Your Worst Airline Experience

[puglover]

People joke about the "frequent flyer miles" the showjumping horses accumulate - especially back and forth to Europe. They arrive on a huge Lufthansa aircraft or one similar - often in the middle of the night. Flying is apparently easier on a horse than the constant balancing they need to do while trailering. A Manitoba trainer we knew well used to keep his costs lower by flying with airlines not especially set up for horses. He would sedate the horses upon boarding and then give them more mid flight if they became agitated. However, after 9/11 the airline would not allow him to bring sedation on the plane. He was returning from Europe with a mare and 2 geldings all side by side when the mare started to lose her mind. He was unsuccessful in calming her down and eventually the plane personnel gave him a fire axe and told him to stop her one way or the other. He told us of standing for hours flying over the ocean with her shank in one hand and the fire axe in the other in a threatening stance. Fortunately, she got the idea. He gave her the show name "Pilot's Pandora". Fortunately, she liked to jump more than she liked to fly.

 

[once_upon]

Right now. We booked flights to Toronto for Stake Canada in April or whenever, location had been decided. Since then we been getting flight updates/changes 2-3 timed a week.

It's crazy

 

[PRlady]

Right now. We booked flights to Toronto for Stake Canada in April or whenever, location had been decided. Since then we been getting flight updates/changes 2-3 timed a week.

It's crazy

If it’s Air Canada that’s par for the course. I like a lot of things about this country but not its flagship airline.

 

[once_upon]

If it’s Air Canada that’s par for the course. I like a lot of things about this country but not its flagship airline.

No, it's a US carrier

 

[SkateSand]

United? I used to spend hours agonizing over the best schedule to choose, but it was always a waste of time because they changed the schedule of my flights so often before I got to the flight day.

 

[once_upon]

United? I used to spend hours agonizing over the best schedule to choose, but it was always a waste of time because they changed the schedule of my flights so often before I got to the flight day.

No, Delta

 

[screech]

My boss just flew from Pearson across Canada this morning for work. He had zero issues (flight delayed 10 minutes) and got through security no problem, within 20 minutes. HOWEVER with his Aeroplan elite status, he had all the priority benefits. He said that for the average passenger, the line-ups to get through security were incredibly long, winding through the airport. This was for an 8am flight, though, so at one of the busiest times of day to travel.

 

[Garden Kitty]

My worst experience is particularly bad because it was all my own fault. I was taking a redeye from Los Angeles and somehow messed up the departure dates. I showed up for my flight one day after my ticket, thinking I was all set.

First the guy at the ticket desk politely explained my mistake and then was very kind when he saw my panicked expression and my cries of "I'm so dumb. I'm going to be in trouble if I don't get back to work on time!". He was so helpful, and managed to get me on a full flight going out that night and called over the manager on duty to get her to waive any change fees. He kept reassuring me they'd figure something out.

When I was on the flight, I asked the attendants how I could provide feedback about one of the ticket agents. At first they looked concerned, but when I explained he had gone above and beyond to help me and I wanted to write a letter to management giving him credit, they quickly pulled out a sheet from the in flight magazine with all the relevant contact information.

It all worked out but I still recall that sickening feeling when I realized my mistake and there was nothing to blame but my own stupidity.

 

[SkateSand]

My worst experience is particularly bad because it was all my own fault. I was taking a redeye from Los Angeles and somehow messed up the departure dates. I showed up for my flight one day after my ticket, thinking I was all set.

I once misread my flight schedule and showed up for my first flight way too late. After I realized my mistake when i went to check in, I was positive I had just lost the day, but the ticket agent said she would put me on standby for the next flight and I should have no problem making it and the rest of the connecting flights. That was the case - whew! This was back in the day when you couldn't check in the day before and print out your boarding passes 24 hours ahead of time.

The above and beyond the call of duty for customer service was when I was heading to Trophee Lalique (back when it was called that) and had to fly out of Redding, connect in San Francisco, and then San Francisco to Paris. United Express called me at the crack of dawn the morning of my flight and told me the flight I was scheduled for was going to be late incoming and I would miss my connecting flight to Paris. They said if I could get down to the airport right away (30 miles away), they would put me on the earlier flight and I would be able to make my connection. I never dressed so fast in my life. But I made it, thanks to excellent, proactive customer service. I question whether I'd get that kind of assistance today.

 

[alexikeguchi]

The above and beyond the call of duty for customer service was when I was heading to Trophee Lalique (back when it was called that) and had to fly out of Redding, connect in San Francisco, and then San Francisco to Paris. United Express called me at the crack of dawn the morning of my flight and told me the flight I was scheduled for was going to be late incoming and I would miss my connecting flight to Paris. They said if I could get down to the airport right away (30 miles away), they would put me on the earlier flight and I would be able to make my connection. I never dressed so fast in my life. But I made it, thanks to excellent, proactive customer service. I question whether I'd get that kind of assistance today.

I had a similar situation with both the best and the worst of customer service. I had a meeting in Manchester and preferred a daytime flight JFK to LHR since I knew the six hour redeye would leave me with jet lag for my entire stay. That meant I had to fly British Airways, though I booked it as a codeshare through American Airlines. 24 hours before my flight, I got an alert that it was canceled. Conspicuously absent from the alert was any link for rebooking. I called BA, waited on hold for ages, and was then told I would have to contact AA and that they couldn't help me even though it was their own damn flight. When I got through to American, they totally bailed me out by putting me on their own flight that evening. I ended up with the redeye after all but at least made it to the conference in time. The same conference is in Edinburgh this fall, and I made sure to book actual AA flights this time.

 

[screech]

Best customer service I've had is with Iceland Air. When I was flying to and from Europe when I lived there, there were 2 options for the stop over in Reykjavik: 45 minutes or 8 hours. For my first flight with them, I was incredibly nervous, as I'm used to leaving at least 2 hours for stop overs (for 'just in case') so I reached out and asked them if I could manage the 45 minutes, as I had to go through customs too. Their response was 'if you couldn't do it, we wouldn't have it as an option'. I took that flight a few times and never had an issue, even with customs.

But I also noticed how they seemed to care about their passengers making connections (at least at the time). There were a few occasions where a first flight was a few minutes delayed landing in, so they held the connecting flights (only for 15 minutes or so), to allow the passengers to make their connection. I asked a customer service rep once at Keflavik Airport and they said that they know they're mainly a connecting airport, so they want to make the connections as good as possible.

I don't know how Keflavik is now, as it's been a decade or so since I've connected through there, but based on my experiences with the airport, and with Iceland Air, I recommend them to anyone who's heading to Europe.

 

[MsZem]

I don't know about worst, but my most disgusting experience involved fellow passengers rather than the airline: ATH-TLV ten years ago, I was in the aisle seat with a mother and her 18 year old daughter next to me. Apparently the daughter had ambitions for a career in medicine and proceded to treat her mother's ingrown toenail and some other gross thing, possibly a boil? I tried very very hard not to pay attention while this was going on

Count me in as someone who got excellent service from a gate agent - United, in San Diego, where I had to be rerouted to San Francisco when it looked like we wouldn't get to Newark in time for me to make my international connection. I wrote them to acknowledge his help and got a refund on the upgrade I'd had for that ticket.

 

[alexikeguchi]

I don't know about worst, but my most disgusting experience involved fellow passengers rather than the airline: ATH-TLV ten years ago, I was in the aisle seat with a mother and her 18 year old daughter next to me. Apparently the daughter had ambitions for a career in medicine and proceded to treat her mother's ingrown toenail and some other gross thing, possibly a boil? I tried very very hard not to pay attention while this was going on

Flying JNB-JFK in the main cabin, my younger (at the time 12 year old) son was seated next to a man who looked about 500 pounds. My son wasn't big for his age and at least was on the aisle, but that experience grossed him out and traumatized him for a long time!

 

[screech]

So my boss who I mentioned earlier flew cross-Canada earlier this week with zero issues has his return flight today. A couple days ago he was informed that flight was cancelled and changed to one a couple hours later. This morning he was informed that his new flight is delayed another 4 hours.
Things could be a lot worse, but it's definitely frustrating.

As for my bad experiences, another one I just remembered is someone who decided their flight was the perfect time to clip their nails (fingers and toes).

 

[Matryeshka]

I have not bought my tickets for SKAM yet but after reading this and hearing of others' experiences, I think I'm going to pony up and pay $$$ for a direct flight on Jet Blue. The connecting flights I've seen that work for me time wise and expense wise all have layovers in Florida and ATLANTA . I will do things--unspeakable things--to avoid the Atlanta airport. The two worst experiences I've ever had flying were in Atlanta--not just the flight itself but the people in that airport. It's like it's staffed from rejects from the DMV and designed by drunk, dyslexic angry monkeys.

I mean, everyone at the NOLA airport is beyond incompetent but at least we're nice by airport standards and the alcohol flows freely.