When I was in college, I went to Vegas on a "12 hour turn around special": for $75 total cost per person, a couple of friends and I flew to Vegas in the morning, and when we landed we were taken to the sponsoring casino where we were each given $75 in chips. They were special chips, though: you couldn't cash them in, all you could do was bet the chips, and if you won, they would give you the special chip back plus a real chip. For example, if you bet a $5 special chip on a hand of blackjack, and you won, they gave you the $5 special chip back plus a real $5 chip. If you lost, the casino kept the special chip. We determined that the $75 was essentially cash because even if you ended up a net winner, you would lose enough bets along the way to flush the special chips out of your stack. As a result, the round trip flight plus the transportation to and from the airport were basically free.
We had a great time gambling and drinking free drinks all day. In the evening, when the time neared for our return flight home, one of my friends, who was sitting at a blackjack table, kept saying, "One more hand! One more hand!" As we looked nervously at our watches, our ride to the airport departed. We still had some time before our flight departed, so our plan was to catch a taxi shortly thereafter. Finally, we could wait no longer, and we yanked our friend off the blackjack table and ran outside to catch a taxi. The taxi dropped us off at the airport, and we sprinted inside. We told the agent at the desk that we were on the gambling junket, and he informed us that the plane had already boarded, and it was preparing for takeoff. No!!! Then, the agent looked at something and exclaimed, "Wait, your seats are guaranteed. I'll tell them to hold the plane. Hurry!" And, off we went sprinting towards the gate. A nice lady escorted us out onto the tarmac, then the workers rolled a gangplank up to the plane, and the lady told us to wait, and she went up the gangplank and into the plane. After a few minutes, she came back down the gangplank, and she told us she had to go get airport security. I had a few beers in me since the last time I went to the bathroom, and I could not hold it in any longer, so I ducked under the gangplank, and I relieved myself on the tarmac, hoping to finish before the cops showed up.
The lady returned with two airport cops, and up the gangplank they went. We still didn't quite know what was going on. Then the airport cops dragged three people off the flight, and as they went storming past us, the now former passengers cussed at us yelling, "F...k you, assholes!" Then the lady escorted us up the gangplank and led us to our seats. Wow! We made it!
Times sure have changed!