‘You missed the bag check’: Woman flies to Phoenix at 6am. Then she gets told her bag will have to take a different Delta flight
Flying during the holidays is stressful enough. Now add a ticking clock, a forgotten jacket, and a rule you didn’t know, and suddenly, it’s an entirely different ballgame. A teenage traveler says her 6 a.m. Delta flight from a tiny Florida airport spiraled into chaos after she missed the bag check cutoff.
Apparently, being two minutes late means her suitcase—and eventually she—wouldn’t be flying as planned. What followed, she says, was a masterclass in cold customer service, confusing airline rules, and the kind of airport chaos that leaves people crying before sunrise.
How 2 Minutes Derailed an Entire Day
Forget the burnt toast theory, Char (@user1311863339635) lives the tale of a day ruined just by one simple action. Her six-minute recounting of the bewildering experience has already gained over 8,000 views.
She begins, “I had the actual worst experience at the airport this morning and I wish I could tell Delta what her name was, but I didn’t get her name because I was not worried about that at the time.”
Char prefaces the story by saying how she is flying out of a small regional airport. It was later revealed as Gainesville Regional Airport in Florida. She says, given how efficient the airport is, she can get there an hour before the flight and still make it in time. The creator booked her Uber the night before. However, as she’s leaving, she realizes she forgot her jacket and runs back to retrieve it. She emphasizes that it adds two minutes to the clock, and she wishes she had never gone back.
What are her options?
As she approaches the airport counter for bag check, a Delta employee tells her that she missed the cutoff, and Char is confused because “this has never happened before.” The employee then tells her she is two minutes late, and Char clarifies, “It turned 5:16 as I walked up to them.” Apparently, the rule is that bag check ends 45 minutes before the flight, in this case being 5:15 a.m.
The Delta employee then tells her, “You can either leave it here in your car and get on the plane or put it on a different flight.” Char obviously doesn’t want to leave it in her car, so the suitcase is scheduled to be put on a 10 a.m. flight.
This is when she finds out she is also put on the later flight. According to the Delta employees, a bag cannot travel unaccompanied by its owner. Char counters this point by saying they have lost her baggage before, and it has flown back to her unaccompanied. This is where a different Delta agent–not the one dealing with her case– butts in and says, “Nope. That never happened.” Char says she starts crying because she “felt so disrespected by this lady.”
It gets worse
In an even more confusing turn, Char says that 20 minutes after the Delta agents reject her bag, another girl runs in with a suitcase Char describes as “smaller than mine but NOT carry-on sized.” The Delta employees tell her she can go through security and have the bag gate-checked. Char then says, “So, as the customer, I am entitled to ask questions, so I asked… ‘Excuse me, why is she allowed to do that?’”
The agent, who is not tending to her, butts in again and says Char’s bag was “way too big.”
She then brings a bin to showcase the size. At this point, Char gives up and just accepts her new boarding pass and goes to leave. The lady again chooses to call her out.
Char gets singled out again
“Usually, you put your bag on the scale, they give you your ticket and then they take your bag and you can walk away. So I start walking away and again, the lady who was not helping me… she yells, ‘You cannot leave your bag there. You have to be with your bag at all times,'” Char recounts. “At this point, I’m crying at her because… ‘What did I do to you? I did not do anything to you.'”
She adds, “If anyone is having a bad day, it’s me. Because I’m getting to my destination five hours later than I was supposed to.’”
Char then says she was scheduled to have an entire day with family. Now, it was ruined because she has to take a later flight. She mentions how she is a teen girl, and the Delta agent simply had to do her job. She then says, “Why are you, a middle-aged woman, taking your frustration with the world out on me?”
Char then ends the clip saying how she felt disrespected and for experiencing this entire ordeal so early in the morning.
@user1311863339635 ♬ original sound – user1311863339635
What are Delta’s Baggage Rules?
On their website, the rule for baggage check-in reads as follows: “For most airports, when traveling domestically, baggage must be checked in at least 45 minutes before your scheduled departure time.” It appears that this rule was just implemented in April 2025, with publications such as Travel Noire, TravelPulse, and AFAR warning travelers about the new regulation.
This topic also became heated in the r/Delta subreddit. On April 15, a week shy of the new implementation, one Redditor posted their story. “Change was apparently made last week (used to be 30 minutes). I learned the hard way in person at CHO — arriving 44 minutes before my morning flight and getting a firm no. Had to rebook on a later flight to take my bags with me. The gentleman behind me in the Sky Priority check-in line was, shall we say, a little more insistent about his disappointment, yelling ‘I’m in First Class! I’m in First Class!’. Didn’t get him anywhere either. Apparently the agents have been told there is no wiggle room on this.” With other similar posts since then, it seems this new rule is causing quite a stir with passengers.
Was the Delta Agent Rude? Viewers Chime In
Some viewers believe Char’s frustration is with the bag issue. Many urge her to change her travel routine to allow more time to check in. One viewer says, “You need to arrive to the airport earlier. The employees are doing their job.” Char replies, “No yelling at a polite customer is not doing their job – my issue is not that they denied me, it’s the way they did it.”
This leads others to comment on the Delta agent’s attitude. One viewer says, “So real why are so many employees take out their misery on the people they’re paid to help.”
A second one adds, “Don’t let people gaslight you – this is a valid thing to be upset about. I do not understand why people CONSTANTLY excuse rude & cruel behavior from customer-facing employees. People like to pretend that making a mistake means that you deserve whatever treatment you get, which is WIIIIILD.”
Another viewer, however, shares, “What did we learn? Get there earlier and they treat different people differently.” Char then responds, “As a customer service worker (and i have worked in customer service), you should be respectful of people no matter what and you should be willing to answer their questions. Its what you are paid for.”
The Mary Sue reached out to Char via TikTok direct message and to Delta via media request form.
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