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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 3 of 8)
Candies Secret Mar 18th 2009 8:32AM
NWA what a joke! I was flying on Christmas eve, flight leaving at 6am. Get on board, there was even room for 3 standbys. We think we're getting ready for takeoff when the steward comes on the intercom and quite rudely says "we aren't going anywhere until someone volunteers to get off" Of course noone volunteers, our airport is small and fhights are few on many days, besides it was Christmas eve. They proceeded to repeat this every 10 min for about 40 min. They were not offering a voucher and they said that while they would put that person the next flight 6pm they would not be responsible for any connecting flights...wtf! Finally they came on and said"if someone doesn't volunteer then we're just going to put someone off" now the first thing they should have done was not boarded the standbys until they were certain all was okay and maybe one of them should have had to go first. By now everyone on board was upset as most new that they would probably be missing the connecting flights, a man in the back finally said he'd get off, the other passengers thanked him. So all is great,,but now the pilot comes on and says we are overweight and will be sitting on the runway until we burn 100 gallons of fuel, about 20 minutes later we take off. The flight was uneventful until about 15 min before landing it got really bumpy and people stated throwing up (not the airlines fault but just added to the over all mood of the passengers. Flight lands, over an hour late, no one to direct anyone and most have missed the flights (sad to have to spend Christmas eve in an airport) but I made mine. Another NWA, so we're ready to take off when a girl 2 rows back tells the stewardess that the person next to her is drunk and passed out (if she was who could have blamed her) so now the stewardess makes a huge production for the next 15-20 minutes of "maam, maam stay with me maam maam are you drunk?" The woman wakes up, shows her a prescription bottle for relaxants as she was afraid of flying, she was awake, talking etc, this led to a discussion among stewards, pilots etc (delay, delay, delay) next thing we see, 2 men each from the airport security, paramedics, and police come on board they are all taking turns in the aisle talking to the woman, now we're about 1 hour late and they ask her if she wants to get off, she says no they all all leaving, tell the stewardess she wants to stay and she's okay, when the pilot comes out and says he wants her off! It took approx, another 30 minutes for her to get off, find her bags ect yeah we're finally taking off, again uneventful until about 30 minutes from landing when this flight gets bumpy, the pilot comes on and says that due to the bumpiness the stewardess' will no longer be coming around to assist us and that we are now responsible for making sure ours as well as those around us have picked up the trash, trays up, seatbelts etc so we never saw another stewardess until we landed. Almost 31/2 hours later than suppose to be with no apology from the airline. I will NEVER fly NWA again!!
Marcus Mar 18th 2009 8:39AM
She should have just flown standby on the next flight. The airlines have what they call "the flat tire rule." If you miss the flight you're booked on, you fly standby on the next flight at no charge. Obviously, the agent didn't tell her that.
merrymom14 Mar 18th 2009 8:47AM
I've had my own issues with Northwest and I have vowed never to fly with them again. It's amazing to me how they can charge her additional when the 1 minute she was late wasn't the 1 minute after they started boarding, yet if they are hours late causing you to miss a connecting flight, there is little recourse.
marian Mar 18th 2009 8:52AM
One minute that's ridiculous for her to have to pay the extra fare. The computer time could have been off. I think she should be given her money back. This should have been in writing. This goes to show you airlines are out to get you any way they can.
Ed Mar 18th 2009 8:54AM
I am a regular traveler flying as many as 100 flights or more per year. I never fly Northwest if there are any alternatives. I have been burned so many times by them it has become a joke. They do not care about their customers at all, giving no consideration for the traveler. I could not stay in business if I treated my customers with the same regard.
Tai May 7th 2009 9:57AM
It's ridiculous that airlines are treating people like this. My sister got bumped off of her flight home from Boston because they overbooked. (and she happened to be flying Northwest) I don't think that they have any right to charge when it's their mistake, and besides, the lady in this article was 1 minute late. A minute? C'mon, you've got to be kidding me.
But it's kind of cool when you threaten the people who run that particular airline by saying you won't fly with any of their airlines or sister airlines. Then they try to give you all of this free stuff, and reimburse you, and give you free flyer miles, hotel rooms for the night...it's very funny to see them scramble after they acted like complete asses.
Paul Gershon Mar 18th 2009 8:55AM
Northwest Airlines should have folded years ago but our government keeps propping up these idiots who are so unprofessional they actually refused to give passengers on a five hour flight fresh bottled water saying it was unavailable but the idiot stewardess' carried several bottles of water back to their crew area and then refused to share it with passengers. It's no wonder these people are the most disrespected in the industry. i await their total demise and will toast it with a very expensive botle of water
Nancy Mar 18th 2009 9:05AM
Northwest sucks... no 2 ways about it. I've had more bad experiences than good with them... and they've left me stranded more tmes than I'd care to count.
Rush Stirling Mar 18th 2009 9:08AM
Most likely an Obama voter.
Pete Mar 18th 2009 1:39PM
And exactly how does your voting record relate to the long term record of Northworst?
Lil Mar 19th 2009 8:37PM
Then do they dock themselves when the plane leaves 2 hours late? If it is not mandatory that you arrive an hour early, then they should reimburse her. You know full well that they were overbooked anyway.
Jack Mar 18th 2009 9:17AM
I assume she went to Banff for the skiing, maybe next time she can try the white mountains of NH.
Southwest flies into Manchester NH and the ski areas are about an hour by car from there.
The airport is small the lines move quickly and domestic flights are far more forgiving..
JR Mar 18th 2009 9:18AM
After leaving his passport in the hotel and having to go get it, my son tried to reschedule a flight from Paris to Dublin on Aer Lingus this Monday.
He expected to pay a fee to do so, but their "fee" was more than his entire round-trip previously so he didn't get to go.
The airlines could care less about passengers. I work at an airport and hear the derisive comments ll the time from airline people.
The recent example by RyanAir, which wanted to charge passengers for using their bathroom (what's next, a per breath charge for using "their" air?) just clarifies the attitudes of most airlines toward the people that pay their bills.
Unfortunately, it's going to get worse before it gets better. The airlines think they are irreplaceable and can do as they please.
Sabrina Mar 18th 2009 9:24AM
I have traveled alot the past few years to all parts of the world and i have never missed a flight. I arrive to the airport with 45mins to spare for domestic n maybe n hour for int'l. i have never heard of this hour rule. i have flown NW, AA, Delta, Alitalia, China Air, Japan Air, Jet Blue, and a bunch of other int'l airlines and have never heard of a hard cut off. i was once in china and lost my passport and they pulled all the strings for me. the ticket guy even ran with me n helped me with my bags which they let me carry-on cus the luggage compartment had been closed. these new rules are BS. i usually make it a point not to arrive early cus they move you to the front of the line if youre late! its just another way for airlines to lose more money.
Krys Mar 18th 2009 11:17AM
Although I've never flown with Northwest before, I can still say that sounds like BS. A couple of months ago, I arrived at an airport at 9:15 for my 9:45 flight and had no problems. But, then again, every airport operates differently
Celly Mar 18th 2009 9:33AM
Well, there has to be a time cut-off somewhere. If they let her off for a minute, the next guy is 2 minutes, etc. until you have everybody arriving a couple of minutes before departure. I've traveled a lot and I have absolutely no tolerance for people who show up late and demand that everybody else wait for them. People who are consistently late for things are rude, obnoxious and totally inconsiderate of others.
bd Mar 18th 2009 9:45AM
I recommend that everyone quit flying for at least 1 year until the prices come down and as far as recommendations vs. rules - these need to be clearly stated ands a signature showing that you have read. understood, and agree to the rules.
Paul Mar 18th 2009 9:47AM
Jeez, what a mess. I travel a few times a year and never had a problem. I check in online the night before, and arrive 30 min or so before flight time when leaving from my home airport and no more than 45 to an hour on return. And I check a bag. Now for international I always get there 1.5 hours ahead of time. but thats just because i dont want to miss it if i get delayed by traffic. I always get pulled aside for "extra security" but i think that has nothing to do with arrival time, but maybe so.
GM Mar 18th 2009 9:51AM
Nice picture of the pierced nipple!
Xtina Mar 18th 2009 9:52AM
One minute late could be the difference in between clocks, or, as someone else pointed out, the gate agent typing something until the clock ticked past the one-minute mark. Rules are rules, but there has to be some leeway for sometihng close enough to be questionable like this. Yes, the line will need to be drawn somewhere, but one person who was one minute late is too strict. In the name of maintaining good customer relations, they should have let this one slide.