Originally Posted by
flensr
If you're there really early, what about nicely asking a gate agent at another gate to check you in after the other flight completes boarding? Is that "just being first" or "cutting in line"? Obviously don't ask a busy gate agent to spend time on another later flight, but if the gate agent isn't in a hurry...? I've seen it done so is that Cool or Tool?
*edit* - and I don't mean going to a less-busy gate to jump ahead of people already in line... I'm talking about something like 3 hrs early when there is NOBODY waiting yet.
Well shoot. Maybe when I get off my commute Friday morning I'll just have a "less busy" agent list me for my commute next Tuesday. That should be ok, right?
I know thats an extreme to make a point but in all seriousness, it seems like "cutting the line" to me. Don't most airlines have a 1 hour cutoff for offline/walk-up jumpseaters to avoid just that kind of situation? There's gotta be a line somewhere, right? The only time I've seen an offline jumpseater listed well ahead of time is when they were rolled from an earlier flight to a later one. Even in that situation, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it. Missing a flight sucks sure, but how does missing a flight 3 hours ago give you priority on the list? Seems to me that if we're going to be fair to everyone, the listing gets cancelled if you dont make it on and we ALL roll the dice again at one hour prior to the next flight.