Your Worst Airline Experience

[Cachoo]

In this time of cancellations and obnoxious passengers and delays my question is about your worst airline experience.

I ask because two of my friends were trying to get to Croatia from Newark and had problems getting to Newark and my friend works for the airline. They didn’t make it to Croatia. They headed West instead.

Another sat in a plane for four hours because of mechanical difficulties only to find out the difficulty was a broken lavatory sign.

Another friend of as friend set up a flight two days before a cruise. He never left that airport. He missed the cruise.

Do you have travel experiences on the dark side?

 

[smurfy]

I am almost afraid to put this in writing.
Other than having a flight be 3-4 hours late, I never had anything major.
Once I had a flight from CT to FL on Sat am. Fri pm they called and let me know the flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems and they booked me on a flight 4 hours later. Funny how the flight I flew on was not full. I think they consolidated into one flight.
Based on stories over the years I have heard from others - being 4 hours late is nothing.
I feel very lucky, but also feel my number be up.

 

[Buzz]

The news right now is filled with nightmarish stories of lost luggage, delayed or canceled flights.

 

[Lizziebeth]

I booked a flight to visit my sister. Traveling from Tuesday to Tuesday. Not a holiday weekend. Got a nonstop both ways and the price was not too horrible. Since I can travel light when visiting my sister, lost luggage should not be a problem since I will not check a bag. I don't know what else I can do but hope for the best and get to the airport early. I hope it all goes as planned, but I have seen so many horror stories of flights being canceled at the last minute.

Yesterday I was reading travel horror stories and while people can be dumb about stuff sometimes, the airlines are really nasty to their customers when they cancel flights at the last minute, or take off late so people miss connections and then make it impossible to rebook.

 

[taz'smum]

The news right now is filled with nightmarish stories of lost luggage, delayed or canceled flights.

Bodes well for the frequent flying required for international comps...

 

[taf2002]

Not me but my BFF: flying from Europe to New York. Idk if they still do it but at the midway point the captain announced "point of no return". A few minutes later an engine caught on fire.

 

[allezfred]

My worst flying experience was flying back to Europe with Air Canada from Skate Canada 2004 in Halifax. There was bad turbulence the entire journey. There were lots of skaters on the flight and most of them slept through it.

 

[Rob]

Well I’ve been stuck on the tarmac for hours but the worst one was not the airlines fault. A Bird flew into engine upon take off. Engine exploded. Saw a fireball pass by my window. Pilot landed plane safely on another runway. We were on another plane within an hour.

Most Frustrating human error. Quick spring break 4 day trip to see my nephew ski in a race in Tahoe. In DC, seemed like luck was on my side when we were unexpectedly upgraded to first class. Then sitting on the plane, we felt a bump. A luggage truck had run into the open door of the cargo hold and bent it so it wouldn’t close. 2 1/2 hours, 2 replacement doors, and a few free drinks later, the flight was cancelled because none of the doors would fit. Because it was spring break, I couldn’t get another flight out there until after the race and just 6 hours before my return flight left.

 

[skategal]

Our worst experiences were in 2019.

Flew to Grand Caymen from Toronto for March break with no issues.

Went we went to return to we all boarded the flight, sat down and got ready to leave and announcement came on that the door wouldn’t shut.

Crew tried for about an hour to fix it but couldn’t do it. So we had to deplane and wait in the gate area for awhile.

Got on plane again. Got ready to leave. Door wouldn’t close again. Got off plane again.

They told us the crew were “reading the manual” on how to fix the door.

We got vouchers for food but couldn’t leave the gate area so everyone was buying up what little there was to eat and drink.

Air Canada wouldn’t cancel the flight because it was March break and there were no available hotels to accommodate us on the island.

We couldn’t leave because flights were packed the next few days and even if you could find a hotel it was $1000 a night.

This went on so long that they took all the food off the flight and let the passengers have it for free because it was about to expire and they would have to throw it out otherwise.

Finally after about a 6 hour delay, we boarded.

When we were leaving my DH said to the gate agent who by this time had boarded us 3 times “Don’t take this the wrong way but I don’t want to see you anymore today.” She replied back “I don’t want to see you either. I can’t go home until this flight leaves.”

We were lucky that we had originally booked a hotel in Toronto to overnight on the way back anyway so we didn’t have to scramble to find accommodations.

I felt bad for the parents travelling with a baby who were trying to get to London UK though.

 

[skategal]

Our March 2019 trip was followed up by a trip to Thailand in July where we missed our flight in Montreal to Tokyo due to the flight in Halifax being SO frigging slow to load on the passengers and luggage.

Our two sets of friends were on the flight. We high-tailed it through the international departures, almost making ourselves sick to get the flight and got there in time to wave at it pulling away.

Then we had to go back through customs,
find our way to domestic luggage terminal where we waited about an hour for our luggage, then line up at the counter for another hour to rebook flights.

Everyone in mine was panicking because it was Canada Day weekend and no hotels were available to stay overnight.

Thank God my DH is Titanium with Marriott (ie. they will find him a room no matter what) and we were able to stay at the Montreal airport Marriott.

Missed a full day of our vacation.

Then we couldn’t get seats together Montreal-Tokyo 14 hour flight.

It was packed and so hot on the flight.

My DH was given a seat that didn’t recline (last row.)

Flight was late and we ran through Narita because we barely had any time there.

By the time we got to Thailand, we were half dead.

My DH says he is on a losing travel streak considering what he just went through on his first work trip since the pandemic every flight or train delayed or cancelled.

 

[sk9tingfan]

Flying from TF Green in Providence to Newark in a 62-seat prop plane during a high wind warning. I'm not usually a white-knuckle flyer but you could feel the pilot fighting the windshear the entire time until we finally landed. I gripped the seat in front of me, praying the whole time. My colleague almost refused to get off the plane (on the tarmac) in order to take a bus to the terminal.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I have hit clear air turbulence, had the usual delays and waiting on tarmacs, run through O'Hare more times than I want to ponder, and survived CDG (truly one of the layers of hell), but the worst experience was on a KLM flight with the flight attendant from heck. My sister had a terrible headache (probably from lack of caffeine), so after getting the shot glass full of Coke, I asked if she could have the can. The FA said, "I must serve the whole plane," and my sister's sarcastic friend said, "With that one can?" and it was downhill from there. She "accidentally" skipped us during the meal service, "lost" my vegetarian meal, and some other stuff I've forgotten. I mean, should friend have been sarcastic? No. But damn.

 

[SkateSand]

I think my worst flight experience in terms of scheduling was for a trip returning home to California from Skate Canada in Quebec City. There were two airlines involved (United and, I think, US Air) and when I got to the Montreal leg, they advised me I had no flight out of Montreal. There was nothing listed for me on the computer even though I had the flight itinerary right in front of me. Apparently the agent booking the flights just forgot to book me the rest of the way home (or failed to implement one final task) and according to the computer, my last flight put me in Montreal. That was fun! After much customer service wrangling, United finally booked me all the way home even though technically they had done everything right and it was completely a US Air error.

My worst flight experience in terms of the flying itself was returning home on a connecting flight from San Francisco to my city. These were tiny planes and there was a big storm, and the way the plane was shaking, I think everyone on the flight was wondering if we would be able to live through the experience. Especially since it took the pilot three attempts to finally successfully land.

 

[alexikeguchi]

I have traveled to numerous small airports on every continent and flown carriers from Air Madagascar to Lion Air, and I have definitely had some white knuckle moments with turbulence and/or landing in heavy storms and fog. I have also experienced the usual issues, all on domestic US flights, with last minute cancellations, equipment problems leading to missed connections, and frustrations with re-booking and/or getting hotel accommodation.

However, to mix it up, I actually had a fun flying incident on a bush plane to a safari camp in Botswana. We had to make a few extra circles before landing due to an ostrich couple that liked to hang out and forage on the airstrip.

 

[Judy]

Mine is really kinda MILD in comparison. I was flying back to Ottawa and they announced they might have to land in Quebec City due to thunderstorms and ummmm lack of fuel. Please were the words “lack of fuel” necessary???? Thankfully we were able to land. After I had 3 heart attacks.

 

[skategal]

I grew up in the foggiest place in North America and have had many flights where we didn’t think we would be able to land including after trying to land.

Aborted landings are the worst.

Feels like you are going to pass out.

 

[Cachoo]

Flying from TF Green in Providence to Newark in a 62-seat prop plane during a high wind warning. I'm not usually a white-knuckle flyer but you could feel the pilot fighting the windshear the entire time until we finally landed. I gripped the seat in front of me, praying the whole time. My colleague almost refused to get off the plane (on the tarmac) in order to take a bus to the terminal.

Prop driven planes are NOT my favorites particularly in iffy weather. I always think back to Janeane Garofalo in “The Matchmaker” who sees that her connection is a small prop and says “Oh look—a planelet.” Indeed.

 

[sk9tingfan]

Prop driven planes are NOT my favorites particularly in iffy weather. I always think back to Janeane Garofalo in “The Matchmaker” who sees that her connection is a small prop and says “Oh look—a planelet.” Indeed.

American Airlines used to have commuter prop planes with the wings over the top of the plane which were very boxlike; they were incredibly noisy. I used to call them flying coffins.

 

[Deleted member 221]

I also had the pilot come on and say, in the middle of a snowstorm with white-out conditions, that we had to divert because the plane was going to run out of fuel. Did he really have to say that last part?!?! My seatmate (not connected to me) had her hands dug into my thighs for the rest of the flight in terror.

I flew through the freak tornados that hit the East Coast in June 2012. Normally, turbulence doesn't bother me, and I even find it soothing, but that one was awful. I actually had a LAS->PHL->JFK flight (work travel, and it was significantly cheaper), and I decided not to take the PHL->JFK leg because the flight had been so bad. I took my luggage and stayed with a friend in the city, training it home the next day.

I've had several aborted landings at Heathrow where we go back up in the air not to crash into another plane. I freaked out the first time, but it has happened 3 or 4 times since then.

The winds at London City airport can be really, really bad - there was one time where the plane (Flybe) jostled up and down and sideways so much that the oxygen masks dropped. First and last time travelling in that tin can!

 

[DreamSkates]

The time the Captain announced the need to land the plane soon or make a stop at the next airport for gas. And that we’d be flying between two severe thunderstorms to land at the preferred, nearer airport. And that it “should work.” I needed a nap and a shower after I got off the plane. I won’t describe the experience of flying in between 2 severe, electrical, interacting high wind storms.

 

[taf2002]

Military family going overseas: father had gone a few months before so it was my mother, me (16), 3 brothers (12, 6, 2) & a whole lot of luggage. We took a local small jet to Dallas, changed to large jet after slepping luggage to new airline, landed in New York, also had to get selves & luggage to different terminal. No food on 1st flight so we were all starving but all we could find to eat was cold cheese sandwiches on white bread. After a 6 hr layover took new jet to London, Paris, & Frankfort. We were too scared to get off the plane so sat in each city for several hours. From Frankfort took small prop job (Turkish Airlines ) & had turbulence all the way to Istanbulh. I mean the kind like a cocktail shaker mixing a martini. We landed at our final destination where my 12 yr old brother (who was old enough to be helpful on these flights but was sick all the way) finally gave up the ghost & threw up for about 10-15 minutes. The flight crew really wanted us to get off so they could too but we couldn't. My poor father thought we had missed our flights.

 

[DreamSkates]

I grew up in the foggiest place in North America and have had many flights where we didn’t think we would be able to land including after trying to land.

Aborted landings are the worst.

Feels like you are going to pass out.

Happened once on a flight to Atlanta. No fog or bad weather. We were going down to land but went right back up to circle some more. After 10 minutes the Captain announced they thought they just had a short circuit in a light. So we landed and gladly, and apparently it was just a light burned out.

 

[overedge]

Once I was travelling with a connecting flight through Toronto airport. There was a major thunderstorm and rainstorm in Toronto, and a lot of the roads to and from the airport were flooded. By the time my flight got there, the hotels all around the airport were either full of people whose earlier flights had been cancelled, or couldn't be reached because the road leading to them was flooded. The departure time for our flight got pushed back three times, and then Air Canada said, sorry, the crew has reached their maximum daily working hours. So the flight was cancelled and everyone had to sleep in the airport overnight.

Thankfully, most people were pretty good about letting the families with kids take the bench seats. I slept on the floor. Luckily I had a lock in my carry-on bag so I could lock my bag up and not have to worry about it being stolen while I was asleep. But that floor was really uncomfortable.

The next morning when the flight finally left - you know, if I was running Air Canada, I would have given everyone on the plane at least a muffin or something. But no, it was the usual beverage-only and food for purchase. I thought that was kind of crappy.

 

[Judy]

My sister-in-law, her husband and her young girls were flying to Europe but couldn’t fully sit together. So my niece who was pretty young sat beside a man who started trying to make advances on her. when she finally told her mom .. they had to argue to get the creep removed from sitting beside her.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I forgot about go-arounds! I had my first one in Stuttgart in the late 90s and at the time, I had no idea what was going on.

OH, flying Turkish Airways around 1995, we requested non-smoking seats. There were little signs on our seats with the cigarette crossed out. But the guy next me? He could smoke. The guy in front of us? He could smoke, too, as well as the three gentlemen behind us. Because they didn't have the little sign on their seats

 

[Rob]

I’ve circled and circled, but never had an aborted landing. Sounds hideous. I’ve had an aborted take off which is disconcerting when they keep you on the plane to fix the “electrical problem,“ but the actual aborted take off feels like a landing so not so bad. Sudden brakes.

This one is funny in ”hindsight”: stuck in a fogged in regional airport for 4 hours with both bathrooms under renovation. Had to take your bags outside with you to the outhouse in the parking lot. For 4 hours.

 

[Buzz]

An airline here lost someone’s dog. It took them 21 hours to find Winston. Winston was still locked in his carrier and covered in body fluids when he was eventually found.

Dog left with lost baggage at Toronto Pearson Airport for about 21 hours

A Toronto woman says a dog she rescued from the Dominican Republic has been traumatized after being left in a corner of Toronto Pearson International Airport with baggage for about 21 hours.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

 

[MacMadame]

An airline here lost someone’s dog. It took them 21 hours to find Winston. Winston was still locked in his carrier and covered in body fluids when he was eventually found.

Dog left with lost baggage at Toronto Pearson Airport for about 21 hours

A Toronto woman says a dog she rescued from the Dominican Republic has been traumatized after being left in a corner of Toronto Pearson International Airport with baggage for about 21 hours.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

Stories like this are why I would never put my dog in cargo. I would buy a seat for them if they didn't fit under the seat.

 

[Japanfan]

Stories like this are why I would never put my dog in cargo. I would buy a seat for them if they didn't fit under the seat.

Can you bring a big dog onto a plane, if you buy a seat for them?

I don't think so.

I've flown twice with dogs, and had no problem with it. Wouldn't do it at this moment in time, however - would not fly myself unless I absolutely had to.

 

[MacMadame]

I don't think so.

Then I'm never flying with a dog.