David - they would make the decision to remove your bags right at the cutoff time. I know it was only 10 minutes, but that is a lot of time when you are dealing with an international flight. There's a lot more that has to be done than with a domestic. Also you stated that you WENT TO THE GATE at the gate at 15:30. Why did you not go up earlier and tell the gate crew that you wanted to wait a little closer to departure time? They still may have had you board, but you didn't even try that. So from their point of view, you were a no show when it was time to get ready.
There are certain security regulations in place the must be carried out after all passengers are on board, hence the earlier cutoff times. And before anyone starts with the "9/11 as and excuse" b--l sh-t, international flights have always had some degree of extra handling, and earlier cutoff times.
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