Gates A54-A87, Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado

While I can attest that it’s not the illuminati headquarters, gates A54-A87 offer a respite from the bustle of DIA for those of us paupers who cannot afford visiting the airport lounges. Lying in a one story building attached to the eastern side of Concourse A, these gates primarily serve small planes travelling to out of the way destinations in Colorado and neighboring states. Airports served include Alamosa, Grand Junction, Montrose and Telluride.

I was waiting for my flight to Alamosa with Boutique Air in this terminal on a snowy day in mid-May. Several flights to/from Denver had been delayed or cancelled as a result of the snow, and my flight from New York even had a weight restriction placed on it! A couple of passengers were waiting for a Denver Air Connection Dornier jet to Telluride, but were eventually told that as the Telluride airport was impossible to approach at that time of day, they would be flying to Montrose and then bussed over to the Telluride airport. Such was my introduction to commercial mountain flying!

As it turned out gate A60 belonged to Frontier Airlines who had decided to use it for a flight to Orlando that had had several gate changes already. As I was walking toward these gates I had to move against a line of passengers walking away from gate A60, it turned out the flight to Orlando had been moved for the umpteenth time to the other side of the terminal (and also delayed by another two hours). A couple minutes after I started relaxing in the rather empty and isolated lounge two flustered women came in looking for the Frontier flight to Orlando. I advised them that it had the gate had been moved yet again, but seeing as they had about at least an hour if not a few to spare, why not wait in this area of the terminal where less than twenty people were waiting for our various regional flights. They declined to do so and decided to walk back to the hustle and bustle of the main terminal; alas so many airline passengers do not understand the art of avoiding your gate until it is absolutely necessary to be there.