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Post by lunebleu on Nov 4, 2015 16:16:53 GMT
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Post by chech on Nov 4, 2015 16:58:25 GMT
LOL....it couldn't have happened in a more aptly named spot. My one question...why did he wait three hours before going through security? Going up thirty minutes before the flight was cutting it close. With that much time to spare, I'd always be sitting near the gate in time to see the staff arrive and go through their routine. In fact, I'll always locate my gate first thing after I drop off my luggage as I learned sometimes, it can take much longer to get to a gate than one thinks. In some cases, there was bus rides, extra security, long immigration lines and more that would have delayed me had I not gone in right away. I'm a little gobsmacked that he would sit outside security for so long.  |
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Post by lunebleu on Nov 6, 2015 15:48:36 GMT
A couple of things: This was his layover. He might had known which gate to depart from. This was a small airport, i.e., security line is short. Also it could have been other legitimate reasons for him to sit where he was like it's overcrowded at the gate waiting area?
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Post by chech on Nov 6, 2015 23:41:21 GMT
When I was going through Ben Gurion, I was with two other women and when we arrived, they were like "we're early, lets relax out here before we go in." I said I wasn't because one can never be sure of what is involved in getting to the gate. Luckily, as we joined the line-up, several bus loads of Ethiopian pilgrims lined up behind us. There must of been five hundred people and all were prime candidates for extra screening. It could have taken hours to get through the check-in and security. In the end, we had to go through security twice after the initial security check we had before we even passed in our luggage. I had a similar issue in Hong Kong where I thought I was finally in the area of my gate and went looking - only to learn I had to get a bus to a completely different building. I think the story is a testament to why one shouldn't wait outside security for sure. I've been in airports that were so small, it had one or two gates and hundreds seated and standing around in a cramped gate area (Victoria Falls comes to mind) - but I'd never recommend sitting outside security for just the reasons he discovered - anything can happen.  |
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Post by lunebleu on Nov 8, 2015 14:58:44 GMT
What I'm wondering is why there weren't any one representing (working for) the airline at the gate while the plane was still there? He could have made it if someone was there.
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Post by chech on Nov 8, 2015 15:59:28 GMT
From what I understand, once the gate is closed, that's it. There's no getting on the plane. The gate staff can leave cause they lock the doors. The plane may have had to wait for the tow, wait for last second luggage to be transferred or a myriad of other reasons. It may have waited for his luggage to be removed since he was a no-show. The flight crew doesn't start getting paid until the doors of the plane are closed, so once they're closed, nothing short of an emergency gets them opened. You really don't want to peeve off the people serving your dinner! LOL I find too that the lower-budget the airline, the less likely one is to get help. If they had more than one flight going, the gate staff would load this one then move on to the next gate or they go home (airlines are stingy). The low budget one I was just one in Australia was very streamlined. The staff showed up like 2 minutes before the loading began...herd loading and they were gone. Air Canada has staff at the gate up to an hour before loading depending on the size of the aircraft. He said they had paged his name so that was like last call. If he didn't show, the doors closed. |
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Post by lunebleu on Nov 11, 2015 10:33:32 GMT
I don't think he ever said they had paged him. Perhaps you didn't read his blog carefully enough.
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Post by lunebleu on Nov 11, 2015 10:35:52 GMT
From what I understand, once the gate is closed, that's it. There's no getting on the plane. The gate staff can leave cause they lock the doors. The plane may have had to wait for the tow, wait for last second luggage to be transferred or a myriad of other reasons. It may have waited for his luggage to be removed since he was a no-show. The flight crew doesn't start getting paid until the doors of the plane are closed, so once they're closed, nothing short of an emergency gets them opened. You really don't want to peeve off the people serving your dinner! LOL I find too that the lower-budget the airline, the less likely one is to get help. If they had more than one flight going, the gate staff would load this one then move on to the next gate or they go home (airlines are stingy). The low budget one I was just one in Australia was very streamlined. The staff showed up like 2 minutes before the loading began...herd loading and they were gone. Air Canada has staff at the gate up to an hour before loading depending on the size of the aircraft. He said they had paged his name so that was like last call. If he didn't show, the doors closed. That's not true. In cases I saw they opened the door at the gate for passengers as long as the aircraft's door wasn't shut. |
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Post by chech on Nov 11, 2015 13:48:46 GMT
If the gate is closed and the staff gone, he's SOL. The door to the plane could have been closed. He'd have no way of knowing. In the end, sitting outside security was his mistake. I've been in airports where they wait until 10 minutes before a flight to load and others where they start loading 45, even 60+ minutes prior. Every airport and airline is different. That is why one does not sit outside security until 30 minutes prior. Remember, the departure time is the time the plane is supposed to be on the ramp ready to speed down the runway - not the time the gate closes. I've been on flights where it took the plane 30 minutes to get from the gate to the ramp and it departed 'on time.' And this is why insurance won't cover him. On a layover, it was his choice to leave the airport so it's up to him to be back at the gate on time. He wasn't back there on time and it was something that was completely within his control. I don't know of any insurance company that would cover that.  |
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Post by lunebleu on Nov 12, 2015 7:44:58 GMT
If the gate is closed and the staff gone, he's SOL. The door to the plane could have been closed. He'd have no way of knowing. In the end, sitting outside security was his mistake. I've been in airports where they wait until 10 minutes before a flight to load and others where they start loading 45, even 60+ minutes prior. Every airport and airline is different. That is why one does not sit outside security until 30 minutes prior. Remember, the departure time is the time the plane is supposed to be on the ramp ready to speed down the runway - not the time the gate closes. I've been on flights where it took the plane 30 minutes to get from the gate to the ramp and it departed 'on time.' And this is why insurance won't cover him. On a layover, it was his choice to leave the airport so it's up to him to be back at the gate on time. He wasn't back there on time and it was something that was completely within his control. I don't know of any insurance company that would cover that. While I'm not sure about the exact circumstances that he found himself in, I find your comments to be a bit judgmental. Perhaps you will get yourself in a similar situation to learn a bit more? |
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Post by chech on Nov 12, 2015 13:09:48 GMT
I can only go by what he has said and he made that one fact pretty clear - he waited outside security for three hours and didn't go through security until 30 minutes prior to departure where he was held up for 10 minutes. Nothing judgmental about that. He has presented no reason as to why he loitered outside security for 3 hours. With at least one barrier between himself and the gate, it was irresponsible for him to wait so long. This is why the insurance won't cover him. He would only be covered if the reason was outside of his control. It was not and he can't blame others when he was at fault. And it wouldn't happen to me. If you read what I wrote, I learned that you have to physically find the gate as soon as possible in a strange airport because you never know what is between you and the gate. I'm sorry. I can't have any sympathy for people who don't follow the rules and then tries to blame others. He's your friend. I'm an outside objective viewpoint and that is how I see it from what he has written. P.S. Just last night, a friend of mine and his son were delayed in security at Halifax, had to race to the far end of the terminal and missed boarding. The gate was closed, agents were at the desk but they were denied entry. The plane was sitting there and they were not allowed on. They had to wait 7 hours for the next flight. I don't know yet why he left it so late, but if his reason was "we sat outside security to have a chicken burger," then I'd say it was his own darned fault. If he said the bus to the airport broke down and it took them over an hour to get another...then that's a different story. |
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Post by solaria on Nov 12, 2015 20:34:59 GMT
Now he has a fascinating story to regale people with at dinner parties for years to come! "The trouble I had getting out of Hell!" It wouldn't be so riviting if he had gone through in plenty of time! When we were newbie travellers it almost happened to us just going to Oz! I had always thought it would be embarrassing to have your name called over the intercom - and then ours were! But we gave family & friends a lot of laughs when we told them of our 'ordeal'!  |
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Post by plane2catch on Nov 12, 2015 23:50:18 GMT
I agree with Chech. We all have some stories to tell of our years of air travel. As for me I learned the importance of both locating and staying there early back in the 1980's. I was flying LAX to National Airport in Washington, DC. (Before they renamed the airport to Ronald Regan.) I found the gate and most of the seats were taken in the lounge. I decided I would go walk around the retail area of the terminal and returned to the gate before the scheduled take off time for the flight. When I arrived the door was shut to the plane and although I had arrived before the take off time I wasn't able to board. I had forgotten that the airlines oversell the seats available. Although I didn't think I was a novice traveler in fact I had missed the flight. I should have recognized the crowded lounge as a sign that perhaps the flight was overbooked. Luckily I was on a business flight and didn't have any presentation to make in DC that day and I was able to take the next flight out without missing any crucial meeting of my work. I always like Chech, locate my gate even if I am three hours early for a flight. I have had my gate changed a few times but fortunately that flight back in 1983 is the only flight I've have ever missed. That doesn't mean that I am not guilty of literally running in an airport terminal to get to the gate at times when I have had a delayed connecting flight. I've been on flights where I was allowed to board. Unfortunately my luggage may have been unable to be transferred from plane to plane and thus, sent on the next available flight to my destination. Which incidentally, was fortunately, my home airport of DFW at the time. Been blessed as all my luggage has always followed me timely to my international destinations. Seen folks though wait for days for their luggage to catch up while the tour bus continued on with the respective itinerary.
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Pauline
Full Member
Normandy, Brittany & the Loire Valley, WW1 Battlefields and Northern Spain in Sep 2023 with Insight
Posts: 210
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Post by Pauline on Nov 24, 2015 11:05:09 GMT
What an interesting thread. I have experienced 2 occasions where I have had to run to connecting flights because of delayed incoming flights and thankfully on both occasions the airlines concerned were aware of the delays and the connections and the outgoing flight on the 2nd occasion was 'held' because there were many people affected but on the first occasion there were only 3 of us affected and we had been told by ground staff that the gate was closing at midnight and if we weren't there by then, bad luck. We only just made it, as the plane was pushing back before I had reached my seat (I was at the back end of the plane) And then I wondered why my luggage wasn't waiting for me. duh. Thankfully I always arrive at least 1 day before a tour departure date and also pack a change of clothes in the carry-on. I always go through security once the gate area is opened though. Even tried to go through security once for a flight going where I was going but my flight was about 2 hours later. I really detest long lay-overs.  |
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