It happens every day. You get to your gate 15 minutes before your scheduled departure time.

The plane is there, the jetway is still attached but you are denied boarding. You’re told you’re too late. Why?

The airline wants an on-time departure and so it sort of makes sense except for one thing. If you checked in bags and didn’t board, the airline is required for security reasons to find and then off-load your bag. This might be the one time when checking a bag makes sense.

And so if you get to the gate and they tell you that your flight is closed and you checked a bag, then remind them that they have to off-load your bag. That’s at least a 20 minute delay.

They’ll do the math and nine times out of 10, you get to board.