well. However the rule is in place for a reason, and it would not have mattered what airline she was flying. On an international flight the list of passengers has to be forwarded to ( I believe) Dept of Homeland security so they can process to see if anyone is on the watchlist, I believe the hard cut off is more a Government regulation than an airline rule. Plus they told her they recommend arriving 2 hours early, and she missed that by an hour. She is a college student, just view the fee as study aids for that hour class you missed
SJ Mar 18th 2009 11:51AM
I do believe part of the point of this article was that nobody had told her about the 1-hour rule. If she had known not only about the "recommended" 2-hours, but also about the mandatory 1-hour check in, then she would be at fault. The fact of the matter is it was not posted and she was only 60 SECONDS late. It's ridiculous. What does her being a college student have to do with this anyway? Do I sense a little prejudice about college kids? Irresponsible, disrespectful little brats? You, sir, are ignorant.
ross Mar 18th 2009 2:51PM
Very true. 99% of the rules that airlines have to follow are mandated by the government, and we all now how efficient they are. As far as delays, what do people think airlines are? When there are thousands of ariplanes flying and the weather is terrible, guess what, there will be problems. Machines break, and things go wrong. I work in this business and i can tell you nobody is playing games with customers, we all do our best everyday to make things happen, but some things are out of our control.
Jim Mar 18th 2009 5:42PM
SJ first of Id like to thank your vivid sense of imagination in reading into things. Where do you get anything out of what i wrote that I have a disdain for college students? I was one, and have kids in college. I mentioned it because it was mentioned in the article, and its nice to know that you can view someone as ignorant because they dont subscribe to your point of view, oh well she was only 60 seconds late> lets apply that elsewhere, "Well officer I only stole one pack of gum", But teacher I only missed an A by one point. Every international flight I take, if you book on line you are told/reminded no less than 3 times to be there 2 hours prior to departure, she tried to push her luck, or maybe she is always late,I don't know, maybe she just had some bad luck that day. The point is now she knows
rt Mar 18th 2009 8:38AM
the airline does it on purpose they hv these ridiculous rules and they dont tell you about it- the same thing happened to me on northworst in tampa- they had plenty of time to ck people in but they just want to screw with you
northworst sb forced out of business
ahmaze303 Mar 18th 2009 7:10AM
mississaugapeter...what is your deal?if she is an idiot for being late by a minute...what does that make you after 3 times?seems you need to lighten up....be good america