Spirit Airlines Passenger Freaks Out After Arriving at Gate Two Minutes Before Departure

by Anthony Losanno
Pax SJU

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A Spirit Airlines passenger arrived at the departure gate and was headed to San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU) two minutes before it was schedule to leave and was surprised to see that the flight was closed. She banged on the door and even used the intercom to call for a manager. Unfortunately, most flights close 15 minutes before departure and you can’t show up minutes before and expect to be on the plane as this passenger learned.

Spirit clearly outlines its boarding policy. It reads:

Please be available for boarding at the gate at least 15 minutes prior to your scheduled domestic departure and 30 minutes prior to your international departure or you may lose your reservation.”

Other carriers have similar policies. Flights need time to board and get all passengers settled. You can’t show up moments before the departure time, find the door closed, and think you’re getting on the plane. You’re not. It doesn’t matter how much you bang on the door or have a temper tantrum. It’s not happening.

Anthony’s Take: I always get to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding begins. I don’t check bags and want to make sure my carry-on bag has a space in the overhead bin. Waiting until the last minute isn’t smart and will likely make you miss your flight.

(Featured Image Credit: @SomaKazima via X.)

(H/T: View from the Wing.)

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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

7 comments

KPR January 29, 2024 - 11:10 am

Always allow extra time. That way if something goes wrong you can still make the flight.

Reply
Jesus January 29, 2024 - 11:13 am

That’s definitely not SJU. I did read the flight was departing to SJU.

Reply
Frankfurt Airport Lufthansa
Anthony Losanno January 29, 2024 - 11:19 am

You’re right. Headed to SJU. Thanks!

Reply
Joe Maune January 29, 2024 - 11:50 am

The audacity of these woke idiots to assume the plane will wait for them.

Reply
Pepperoni January 30, 2024 - 10:01 am

Could you define “woke” in this context?

Reply
Joey January 29, 2024 - 11:28 am

She might be connecting and her connecting flight arrived late?

Reply
BKAloha January 29, 2024 - 1:00 pm

They should have ended the video at the last knock because it was a tad uneventful.

Reply

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