Just like every other airline out there, many a United Airlines passenger has suffered some horror story while travelling with the company. Like that woman who was refused a refund of $1600 or the entire flight of people who were trapped on an unmoving plane for seven hours. A lot of the time, these disasters are the fault of the airline and not the individual. Other times, though, it’s less clear who wins and loses the blame game.
Exhibit A) the case of TikTok user @__ericamerica who took to the app to vent after she and her traveling companion missed their flight, but their luggage went on without them. Eric explains in her video that they missed their 8:30 flight even though they got to the gate before that time. It turns out the plane had left 10 minutes before, a full 25 minutes before it was due to take off, and so they had no choice but to wave off their bags and wish them a nice trip instead.
On paper, your heart should go out to Erica and her friend, but for some people the math ain’t mathing here. Erica states that her party rocked up to the gate at 8:15, just 15 minutes before their flight was due to leave. Regardless of whether the plane left early or not, this is disqualifying Erica from any sympathy for some punctual pedants.
In response to Erica asking why this had to happen, one remorseless reply read, “Because the doors close 30-40 minutes before takeoff…..” Others, more accurately, claimed: “Gates close 20 minutes before take off on most domestic flights.” This may just be the queen of the savage comments, though: “your boarding pass has a boarding time. hope this helps.”
To be fair to Erica, although it may seem from her video that she and her friend were trying too hard to be fashionably late to their flight, she clarifies in the comments that there were held up to some extent beyond their control. “Yep and we were there for the boarding time!” she responded to one of the above remarks. “We were delayed from tsa and taking the shuttle to our gate unfortunately.”
Others are more empathetic towards Erica’s flight plight. “ppl are ignoring the fact a flight that was achedualed [sic] to take off at 8:30 took off at 8:05,” one argued. Someone else even admitted that they stroll up to the gate later than they should and it’s always turned out okay for them: “The amount of times I’ve made it to gate last minute because of lay over nonsense. Like yall should of been FINE.”
Still, it’s hard to argue that Erica and her pal might’ve been saved if they had shown up with plenty of time to spare. “also they took off at 8am for an 8:30 flight. so we would have had to be at the gate at like 7:30???” she asked, incredulously, in the comments. Some think this isn’t that ridiculous a suggestion. “And this is why I will always be 2 hours early mim,” went one reply.
This last commenter knows what they’re talking about. As per United Airlines own pre-travel guidelines, “It is recommended to check in at least 2 hours prior to departure for domestic flights and 3 hours prior to departure for international flights.” A little pre-planning can go a long way… Just like Erica’s luggage.