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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!
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 8)
JohninConnecticut Mar 18th 2009 7:11AM
In answer to Stijn, no. I travel a lot and most people I know don't sign in on line. And, many still pay for paper tickets, thank you!
It's, also, been my experience that the previous evaluation posted on Northwest's respect for their customers is quite correct. And the "computer locks at 1 Hour"? And, there's no administrator who could over ride? That's Bull! But, that's why I haven't flown Northwest in the past 10 years unless there's been absolutely no other transport including for hire litter bearers.
Also, with 2.5 billion in industry wide losses, can any airline afford to anger a customer who, personally, will know a minimum of 250 people they can influence. And, what's that number based on? It's the standard amount of remembrance cards undertakers print for their average wake. And those guys don't spend a penny they don't have to.
G Gordon Mar 18th 2009 7:55PM
For many "business" reasons, the airlines close flights early - to improve ontime performance; to abide by security requirements in place since 9/11; if the flight is overbooked, they want to fill those seats rather than pay compensation; from here the reasons get foolish. I had a client who checked in at the gate, went to the bathroom, came back and even tho the plane was still at the gate, refused to board him because the jetway was closed - only caused a 27 hour delay in his travel plans. Remember, the airlines are your friend - NOT. And what about those passengers who have inbound flight delays and are late for their connecting flights. My last question - when the airline is late, why don't they have to pay the $150.00 change fee.
nonny2t Mar 18th 2009 7:33AM
They will stick it to you if you are too early too, maybe not in fees, but you end up hanging around instead of getting to the gate. We went to Vegas and were 2.5 hours before flight time and they made us wait to check in until about 1 hour and 40 minutes before and we were first class customers, so they don't even follow their own stupid rules. This was ridiculous and Northwest needs to apologize and refund the extra money the girl spent. Oh and btw, we never check in online as we don't trust it either.
Donna Mar 18th 2009 7:42AM
The airlines have "recommended" times for a reason...to make things run a little smoother and to help ensure that the flight leaves on time (even though we all know that they almost never leave on time). Anyone who is a frequent flier knows that check-in and security lines can get pretty long....especially if you're flying out on a Monday or Friday morning. My rule of thumb is....if the airline recommends that I arrive 2 hours before my flight, I arrive 3 hours before my flight. That extra hour is used to find parking and to catch the shuttle to the terminal.
JJ Mar 18th 2009 7:43AM
Time to let the airlines fail. They cant please their customers, they go bankrupt. The government continually bails them out because they have sorry ass service like this and no one wants to fly anywhere.
Steve Mar 18th 2009 7:48AM
59 minutes early and gets dinged for more money? She wasn't lATE. I hope she files suit against that airline and never uses it again.
tracey Mar 18th 2009 9:36AM
she wasn't late? ummmm yes she was. the flt was an international one. the passport needed to be checked by the gate agent not to mention if there was a bag to be checked. the passenger would then have to clear customs as it is done in canada prior to entry into the united states. after that she has to clear security. the boarding process begins thirty minutes before the scheduled departure time with the doors to close ten minutes before departure. do you really think that she could get all of that done in 49 minutes?
jaelin Mar 18th 2009 7:47AM
Never heard of such a thing although I've never flown Northwest. I've gotten to airports within one hour of flight time and I've been fortunate enough to have made every flight but one. Even the one I didn't make (because the lines were sooooo long), the employees of the airlines were apologetic and got me on the next flight at no extra cost. This latest thing of charging extra fees for being late is, as one commentor put it, nothing but a scam in order for certain airlines to just make money, which is very wrong. Bad for Northwest.
Brian Mar 18th 2009 7:52AM
NO airline is perfect but rules must be set and to be followed. Try telling your boss why you are late. I bet that lady in question is late with many things and in today's world, the clock rules. So get your ass out of bed or whatever and get to the port on time. The rest of us can be on time, and so should you!!!!!!!! So don't blame any airline, blame yourself, simple as that!
MIKE Mar 18th 2009 8:08AM
ALL PART OIF THE NEW WORLD ORDER COMING....CORPORATE AMERICA WILL FIND ANY LAME EXCUSE TO "ROB" YOU OF YOUR MONEY. I LOST A 50 $ REBATE FROM GE BECAUSE THE MAIL DELIVERED IT ONE DAY LATE AFTER THE PROGRAM "OFFICIALLY" ENDED. TO SHOW YOU HOW STUPID THEY ARE, I WILL NEVER BUY A GE PRODUCT AGAIN AND I WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW ABOUT IT CAUSING THEM TO LOSE THOUSANDS IN SALES. THEY SHOULD GO INTO BANCRUPCY FOR THEIR OWN STUPIDITY.
Linda Mar 18th 2009 8:03AM
Anyone that has flown post 911, knows that you have to arrive early. One hour prior to the flight is not enough time for a domestic flight never mind an international flight. Times have changed and this is they way it is. It is not the airlines fault. It is the person that thinks they are special and don't have to be there early like everyone else. I fly for a living (been flying for 23 years) and see this all the time. I also fly international fights and announcements are always made that you have to arrive to the airport early. Announcements are made for a reason. Its up to you to listen. I was in St. Thomas yesterday working a flight. It was time to go. We had 175 people on board that all made it to the airport in a timely manner. There was one person that got left behind because they arrived late. They would have delayed the flight if we waited for them. We did not. They had to go stand by on the next flight. The 22 yr old student Samantha that arrived to the airport 59 minutes before the flight would have delayed her flight also. She had to check in, clear US Customs /Immigration (you are precleared coming out of Canada into the US), then she would have had to go thru TSA Security screening and then go to her gate. That was not going to happen in 59 minutes. You can not arrive at an airport and expect to be put in front of the line because you arrived late. It is not allowed and doesn't happen anymore. Sorry Samantha, but the only one that is at fault in this case is you.
Richard Mar 18th 2009 8:48AM
I routinely arrive at the airport less than an hour before flight time, amble through TSA, walk to the gate and wait for the gate agent to begin boarding. If I have to park, I add 20 minutes, but I still don't present myself to TSA within an hour of flight time. The expectation is based on how the airports handle the passenger flow, the time of day, and yes, the competence of the TSA scheduling personnel, but in the end its all predictable these days.
NWA employees can accommodate the occasional passenger who encounters a problem. They chose not to, because they and their management have long since forgotten what type of business they are in, and that's an airline problem.
Oh, the airports that I use are Washington Dulles International and Charleston International, so it isn't size that dictates the cutoffs.
linda Mar 18th 2009 9:17AM
THIS GIRL WAS FLYING ON AN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT...SHE WAS LATE IT'S HER FAULT. YOU NEVER ARRIVE LESS THAN AN HOUR FOR AN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT. FOR THOSE THAT COMMENTED ...REMEMBER YOU HAVE TO CLEAR CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION WHEN LEAVING CANADA PRIOR TO BOARDING A FLIGHT BACK TO THE US...YOU ARE PRE-CLEARING CUSTOMS IN CANADA. THEN YOU HAVE TO CLEAR SECURITY...DOMESTIC FLYING IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FOLKS!
yama96 Mar 18th 2009 8:07AM
After reading this, I will never fly Northwest again!
Adam Mar 18th 2009 2:45PM
I work for an Airline that services Northwest. These rules are in place to create order for us. I know, for a fact that almost every station is understaffed. The locking out of the flight on the computer is called a "restriction" The person at the gate places the restriction on the flight which doesn't allow anyone else to check in for their flight nor does it allow anyone already checked in to check a bag.
Another reason is for the people on the ramp. International flights carry a lot of bags because, on Northwest, international flights are able to check 2 free bags which gives people an incentive to check 2 bags. The type of planes my company services flies into canada and my planes are small, 50 seat CRJ 200's. 50 people at 2 bags each is 100 bags. From experience, it takes time to put that 50 bags into the aircraft, and people complain about bags being broken. If you don't want them broken, give us time to put them in the plane or take them out. If we need time, we need, on international flights, this one hour restriction. It doesn't matter if the gate is literally the one right after security, rules are in place and this person did the wrong thing by being 1 minute late. And in my experience, people who are 1 minute late are never 1 minute late, they are 5 and 10 minutes late and they use the 1 minute as an excuse! NWA in Canada did the right thing, if the cut off is at 10:00 am and the show at 10:01 am, we reserve the right to deny boarding to anyone and if you violate our rules, we will deny.
Ted Mar 18th 2009 8:21AM
Almost everyone who has flown with any regularity has probably encountered at least one frustrating situation. For the most part, though, I feel that airlines and their employees try to do a good job. My observations have been that the cooperation passengers get from airline employees is often directly porportional to the attitude and civility of the passenger. This holds true for most businesses.
In the 40 years that I have been flying for business and pleasure, I have encounterd only two notably bad experiences. (I've had others, but that is just part of the game.)
One was being bumped from a business flight to Louisville because it was overbooked, enen though I had checked in within the alloted time period. The airline put several of us up in a hotel and got us out on the first flight the next morning.
The other was withh AA in Dallas. My incoming AA flight was delayed and AA did not hold the last flight out to Austin. My wife and I were stranded in Dallas at 2:00 am on Jan.3. Her employer gave the week of Chrismas off as a paid holiday, but had a strict policy of denying the pay if an employee was late or didn't show up the day after a holiday. We couldn't afford the loss of her week's pay.
It took me going through 3 levels of supervisors to get our luggage brought to us. Needless to say, those discussions became a bit heated. (That was pre-9/11. I'd probably be arrested for those discuusions today.)
I rented a car and drove to Austin, getting home just in time for us to shower and change and get her to work on time. After numerous correspondences, including calls and letters to the FAA and Texas Attorney General, AA finally relented and reimbursed me the cost of the flight to Austin. It wasn't much, but it paid for the rental car.
Kevin Mar 18th 2009 8:20AM
I am not sure of the exact wording that the airline used. If it was just " recommended " to arrive 2 hours early then I feel that she should have been allowed to check in and attempt to make it thru security. If the wording was something like check in closes 1 hour prior to departure then she would be out of luck.
Shaun Mar 18th 2009 8:22AM
Imagine if 10 people had shown up 1 minute late? What then? That would take even longet to check in. Deadlines are deadlines and people need to realize they are there for a reason. The world doesn't revolve around a single person. I am an experienced flyer and have never been late for 1 single flight. If I can get there so can you. My ex boss was complaining that American denied him boarding as he showed up 15 minutes late after the 1 hour deadline and I said you should have headed the time. Its your own fault
Howard Mar 18th 2009 8:29AM
YOU obviously haven't checked railway ticket prices lately. Toronto to Calgary, suite, 2 days, $3000.
Sargent C Mar 18th 2009 8:31AM
I refuse to fly on any airline,except for military. I am retired from the Air Force. I had a Top Secret clearance and I feel that I should not have to be treated (hassled really) the way most people are at these check ins. I was in during the Korean War and during Vietnam. Some of the things I read about seems like some of the POW Camps. NO THANKS, I will go by car or stay at home.