 At what time do they close the gate at the departure board area? Well, in the old days, it was 10 minutes before the plane left. If you weren't at the gate, I don't care if you signed the night before, you had a valid boarding pass, you weren't getting on the plane. A lot of airlines are now closing that departure door at the gate 20 minutes ahead of schedule, so they're not telling you. So here's what you've got to do. You've got to get to the airport at least 90 minutes before your departure time so you don't miss the bag cutoff.