We complain about the overbooking the airlines do, but it does allow this level of flexibility. If you don't make your flight for some reason, there are probably at least 2 or 3 people waiting in an overbook state for your seat.

...I don't doubt that the agent would've been sympathetic to the real story, but the fact is that cabs are frequently late (& tires do get flat, etc.), & sometimes it's simpler to give people an explanation that they're fully equipped to deal with rather than burdening them with the messy, complicated details. anyone who abuses the privilege of stretching the truth in these situations is probably harming themselves (through all the added stress of consistently missing flights) a lot more than they're harming the airline.

@Gstein: The TSA would steal your f**king pen and put it on Ebay given the chance, and you want to bring car tires in there? I can picture the I-got-Ds-in-high-school security agents salivating over those sweet 20" rims.

I think in general most counter agents are reasonable, and won't tack on fees for random events like this.

What is that wheel? It looks like a mid-80's BBS lace but it has an odd hub...

@mzito: Great points. I once was late getting to the airport, a 45 minute trip wound up taking 90 because of icy conditions on the interstate and a forced detour around the closed sections. Because I had not checked in online, they would not let me check in for the flight, even though it wasn't leavign for another 30 minutes. I wound up having to sit in the airport and wait for the next flight which was SIX HOURS LATER, and I had the pleasure of watching the flight I was supposed to be on take off about 45 minutes late.

@trixare4kids:

Good for you for sending a positive letter. Those definitely get read, because they're sadly rare (both due to the quality of service, and due to customers not taking the time to recognize good service).

Would the airline then charge you a flat tire fee?

I actually had a flat tire on the way to the airport once. Continental rebooked me without even blinking.

Let's not lose our minds here. I have been late and missed flights for lots of reasons. If they have a seat, they will always give it too you at no charge in my experience. There is nothing new or unusual about this.

The trick is really, as with anything, just to be polite. Most staff want to make a bad situation better for you, and if by chance you get a rotten apple, don't give them the satisfaction by making a scene. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Here's my guide for avoiding those fees: Fly Southwest. :)

Called the boss let her know that I wouldn't be in the next day, called the boyfriend to see what he could do with his Hilton Platinum status to get me a room in Denver and waited in a really long line for a customer service agent while on hold with United on my nearly dead cell phone--I pack the charger when I'm flying home. Got a tip that the customer service desk at the other end on the terminal had no wait, cruised down there and admitted to the agent I screwed up and missed my connecting flight. Rebooked the next day with no charge, boyfriend got me a comped room at the Denver Airport Embassy Suite, free shuttle service included and I scored an extra day off from work plus free cooked to order breakfast before finally flying home the next day.

Best part... when we landed in Tampa, announcement that Tarmac was closed due to lightening in the area and it would be a few hours before baggage could be claimed. Mine had made it the night before...picked up from baggage office and drove home...

Moral...be nice to the agent...admit you screwed up...and it all works out.

Called the boss let her know that I wouldn't be in the next day, called the boyfriend to see what he could do with his Hilton Platinum status to get me a room in Denver and waited in a really long line for a customer service agent while on hold with United on my nearly dead cell phone--I pack the charger when I'm flying home. Got a tip that the customer service desk at the other end on the terminal had no wait, cruised down there and admitted to the agent I screwed up and missed my connecting flight. Rebooked the next day with no charge, boyfriend got me a comped room at the Denver Airport Embassy Suite, free shuttle service included and I scored an extra day off from work plus free cooked to order breakfast before finally flying home the next day.

Best part... when we landed in Tampa, announcement that Tarmac was closed due to lightening in the area and it would be a few hours before baggage could be claimed. Mine had made it the night before...picked up from baggage office and drove home...

Moral...be nice to the agent...admit you screwed up...and it all works out.

@mzito: "Airlines are not allowed to fly bags without their passengers"

Really? Then how come my bags never seem to end up in the same airport as me?

(Or, at least, it *was* in scare quotes before you edited the post and caused me to question my sanity for a few minutes)

The AAA tow truck driver arrived was kind enough to rush me the few miles to the airport first (I tried to tip him too but he would take it) and then take my friend to the auto shop. (Side note: Just a little shout out to AAA who have always wonderful every time I've needed them. They are WELL WORTH the price.)

Anyway, I missed the check-in deadline by about 3 lousy minutes. I thought I was totally screwed and my vacation was ruined. I was figuring that if I missed my flight, I was S.O.L. and would have to forgo my vacation. So I was stressed and umm.. yeah, crying a little bit. I wasn't making a scene but, you know, there were a few real tears. After explaining what happened, the VERY nice agent booked me on the next flight which was leaving about 1 hour later. No fees. The ticket agent said "I was just outside a few minutes ago (smoking) and saw you get out of the tow truck. I thought that was an interesting way to get to the airport, now I know why!" He was super nice. Best of all it was a non-stop to Orlando and since there wasn't a layover, I got there two hours before my original flight. And yes, I sent United a very nice letter about the agent.

It turns out I arrived at the check-in counter just as they closed the door to my flight. Luckily it was one of those little prop commuter flights to NY, so they were able to get me on another one.

In these situations, it pays to be nice to the employee behind the counter - she offered me a flight much later in the day but I politely asked if anything sooner was available and she put me on the next flight (30 minutes later) and didn't charge me anything for it.

Also, it is worthwile to note that most airlines have a two-hour cutoff - if you're more than two hours late for your flight, no flat-tire rule for you.

It's worth noting as well that in all of these cases, you get to go standby on the next flight - you'll get a "departure management card", which entitles you to go through airport security and you get to hang around the airport. Standby is not a guaranteed seat - it just means that you're on the list for people who dont' show up. It is acceptable to ask the rebooking agent how many seats are open on the plane - don't worry if they tell you it's oversold, as the no-show percentage can be fairly high, but basically if that flight goes out full, you have to ask to get rolled over to the standby list for the next flight.

Also, if you miss a connecting flight due to the airline, even for weather reasons, you get to be a higher priority standby passenger on most airlines. When you get your DM card, just politely explain at the gate that you were a misconnect due to weather and that you really need to get to your destination. When done politely, the GA will recheck which list you're on. Do not say, "I missed my flight due to weather, so put me on this flight now" - if you are misconnecting, many other people likely are too.

This also has implications for the flat-tire rule - if there's bad weather at your departure airport and you are late, your odds of getting on a flight can be much smaller, since everyone who is getting shafted due to the weather gods goes ahead of you in the queue.

The agent might ask you if you want to do a "confirmed standby" - this is the polite way of telling you that for a fee of ~$25-50, they'll give you a ticket in-hand, as opposed to waiting. Unless you have or are traveling with someone with elite status on the airline who will be further ahead in the standby queue, this is almost always a good investment. It never hurts to ask if confirmed standby is an option, just in case

A few last tips - always check in online and print your boarding pass. The official rule for allowing boarding on most, if not all, domestic airlines & flights is that you need to be present in the gate area 15 minutes before departure. Despite this, many of the airport checkin kiosks cut off check-ins at 45 minutes, forcing you to see an agent and wasting valuable security-line time. With the boarding pass in-hand, you can proceed directly to the gate, and if the security lines are short, you can even stroll to the gate without fear (this happened to me just a few weeks ago).

Also, if you are not checking bags (and you should never check bags if at all possible), sometimes the kiosks that are "carry-on only" (look for them off to the sides of the airline check-in area), have shorter cutoff times, because they know that anyone checking in at those kiosks is not going to materialize with a 50LB bag that has to get on the plane (airlines are not allowed to fly bags without their passengers, so they have stringent cutoff times for passengers with checked luggage).

And always always be nice and polite to the airline employees, even when they're rude. Oftentimes they have been dealing with 20 idiots before you, and being flexible and appreciative can make good things happen.

More fine print from the blog: "they'll consider putting you on the next flight to your destination on standby without paying a rebooking fee or the difference in the fares"

So "mitigating circumstance" probably doesn't include being caught in traffic because some dummy rolled his car during the morning drivetime...I guess if you could get a camera phone shot of the problem or show it on the local traffic cams on your laptop then maybe...

What about a power outage which kills your alarm clock, caused by a drunk idiot hitting the power pole four blocks over...

Sure, I see this working alot...

I love when consumerist advocates fibbing...while going after companies for the same exact thing.

At THEIR discretion.

How nice. A heartless witch gets to decide if your "problem" is serious enough to warrant the waiver of the extra fee.

I can see the "little" problems being grown into "major" problems in an attempt to tug at the heart strings of the wicked witch.

Politicians have taught me that you can justify doing anything so long as you can frame it in the appropriate syntax.

'Course, that was 20 years ago.

(And then get arrested for having a "weapon" in an airport?)

@alexcassidy:

LOL, exactly. You may now have to provide proof of some sort.

Well, probably not for much longer...