Your travel nightmares?

[BoyBach]

Then there was the internal flight in Irian Jaya, the eastern-most province of Indonesia.

At Jayapura airport we weighed our television equipment on the kind of vegetable scales usually used at the market.

I asked the man at the check-in desk about my seat.

"You get your seat round the corner!" he replied matter-of-factly.

I did as I was told and got exactly what the man had promised.

There, sitting expectantly on the dirt floor, was a dislodged airline seat. It was mine.

It weighed a ton and I was expected to carry it to the plane so it could be screwed into its rightful place.

After reading this article on the BBC website, it got me thinking about my own travel mishaps.

The only thing to have gone wrong was when I was younger and on a family holiday to Mallorca with my parents and brother. Our flight was cancelled for more than 24 hours (I can't remember the reason) which meant an extra day in the sun and missing a whole day of school!

Result.



So what are your travel nightmares?

 

[Apemanblues]

When I was on a train to Charing Cross once I dreamt I was being eaten by a giant dog.

 

[ezzie]

hmm...nothing terrible here.

the worst that happened was during a post-HS-graduation trip to europe. the group of us (about 25) took a flight from madrid to some other part of spain, where we were to transfer onto a flight to somewhere in france. our flight from madrid left later than it should have, and we arrived elsewhere in spain with about 5 minutes to make our connecting flight. imagine a group of 25 obviously-american people literally running through a spanish airport.

we missed our flight and spent about 5 hours waiting for another one. it was the most boring 5 hours of my life.

...but it's nothing compared to the people that got stuck on those jet blue flights during this last snow/ice storm!

 

[bgd]

When I was working in Moscow a guy recounted a trip he did.

He was travelling internally in Russia with a female colleague. On one flight the lady's seat didn't have a seatbelt which she was understandably unhappy about. So he swapped seats with her. On takeoff her seat fell backwards, it wasn't bolted to the floor. At least she was strapped in, though.

 

[Lyle]

We went to visit family in London in the summer of 2000 (no, that's not the nightmare part of the story). We had also planned to take the Eurostar train over to Paris and visit there for a few days.

When we arrived at the station in Paris, we were trying to find the correct Metro train to take us to our hotel, but we accidentally boarded one of the RER trains (which takes you away from Paris). When we realized our mistake, we decided to get off at the next stop, and then wait for a train heading in the opposite direction (i.e. back towards Paris). The stop that we got off at was basically deserted -- no one working there, no schedules posted or anything like that. We waited for what seemed like hours (probably only a half-hour or so), but a train finally pulled in and we got on board.

Then here comes the conductor to take our tickets. Which we didn't have, because we'd bought the cheaper Metro tickets and not the more expensive RER tickets. And he was just as charming about it as any Frenchman I've ever had to deal with, and didn't want to hear our story, so we had to pay some crazy fine right there on the spot.

We eventually did get to our hotel, and made it back to London alive, so I guess all's well that ends well.

 

[®îçhå®?]

Right well this is it. I wrote it straight after the holiday which is why the grammar is qute bad because i was furious.

Just to fill you all in, i have literally just got back from my holiday in Greece. Flying with BA was the worst mistake. At Heathrow airport, we arrived at 5am for a 8:20am flight. BA kepteveryone outside so as not to clog up the terminal and you could only go in when the flight is called. At 7:00, not called 7:30, still not called. At 8:00, we went up to ask why it hadnt been called and they just ushered us away. So we then preceded to barge into the terminal and found out that the flight had been close!!!! Serious anguish now. So, after we go and harass a person, he says that he will try to sort it out. After that, he went to other families and was sorting them out and not us. More harassment. finally he tells us that the flight is delayed and we had to run to get the plane. OK, skipping all of the queues was awesome but when we get onto the plane, we are told that the bags didnt make it and they would be on the next flight. That is fine, we will wait at Athens airport. 4 hours wait and nothing.

12 days later, we get the bags. They had been sitting outside the terminal getting soaking wet. When they got to us, all of the clothes were covered in mould and the two powerbooks are kinda wrecked. Not sure what they are going to do but but they have a helofa making up to do to get us going back.

Ironically, we are going back with BA but hopefully, it is not straight after another terrorist attack

 

[annk]

This isn't my story, but it happened to a friend of someone I know:

A young American woman was studying in London, and was booked onto a flight to New York to visit her family for Christmas. As she was getting ready to leave for the airport, the police called. Her wallet had been stolen a week or so before, and they had just recovered it.

She decided to swing by the station on her way, thinking it wouldn't take too long. But on arriving at the airport, the gate was closed. The plane was still on the ground, hadn't started moving, and she was distraught - she got on her knees, sobbed, and got the nice guy at the gate to phone out to the pilot. No dice, the plane left without her.

She was really upset, this was the first year she wouldn't see her parents for Christmas. After she got home, she turned on the TV, and heard the news: the plane had just crashed in Lockerbie.

No joke.

 

[®îçhå®?]

She was really upset, this was the first year she wouldn't see her parents for Christmas. After she got home, she turned on the TV, and heard the news: the plane had just crashed in Lockerbie.

No joke.

Now that is good luck. Missing a tragic event by a few minutes is incredibly lucky . Sounds like Final Destination to me. Has she avoided any other disasters??

 

[annk]

Now that is good luck. Missing a tragic event by a few minutes is incredibly lucky . Sounds like Final Destination to me. Has she avoided any other disasters??

Dunno, the person I knew who had the friend and told me the story, moved away shortly after this happened.

Pretty freaky story.

 

[miloblithe]

I was on a flight to London from Washington, DC that was delayed for maybe 5-6 hours on the runway before takeoff. I enjoyed every minute of it though, becuase a minute after I took my seat (the middle of three), a gorgeous woman asked to squeeze by me to take the window seat, and after she flopped down in her seat, she grabbed her spagetti-strap shirt, tied around her neck, and said, "whew! I thought my top had fallen off!"

Over the course of our long and delayed flight, my 90-year old grandmother in the third seat proved to be a surprisingly excellent wing man.

 

[yg17]

On a flight from STL to LGA, I was on a completely packed AA flight. I had the seat right next to the bathroom. That sucked.


And to make matters worse, my view out the window was blocked by the wing.

 

[baseballman1243]

I was coming home from Hawaii on a red-eye flight. It landed in San Fran and then later I had to connect all the way back to NY. I was so happy that I could fall asleep during the 6 or 7 hour flight. Then when we were taxiing this little kid started screaming on the top of his lungs to his mother. My worst fear in the world would be to listen to this kid for about the whole time...and I was very tired, I needed to sleep. The mother just sat there in her seat not doing a thing. The plane was empty to I got the whole 3 seats in the middle to lay down in, and this kid was just screaming for like 20 min. When the plane took off and it was ok to get upI was about to get out of my seat and say something, but thank god that kid stopped screaming, and I had a very comfy flight.

 

[CEAbiscuit]

I had a kid screaming from Sydney to Chicago (maybe LA, it was a few years back) Literally cried the whole time in the Quantas "infant carrier."

Another - Being stuck in Newark airport for 2 days during snow storm waiting for plane to leave for Jamaica.

The list goes on...

 

[swiftaw]

An hour into a flight from UK to US. Burning smell and smoke in the cabin. Plane had to turn around and go back. We had to go back the next day, weren't happy to find out it was the same plane as the day before.

 

[calculus]

Our flight was cancelled for more than 24 hours (I can't remember the reason) which meant an extra day in the sun and missing a whole day of school!

Your parents just told you that but really they turned up at the airport a day early by mistake!

 

[pilotError]

We spent five hours on a plane in Puerto Rico once.

They overbooked the flight, there was literally a fist fight on the plane over that. They finally pull the plane away from the terminal and all of the sudden, a guy walks up to the plane with one of those rolling stairways and the crew gets off the plane. The maintenance guy the opens the engine cover and proceeds to work on the engine. 100F heat, no air and we are all watching the guy eat lunch on the wing. There was almost a riot on their hands. They wouldn't even give us water.

It sucks, because there's flights that leave every half hour...

 

[yellow]

So what are your travel nightmares?

Traveling from North Carolina to Rhode Island one Christmas was the worst flight experience I've ever had.

It's approximately 600 miles. My flight had a stop over in Philidelphia. It was the 23rd of December and it was early afternoon. My flight took off on time from RDU. We flew 90% of the way to Philly. The weather was poor (snow and ice) all along the eastern seaboard. They couldn't land in Philly.
The solution?
We flew ALL THE WAY BACK TO Raleigh-Durham Airport. I should have known right then and gotten of the plane. But I opted to stay on and try to get to RI for Christmas.
So.. 2 hours AFTER I was supposed to land in RI, we left RDU again. Flew to Philly. Landed in Philly. Naturally I miseed my connection. So I stood in line for 2 hours to get on another flight to RI. Missed the cutoff by 2 PEOPLE. Ran to another gate. Stood in line again for another 2 hours. Missed the cutoff by 6 people. Needless to say I was getting pissed. Ran to a gate with flights to Boston. All full. Finally got to a ticket agent who said they could get me out on a flight to RI on the 26th of December. Yes.. 3 days from from now. yeah right. Thanks for nothing.
Went down to baggage claim to use the rent a car phones. There's a HUGE pile of lost/left baggage sitting in the middle of the baggage claim area. It was EASILY 10 feet tall and 20 feel wide. The line of people waiting in the lost baggage claim line.. well I stopped counting at 50 and I wasn't even close to 1/2 down the line. Needless to say, I wasn't getting my baggage. Sadly my winter coat and whatnot was in them. But why should I need those? I'm in a warm airplane. Bah, that's OK, the bas are probably already in RI. By now it's 1AM in the morning. Went to rent a car and drive home. No cars to be had ANYWHERE. Was told maybe they'd have one on the 28th. Thanks for nothing.
Figured I'd spend the night in a hotel. No Hotels ANYWHERE. All booked. I called every place in the phonebook that was in the area. Finally heard rumor of 1 hotel nearby that might have a spot open. Took a shuttle from another airport and the dude was nice enough to drop me and this other dude off at the hotel. Went inside. Apparently we weren't the only people that heard there was rooms available. There were at least 10 couples in line before me. No dice there. There was one more cheap-ass-hooker hotel at the end of the strip. I took a gamble and ran down to it. They had 2 rooms available. Thank god. I didn't even care that I paid $200 for a night in a total ********.
I called the train station and got a train out of Philly to my home town in RI the next day for $100.
Early next morning, I spent $30 to ride in a cab from the rat-shot microtel to the trainstation in Philly. Ride the train for 6 or 8 hours, I don't know, to get to RI. Had to sit next to this freaky drunk who was clutching a bottle of booze like it was lifeblood. She'd get all shifty eyed when I'd look at her and hide the bottle like I was trying to take it. Thanks, but no thanks. Finally get to RI.
24 hours late and $400 or so lighter. Go to the airport to get my bags. There are none. Guess what? Everyone's Christmas presents were in there! Anyway, to make an already long story shorter... Bags never came. No presents for anyone.
Had to buy crap clothing at WalMart to have something to wear (they were the only place open on XMas eve).
Flew back to RDU on the day after XMas. My bags finally showed up at my house in NC over 2 WEEKS after I'd returned. Thankfully all the presents and all my **** was in there. Small miracles.

 

[calculus]

This isn't my story, but it happened to a friend of someone I know:

That story has all the hallmarks of an urban myth.

 

[annk]

That story has all the hallmarks of an urban myth.

Yeah, I'm sure there are stories like it that circulate, but this one is true. It was an American on a one-year scholarship (Fulbright, I believe) at a UK university or conservatory in London. Her friend from their undergrad days was in Norway for a few years, that's how I heard it.

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

Around 20 years ago I was living in Kuwait, and had to deliver a training course in Cyprus.

The Cyprus Airways flight to Larnaca was an ancient BAC 1-11 fully loaded with holiday makers. I got the rearward facing seat (yup!). Facing me was a veiled Kuwaiti lady - all I could see were her eyes. Anyway this fully loaded plane went to the very end of the long military runway and started its take off run. Being a hot day there wasn't too much lift, so the plane was nearly at the other end of the runway before it finally got into the air. The whole plane was shaking, creaking, and shuddering and of course because I was facing backwards my upper body was pushed towards the poor Kuwaiti lady whose eyes got wider and wider as the shuddering continued and as I was pushed towards her by the acceleration and gravity. It didn't last long (although it seemed like ages at the time) but even after 20+ years I can still remember this woman's eyes.

After I delivered the training I had to change my travel arrangements to stay in Cyprus an extra couple of days. It was a Friday holiday in Cyprus so the local travel agents were closed, and of course being a Friday the office in Kuwait was closed (this was before 24/7 service became the norm). Somehow I was able to rebook Cyprus Airways to Cairo, transferring to Kuwait Airways. Because the relevant offices were also closed in Cairo the authorities did not have time to process my flight alteration. So I arrived in transit and sat waiting in what was then a rather uncomfortable transit area. Name was called so I went to the desk. An airline official & policeman told me to follow them through a door to check my baggage. The other side of the door we were joined by four military types carrying machine guns and off we went to see my baggage. Of course I was carrying reference books (no CDs back then) so the bags were heavy and I gather that is what bothered them. So this was a 400 yard walk to an empty hangar. My suitcases and some more armed military types were the hangar's only occupants. All very polite but everybody on edge. Both suitcases had burst but were secured with locked cables so hadn't spilled everywhere. So I opened the suitcases & showed the reference books & all was well again. But then I had to repack and resecure the cases then carry them back to check in (under guard) without help. Not impressed. Especially since there was absolutely no seat allocation & because of my delay was seated at the back of the plane near the toilet area.

During the flight from Cairo to Kuwait some guest workers decided they wanted some tea, and started to unpack a small fire-powered kettle. Fortunately some more knowledgeable passengers persuaded them it was not a good idea so they waited for the trolley service. I have since heard of stories about the tea kettles actually being started by passengers but I'm not sure whether they are real, or urban myths, or exaggerations of the type of incident that I witnessed.

 

[puckhead193]

traveling coach on air china to china...enough said
plus it didn't help that their was like no air and i got a bloody nose from it... plus not to mention the food