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.