Your Worst Airline Experience

[allezfred]

The only aborted landing I can recall was flying into Changi Airport in Singapore in the 1990s.

 

[Judy]

Then I'm never flying with a dog.

You can fly with a dog or transport them. Cats too. When my sister moved from Vancouver back to Ottawa they drove but had their cat flown. Personally I wouldn’t do it unless absolutely necessary. If I had to do it I’d get my vet to prescribe some meds to have them sleep .. or something.

Air Canada for an example. https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/plan/special-assistance/pets.html#/

 

[PRlady]

Having stuffed a large cat under an airline seat for 12 hours of flying, and tried to clean him up on the return flight after epic diarrhea from the sedation, I would say only do this if you’re moving or going away for many months. It’s expensive and hard on the humans and the cat.

 

[sk8pics]

I know I’ve seen at least one photo of a large dog sitting in an airplane seat. But I don’t know if that was a special circumstance or things have changed since the picture. It’s one of these, the-only-one-paying-attention-to-the-safety-briefing-is-the-dog things.

 

[jeffisjeff]

Years ago, we moved long distance by airplane with a cat using a carrier that we checked, like luggage. It took a good bit of advanced planning, $$ and paperwork, but the cat did fine.

 

[once_upon]

I flew into Seattle, we pull up to the gate where the fire trucks, foam trucks, squads at the next gate...which was my connecting flight in 6 hours.
It was the plane that we boarded, 6 hours later.

I typed a long saga, lost it. Basically it was the same plane that we were boarded for 20 minutes, unboarded for 40 minutes while they "got certification" data from San Francisco. And recorded to finally take off 90 minutes delayed.

I think I was the only one who saw the plane from surrounded by firetruck to take off.

 

[MsZem]

I know I’ve seen at least one photo of a large dog sitting in an airplane seat. But I don’t know if that was a special circumstance or things have changed since the picture. It’s one of these, the-only-one-paying-attention-to-the-safety-briefing-is-the-dog things.

There was this exceedingly dumb story a few years ago:

Mark Halperin Was Right. Sitting Next to a Dog on a Plane Is the Worst.

Not pawesome. Not pawesome at all.

slate.com

 

[skategal]

We moved two rabbits via airplane in an under the seat cat carrier from Ottawa to Halifax (about 1.5 hour flight.)

Going through security was interesting because we had to hold the rabbit and walk through and they were scared so dig their claws in my sweater and wouldn’t let go.

They were scared on the plane for sure but worth it as we would never want to rehome them and a 14 hour car ride would be worse for them.

They settled in fine once we got to our house and they got their feet on ground again.

Only took about 15 minutes to
come around.

 

[Deleted member 221]

Just boarded a plane. Guy was in my window seat. I said, “excuse me, I think you’re in my seat (A).” He said, “my seat is over there (F), but I switched with them,” pointing to the people in E and F (who had tickets B and E apparently).

He gestured to me to sit in B. I said, “I’d like my seat please.” He got all huffy and said he “can’t sit there” and refused to move, and finally a flight attendant had to come and ask him.

He started creating a scene telling the entire plane, “well, I TRIED to be nice” over and over.

After the third time, I yelled across the aisle, “no, you didn’t try to be nice. You tried to take my seat and volunteer me to sit in a middle seat, and I’m not playing this game. It’s not nice to volunteer someone else for something you’re not willing to do yourself. You’re welcome to trade your own seat, but not mine.”

 

[Japanfan]

There was this exceedingly dumb story a few years ago:

Mark Halperin Was Right. Sitting Next to a Dog on a Plane Is the Worst.

Not pawesome. Not pawesome at all.

slate.com

If sitting next to a dog on a plane is the worst thing one has ever experienced, one really has not lived.

 

[screech]

- We came close to another plane in the air while on approach to the destination airport - close enough that the other plane could be clearly seen from the windows. We had to do a hard turn and lift to avoid collision, then had to circle the runway, but we made it safely

- I'm a Canadian but was living in Europe. My work visa was expired, but residency and travel was still allowed as the application for renewal had been submitted on time and I had evidence of such. I was heading back to Canada to spend Christmas with family, but due to a lack of visa, the customs agent at my stop-over airport did not want to let me through to exit the Schengen Area, despite my evidence. It was a 2.5 hour stop over. After much discussion (and tears from me), the agent finally conceded with an "It's Christmas". I ran as fast as I could (not very fast) while dragging my carry-on suitcase behind me and made it through and to my gate just as they were announcing final boarding.
It ended up taking almost 2 years for them to renew my 1 year work visa. I finally got my renewal just a few months before I moved back to Canada

- I had a 13 hour long flight where my in-seat entertainment system didn't work. There were no empty seats so I couldn't be moved. They gave me a voucher to 'make up for it', which I ended up being unable to utilize (the redemption site wouldn't recognize it)

- I once had a flight where the person sitting next to me smelled like eggs. Not the worst thing, but definitely not a pleasant scent for close quarters for a 4 hour flight. And unpleasant enough that I still remember it, 15 years later.

One negative turned happy flight - I was flying to Europe and had paid for premium economy. I went to board and as they were scanning my ticket they said 'We gave your seat to some Greek lady.' (no exaggeration, that's what they said). I was very annoyed, as I paid extra for my seat and wanted what I paid for. Without much fuss on their end, I ended up in business class, seat 1A. My complaints quickly died out.

 

[once_upon]

If sitting next to a dog on a plane is the worst thing one has ever experienced, one really has not lived.

You have no flicking idea about fear, allergies and other stuff. You need to admit that you push your values on those of us who have fear of animals (in many cases justified) or significant lung allergies. I'm so tired of your judgements on non animal people.

 

[Judy]

There was this exceedingly dumb story a few years ago:

Mark Halperin Was Right. Sitting Next to a Dog on a Plane Is the Worst.

Not pawesome. Not pawesome at all.

slate.com

That made me smile .. in relation to what’s happening in the world.

Guide dogs are allowed everywhere obviously. As I’ve never seen one on a plane I wonder how that is done.

I found this for Canada. https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/publication/service-dogs-a-guide

 

[manhn]

Flying back to Vancouver from Real London via British Airlines, their computer system shut down. All their flights were cancelled. I had to go back home due to work so paid a boatload for a last minute direct flight via Air Canada. My parents had to spend a night at a hotel and then their new flight had them at an overnight layover in friggin Dallas. Fortunately, they reimbursed everything with extra compensation due to EU rules.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

I was flying from San Diego to Washington, DC, with a stop in Detroit. Our plane landed in Detroit but kept going at a high speed down the runway like we were going to take off again. It was whipping around so hard I thought one of the wings, where I was sitting, was going to catch on the ground and flip the plane. My coworker was sitting in the rear of the plane and told me later he was sure the plane was going to flip, too.

It finally came to a stop but we weren't at a gate. The hydraulic braking system had failed and we nearly ran out of runway before the plane came to a stop. Hours later we made it home on a different plane.

 

[taf2002]

When people fly on passenger planes they probably think the hold has just luggage & mail. Actually they all have tons of cargo as well as many types of animals, not just domestic pets. When DH worked for an American Airlines his job was to book space on the planes for cargo, animals, and coffins. (human remains on planes have a lot of rules) On 9/11 after the towers came down a woman back east called frantically about her dog that was supposed to be on the plane that hit the north tower. DH wanted to tell her to get a grip about a dog after all the human loss of life but he called the office where she left her pet. When he reached the agent there she was sobbing & didn't want to help him but she did check. Lo & behold the dog had missed the plane. It was the only good news in a very long day.

DH spent that day arranging boarding for all the animals that had been on downed flights all over the US. Later he worked to rebook all the animals to get them to their owners. (American refunded all the flying fees plus didn't bill for boarding. ) Later his last 9/11 job was to book the human remains being flown out from New York.

 

[slicekw]

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.

I big-heart any reference to "The Matchmaker". It's a great, understated film that really hits home for me as a sarcastic Tri-state Irish-Catholic girl.

I was once stuck on the tarmac in Charlotte, NC for a few hours due to storms. We were about 15 minutes away from having to turn back due to the crew's schedule when we finally got the go-ahead.

Got delayed 3 hours once in Austin due to Air Force One. Had a connecting flight in Dallas that I missed completely. For some reason, American gave all of us that missed our connections hotel rooms that night. Y'all, follow the rule of "carry clean underwear and a toothbrush in a carryon" and life is much easier!

Worst/funniest may be when I was working in Toronto. I had a 6pm flight. Worked til 3 downtown, met the limo to the airport. Fell asleep, woke to a snowy world at the airport. Flight was delayed like 5 hours, but we were one of the last flights out of the airport that night. A lot of people didn't get their flight, I was damned lucky. Oh yeah - and it was a Thursday night and my (small) wedding was scheduled for Saturday.

 

[chewy]

My worst flight is one that maybe other FSUers share, and that is the Monday after Boston Worlds in 2016 out of Logan. Massive east coast snowstorm. I'm on Air Canada to Toronto, departure 8:45am arrival 10:35am. We are still at the gate at 10:35am. I'm pretty sure that we were the last AC out of BOS that morning, everything after us got cancelled because of the storm. It's full of skaters and fans. I think this was the five hours that Paul Poirer tweeted about. It was this mess of luggage problems causing late boarding, the deicing delay, having to plow the runway meaning the deicing expired, back for a second round of deicing, then a mechanical failure, back to the gate while they fixed that and then we got back in the queue and waited for plowing, deicing, take off slot. Worst weather ever.

 

[Taso]

One negative turned happy flight - I was flying to Europe and had paid for premium economy. I went to board and as they were scanning my ticket they said 'We gave your seat to some Greek lady.' (no exaggeration, that's what they said). I was very annoyed, as I paid extra for my seat and wanted what I paid for. Without much fuss on their end, I ended up in business class, seat 1A. My complaints quickly died out.

This cracked me up and reminded me of not a bad airline experience, but certainly a bad travel experience.

It was January 5, 2009 and I arrived at a hostel in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood after dark. When I arrived, the 2 staff people at the door looked at me and said "Oh, you're not fat. We thought you'd be fat because you were Greek (I have an extremely Greek name) so we made sure to put you on a lower bunk".

WHAT?!

 

[Spikefan]

In 2009 Eyjafjallajökull erupted and all flights in Europe were canceled the day before we were to fly home. We were stranded for an additional week. After that experience I started buying trip insurance.

In 2012 we arrived at the Rome airport and there was no indication of a delay. 12 hours later we boarded our flight. Arrived in Philly after 11PM with no close hotel rooms available. United gave us yoga mats and emergency Mylar blankets and we slept in the public space with some houseless people. Fortunately got on the first flight home the next morning.

Until then most issues were on our flight home.

In 2014 we about had to do an emergency landing on our flight to LA where we were then connecting to Hawaii. A woman was having a mental crisis, fortunately her sister and a therapist were able to get her calmed (and sedated). We did not have to make an emergency landing and made our connection.

In 2015 canceled flight to Houston due to snowstorm, we were headed to Costa Rica. Next available flight was the day before we were to fly home. Trip canceled.

All just good reminders that we adapted and how we are fortunate to have so many travels.

 

[screech]

In 2012 we arrived at the Rome airport and there was no indication of a delay. 12 hours later we boarded our flight. Arrived in Philly after 11PM with no close hotel rooms available. United gave us yoga mats and emergency Mylar blankets and we slept in the public space with some houseless people. Fortunately got on the first flight home the next morning.

I had a late-arriving evening flight home when I lived in Europe. My flight was slightly delayed and when I arrived the last buses to the city where I lived (about an hour and a half away) had already departed with no more transport until the morning.
After a minor freak out, I managed to find an in-airport hostel-like hotel that had a bed available that I could use, so I could head home the next morning.

Not my positive story, but a seat-mate's. On a flight to Europe I was flying business class with Iceland Air (in my experience a fantastic airline - and for my flight, the business class seat was just $300 more than the economy, so why not?). Anyway, I was already seated, enjoying my complimentary champagne as it was our departure time, and at the last minute a really excited teenager sat in the seat next to me. He told me that this was only his second ever flight (his first was his flight TO Canada the week before, we were currently on his return flight), and he was bumped up to business class, as someone who had been booked business wanted to sit with someone who was in economy, and he was the lucky person who got the upgrade.

 

[Judy]

I’m going to be fair and explain that the “low fuel” thing .. I know now when planes have to make an emergency landing (Nova Scotia plane crash tragedy where they had to divert to dump fuel) so I guess when they are landing this needs to be taken into consideration.

However .. please do not tell the passengers anything beginning with we don’t have enough fuel. I’m really good about not knowing that.

 

[overedge]

@Spikefan That poor teenager, economy is going to look even worse to them after that upgrade experience

 

[flyingsit]

My worst was with USAir. In 2005 my dad was dying and I had to fly to Arizona just before Christmas so I bought a ticket on USAir. My husband’s family was already at our house for the holiday so I went by myself. When he came a couple of days later he inadvertently booked his return flight for a day before mine. When we realized, I called UsAir to switch my flight and they insisted it wasn’t possible as there were no seats available— but there were seats showing through their partner at the time, America West. USAir insisted they had no access to those seats but that I could buy the America West seat on the same plane for something like $900. Note that at this point I was sobbing because as I’d explained to them several times, I’d lost my dad a few days before, and just wanted to fly home with my husband rather than by myself… the airline staffer said “traveling at the holidays is hectic, you should have planned better.” I called that person names I have never directed at a person before or since and never ever flew USAir again.

 

[Judy]

My worst was with USAir. In 2005 my dad was dying and I had to fly to Arizona just before Christmas so I bought a ticket on USAir. My husband’s family was already at our house for the holiday so I went by myself. When he came a couple of days later he inadvertently booked his return flight for a day before mine. When we realized, I called UsAir to switch my flight and they insisted it wasn’t possible as there were no seats available— but there were seats showing through their partner at the time, America West. USAir insisted they had no access to those seats but that I could buy the America West seat on the same plane for something like $900. Note that at this point I was sobbing because as I’d explained to them several times, I’d lost my dad a few days before, and just wanted to fly home with my husband rather than by myself… the airline staffer said “traveling at the holidays is hectic, you should have planned better.” I called that person names I have never directed at a person before or since and never ever flew USAir again.

That’s awful

 

[once_upon]

An opposite of a bad experience - I guess caused by a bad experience - coming home from Skate Canada, I inadvertently booked two airlines home. One from Toronto to Chicago was United, the second leg was American.

I landed in Chicago with an asthma attack. I thought I was taking the United flight home, they said nope you are on American which was an entire terminal away. Asked if someone could assist me getting there since I could not breathe. Nope.

I lug my carry on with nebulizer running through the airport. When I got to American Airlines gate, the staff was awesome. Helped me get nebulizer set up and I got inhalation treatment. They boarded me first, kept checking on me (like every 10 minutes), helped me off. I wrote this very complimentary letter to the ceo - or his email account. The next time I flew American through Chicago they upgraded me to first class. A little bit of recognition to the staff goes a long way

 

[overedge]

@flyingsit Mr Overedge and I traveled on USAir on a trip that included an overnight flight. As we got on the plane we noticed that one of the storage cupboards near the plane door was full of blankets - what looked like clean blankets, in plastic covers. When the plane took off and people started to fall asleep, some people around us asked for blankets, and the flight attendants said, nope, no blankets on this flight. Even though everyone saw them while they were boarding, and the temperature inside the plane was

At the time USAir's slogan was something like "We put you first, that's why the first letter in our name is U". After that, every time Mr Overedge and I ended up on USAir and saw that slogan, we looked at each other and said "The first letter in our name is F U".

 

[Taso]

I'm not surprised at all that there are so many bad USAir stories. I grew up in Philadelphia, and I always joked that the airline had just as bad self-image as its hub city. Also it is such a tough airport to have as a hub, with how the terminals are laid out it is extremely easy to create back up jams for planes getting into and out of their gates

I don't love American, but they are an upgrade from USAir for sure and I'm honestly glad they took them over....

 

[Judy]

Sometimes it’s just nice to choose a vacation/trip where you can drive lol. Not always possible of course.

 

[taf2002]

One last story - after a skiing trip in Colorado we arrived for the trip home at the Denver airport. We were told that the flight before us had blown a tire on landing & that when our flight had arrived they boarded the waiting people into our plane. The plan was for that flight to load a tire onto that plane & fly back to us to replace it on our plane. So we were stuck for hours & most of us slept on the carpet while waiting. The new flight got us to Dallas about 7:30. Just in time to freshen up & go to work!