Travel horror stories

[James885]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 12:16pm

I flew to Cleveland last weekend to visit some relatives and while waiting in the airport for our delayed flight, some other passengers and I struck up a conversation about the times when our travel experiences were a little less than desirable. Some of the stories were very entertaining, so I thought I'd start a thread for people to share their stories of their less-than-stellar travel experiences.

I'll start:

My family and I went to the Caribbean two summers ago for a vacation. We flew US Airways from Washington Dulles airport and along the way we had to make a connecting flight through US Airways' Charlotte hub. Our plane got to Charlotte on time but we sat on the tarmac for about 20 minutes because their was a plane at our gate that was late leaving. By the time we deplaned, we only had about 30 minutes to make our connection and our gate was on the other side of the airport. We had to run through the very crowded airport (in true Home Alone style), but we made our connection.

But on the returning flight from St. Kitts, our plane was late leaving the island, which meant that we were late getting to Charlotte. Then we had to go through customs, which took a while. Then after clearing customs we had to re-check our bags and go BACK through security even though we just got off a flight. The security lines were long and slow, and exacerbating the problem was the fact that my dad has a metal hip so he has to be taken aside and personally searched, since he'll set off the metal detectors. And of course we had to wait for someone to search him.

We made it to the gate just in time to see our plane push back from the jetbridge. We talked to one of the customer service agents who said there were no more flights to DC that evening and that we would have to check back in the morning. The airline put us up in a tiny room at an airport hotel. My brother and I slept on the floor.

When we checked with US Airways early the next morning, they said that the only flight to DC they would be able to put all 4 of us on was not until 10:30 that night. Instead of spending all day and part of the night at the airport we canceled our reservation, rented a car, and drove about 7-8 hours from Charlotte back to Dulles Airport. Our bags had actually made it onto the flight and were waiting for us at the airport. My parents swore they would never fly US Airways again. But on the plus side, we did have a great vacation in the Caribbean.

The moral of the story: Avoid US Airways and try to avoid flying through the airport in Charlotte if you can help it.

So who else has some plane/train/bus/car horror stories? Don't be shy!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 12:38pm

I've never had a US Airways flight leave on time. Ever.

I haven't had many issues when traveling but here are on top two.

For my 29th birthday I was flying out to California to see some friends, go to Disneyland, and see a show. I was flying into Long Beach instead of LAX so my trip out was as follows:

Newark to Chicago, Chicago to Phoenix, and then Phoenix to Long Beach. Newark to Chicago was delayed and I was concerned about my connection but the desk attendant assured me that all would be well. And it was. Now comes to the bad part. I had booked a window seat but when I got to my row two very large people and their large child were sitting on the aisle and in the middle seat. Since they were all settled and didn't want to get up they slid over depriving me of the window seat I wanted. To make matters worse these individuals were so large that the arm rests could not be put down and I was unable to watch the inflight movie because the earphone jack is in the arm rest. But that was only a minor issue. The gentleman in the middle seat was literally on top of me for the entire 4 hour flight. He took up his seat as well as a good portion of mine. I spent the entire flight crammed against the aisle armrest with this guy's body touching mine. I had to have my feet in the aisle because there was simply no room for me in this row. I couldn't complain without hurting someone's feelings. I understand that these people were not intentionally making me uncomfortable and they were probably uncomfortable as well but I paid for a whole seat. Not half of one. I am all for airlines making people who can't fit in a single seat purchase an extra one. It makes everyone more comfortable. My email to the airline went unanswered.

In October 2007 I flew down to Sarasota on Airtran for a few days and my friend from Alabama was joining me. We worked it out that I would fly from Newark to Atlanta, she would fly from New Orlean's to Atlanta and we would take the same flight from Atlanta to Sarasota. Our trip back was the same way. Fly out of Sarasota together and go our own ways in Atlanta. Going down was okay but we ran into trouble on our return trip. We were on the plane all ready for take off when we heard everything shut down. There was an announcement that we all had to deplane. The air conditioner was broken and the guy who fixed it was off and the guy filling in for him wasn't at the airport. It took so long to fix that I missed my connection to Newark. They got me on a later flight and we took off anout two and half hours later than scheduled. We got to Atlanta and I went to my gate only to find that the flight home to Newark was delayed. I was so tired I nearly burst into tears right then and there.

Updated On: 11/11/09 at 12:38 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 1:06pm

I went to some unnamed Eastern European Country and was drugged and woke up in a dungeon like place where wealthy businessmen paid big bucks to torture and kill people..... Oh wait, never mind.

[Anakela]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 1:22pm

I had booked a window seat but when I got to my row two very large people and their large child were sitting on the aisle and in the middle seat. Since they were all settled and didn't want to get up they slid over depriving me of the window seat I wanted.

Sorry, am I the only one who would get a flight attendant involved and get my booked window seat here?

I actually prefer the aisle seat- window seats make me claustrophobic- but if you book the window then it should be up to you if you want to volunteer to give up the window, it shouldn't be up to another passenger to decide for you that you're giving up the window. (Although, with the spilling over from the middle seat anyway, maybe being on the aisle and able to stretch out a little bit there was slightly better for you than being against the window would have been?)

[James885]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 1:35pm

I actually prefer window seats myself. Just cause I like to look out and see everything. The only bad thing about it is that you have to climb over people to get to the restroom.

I would have definitely got a flight attendant involved if there was someone sitting in the window seat that was reserved for me. Although in your case Eris, it sounds like you were better off sitting on the aisle rather than trapped behind those two!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 1:54pm

Sorry, am I the only one who would get a flight attendant involved and get my booked window seat here?

The flight attendants were so apathetic on this flight. I couldn't even get one to stop and talk to me. And how do you explain the problem? "These people are so fat that I can't sit next to them." I could never say something like and they had to be as uncomfortable as I was. So it's not like I was the only one. I'm a supporter of the rule many airlines have about larger people buying two seats. If you can't fit in one you have to buy two - not "borrow" from the person next to you. It was a very awkward situation on a full flight. I'm not prejudice against large people but rules like this are for the best for everyone involved. I doubt the guy next to me enjoyed having to lean on me for four hours any more than I enjoyed being leaned on.

I actually prefer window seats myself

I prefer them so I can lean against the side of the airplane and sleep should I want to. You don't have that option in the middle or the aisle unless you know the person next to you and they don't mind you leaning on them.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 1:58pm

Mine happened when I was 13. My parents took off work for a whole month to take me and my sisters on a cross country camping trip. I'm not a huge fan of camping to begin with, so it was a lot at once.

But, the trip was actually going well until we hit Wyoming. We were just driving along the highway and the wind was so bad that it actually blew the top off of our pop up trailer. Fortunately, that's all that happened and nobody got hit and no vehicle accidents. We ended up going to a Super 8 Motel for the night. 6 of us in one room and then we ended up spending the next day waiting at an RV dealership trying to replace the trailer. We did get that accomplished, but it was smaller and junky. And then we made it to Yellowstone that night to end up sleeping in the car in some woods and not a campground because you are allowed to do that there.

My other story is from college when the football team made it to the semi-final game for division 2 playoffs. We went all the way to Michigan from Northeast Pennsylvania. The trip out there wasn't too bad, but we had to make a detour all the way through Indiana because Detroit got 3 feet of snow. And then on the way back we got stuck in a snow storm in Ohio. We got back to school at 8:30am when we should have been back hours earlier. Let me tell you, route 80 through Pennsylvania is probably one of the scariest drives ever at night because there is nothing around. Not even lights.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 1:58pm

I have had so many uncomfortable flights, I did something on my last trip (to nyc) that I highly recommend, if you have the extra $. I booked an entire row (3 seats) for myself. Both flights were packed, and I was able to stretch out, lay down (sort of) etc. The seats were discounted, so the total cost RT was about $700, while a 1st class RT ticket from LAX to NYC goes for around $5000, and business class is around $3000. Best money I ever spent.

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 2:23pm

Mine happened last year. A whole group of us were going to Park City. Most of the group left from Newark, but because my grandfather was coming with us we were going to leave out of Allentown PA (at the last minute his doctor advised him not to go, which kind of makes this worse).

Our flight was supposed to go Allentown-Denver-Salt Lake. We board the plane at 10:00am and wait...and wait...and wait. After over an hour of waiting everyone is told to please exit the plane and to go the desk to get on a new flight. With our "luck" there were no other flights going to Denver, and, since we were near the back of the line, all transfering flights had been booked already. We were given a completely new itinerary that didn't start until 24 hours later.

24 hours later we board our flight to D.C (?), where we then transfer to a flight to Denver. All is great, we are on schedule, AND THEN, the plane circles the airport in Denver for 55 minutes. We land with 7 minutes to get to our next flight and RUN. We get to the gate as they are getting ready to close the doors but they say the plane is full. We show our tickets but they say "You weren't here, we gave your seats to people waiting". We are told to go to customer service to get new tickets (and are told we will probably have to pay for them since "you were at fault for missing the flight", we did not have to pay). We are told that all flights to Salt Lake for the rest of the day are booked, but that we should wait at each gate and if there are any openings we will be let on.

After watching 6 flights leave in 12 hours my mother is PISSED (it didn't help that for 3 of those flights we are told that there are open seats but that airline employees are getting them). My mom starts SCREAMING at one airline employee, a little old lady, who, after hearing our story says "I will get you on a flight, hold on". 5 minutes later she had booked us on a flight to L.A. and then a flight from there to Salt Lake.

We arrived in Salt Lake at 9:45am, almost 48 hours after starting our trip from hell.

[AbbyNormal13]

Posted: 11/11/09 at 3:00pm

Mine happened last year when I was going back to Oregon for Christmas. I was supposed to go from JFK to San Francisco, then to Medford(OR), but when I got to the airport, they told me they had changed my itinerary, so I was going from JFK to Chicago to San Francisco, then finally to Medford.

I got to Chicago without a problem, but then there was a big snow storm, so I was stuck there for 5 or 6 hours until I boarded the plane, which had already been delayed about an hour and a half, but then we had to wait for them to de-ice the plane which took almost 3 hours, watching all the other planes getting de-iced until they got to ours.

So I missed my connecting flight in San Francisco since we got there around 2 am, so they put everyone up at the Westin Hotel and gave us a $15 voucher for breakfast the next morning and new boarding passes for the flight at 7am. It took 27 hours total with the time difference, and my luggage had gotten there the night before, which makes no sense.