I roll up to the JFK curb for an 8:30 am flight. I give my info to the check-in guy. “Sorry sir, you can’t check you bag,” he says.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Check-in time is 45 minutes before departure.”
I look at my watch. It’s 7:46. “So, you’re going to bust me for being one minute late?”
“Sir, if you go inside and to the right, one of our agents will be happy to assist you with rebooking for a later flight.”

“Yeah right,” I think to myself, and scurry inside to a self-check-in kiosk, grumbling internally about how the car service was 20 minutes late and we hit traffic…

After punching all the buttons, I head to the kiosk baggage drop-off. They won’t let me check my bag either so I decide to try something I had read about others doing on The Consumerist but never had reason to use myself.

I pass through security theater and make it to the gate just as they were doing final boarding call. I ask the ticket agent if he has one of those tags so I can drop my baggage on the gangplank. He finds and affixes a cheery green tag my bag, hands me the receipt, I drop it off on the gangplank next to the baby strollers, and it meets me at baggage claim on the side just like normal.

So, if you’re ever running too late to check your baggage, remember that you can always do a last-minute drop-off on the gangplank.

(Photo: Maulleigh)

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