I’m a gate agent myself, so I can give my 2 cents on this. He’s 100% right: we have to close the gate at or after the time stipulated on the boarding pass. In fact, per SOPs, we usually close the gate around -10 to -15 STD.

The only exception is if we have passengers who haven't already cleared security (yes, we can see that), then technically, we can start offloading them when the gate closes say, at -20 STD. However, we’re not allowed to close earlier than stipulated on the boarding pass, like at -25 STD, unless there are no missing passengers or those who haven’t cleared security.

Bus gates are definitely a hassle. We have to account for the extra time it takes for the bus to get from the gate to the plane, but that doesn’t justify closing the gate earlier than allowed. Personally, even at bridge gates, if I notice the boarding area is still quite full and there are missing passengers, I try to keep the gate open until everyone has entered. It saves me the headache of dealing with understandably upset passengers who see others boarding while they’re being denied entry.

That said, I have offloaded passengers who’ve cleared security if they show up too late and it’s clear they won’t make it in time. It’s always a balancing act of managing time and logistics, and it’s not easy.

One thing I’ll admit (and this doesn’t justify anything) is that working in this environment can make you develop a bit of a “cold heart” over time. Offloading passengers and having the same arguments every day can wear you down. Still, I always make sure to follow the SOPs and close the gate at the correct time.

James may saying nein was funny

This feels like one of those airport documentaries I used to watch on national geographic

They haven’t fulfilled the terms of the contract. Clear as day.

This is like a teacher giving you an F on an assignment because you didn't turn it until the last 20 minutes it's due.

I don’t think Lufthansa has understood that they are a company, not a German auntie to teach their passengers what the “correct” way of doing things is…

I find it funny when big companies screw over their customers without realising they can broadcast this screwup to almost 1 million people...

Even if I personally show up for flights super early, the gate closure time is the gate closure time.
They robbed you, and were rude while doing it.

Good on you for reminding others to be polite even when dealing with frustrating situations.

Lufthansa service center is actually just ragebait

I’m IMMENSELY inspired with how you handled the situation and kept a cool face.

If it was me, I would have had a really difficult time talking to the gate agents and customer service without screaming.

Vollkommen richtig, dass du auf den Schadensersatz bestehst. Notfalls ab zum Anwalt - der wird keine 10 Minuten brauchen für den Schriftsatz :D

W voice acting swiss, really put that smug into the lufthansa voice

Here in the States, we have to show up 2 hours early just to get through security. If you show up 2 hours early, like they ask, then you make it through in 10mins and wait nearly 2 hours for boarding. If you show up 1 hour and 30 mins early, somehow the security line now takes 2 hours, full pat down, extra wand, questions about items in your bag, and just like that, you miss your flight. When you do make the flight, the plane is usually delayed 10-15mins. "Great!", You think to yourself, "I'm so smart". "I setup the trip with a 60min layover for your next flight", as you awake from lack of oxygen to find yourself literally running/sprinting/passing out from one end of the airport to the other end with a side cramp, leg cramp and maybe all your kids, to either miss the next flight or being one of the last passengers on the flight.

Them: "Sorry sir, we dont have any seats left, as we over booked the flight, your child can take the next flight, leaves tomorrow at 11am".

Me:  "My kids are right here, see them? They are 2 and 4 years old" Which one?

Them: "Oh, ok, well, they can take this flight, and you can take the next flight?"

Me "..."  <blink blink>

Them: "Please, stand to the side, we need to finish boarding..."

I used to like flying and still do if it's a private flight. I avoid flying with airliners at all costs due to EXACTLY what you just went through and more. They want to make as much $$$ as they can as fast as possible and absolutely do not care about customer service or whether you make it to your destination or not.  You'll have a more enjoyable time getting arrested than flying with any airliners.

I love driving now, even if I have a 35 hour red eye drive across the States... FYI, I am still able to fly and didnt get arrested. Best of luck to you,

I hear drones are on time lately 🤔

THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME WITH LUFTHANSA. See, me and my family were on a flight from London to Algiers (connection in Frankfurt). The London to Frankfurt flight was around an hour delayed so we only had around 30 minutes to get to our gate. We landed and ran to our gate. We arrived at the gate around 5 minutes before the gate closed (gate closed at 14:55) and were denied access onto the plane. We asked why and the gate agent simply said that we were to late even though we weren't. We showed him the boarding pass  and still denied us access onto the plane (he didn't really speak English very well so he might have not understanded us). Then he told us to go to costumer services which we did and we comedically given almost the same exact answer. FYI, we couldn't get rebooked because we had economy light. So our only family member who lived in Germany (my aunt) who lived all the way in ESSEN offered us to stay at her place since we had no where to go. Which by the way was a two hour drive. Shame on you Lufthansa, shame on you

I once flew with Singapore AL and had a long wait (~1h longer) at the check-in because there was a problem with my passport signature or sth like that. So when I was done, I had only ~30 mins until boarding would end. I actually thought it was over but they just let me skip every line, which there were a lot of. Even with that I came whole 10 mins too late but they still waited just for me and told me that everything was alright and that it wasn‘t my fault. I wonder that they didn‘t give me a free upgrade to business class xD

Respect giving props to the Lufthansa employees while also making a hilarious video making fun of them

Arriving at the gate at the exact time your plane finishes boarding sounds like something Swiss people do when the train comes

This is the reason why my parents arrive at 7 AM when the flight is supposed to depart at 7 PM 😂

The same thing happened to me with Austrian airlines (part of Lufthansa group), when I had a transfer in Vienna. Was there 7 minutes before the gates were about to close. They didn’t even say sorry, just booked me for another flight later that day and gave a 15€ worth voucher. Wasted a whole day because of those idiots.

Can’t believe they changed the gate closure time and then tried to blame you for arriving too late.