Travel Nightmares......

After my last faux pas of not searching before posting, I did this time :-)

I travel a fair bit, and always have done, but seem to have good luck when I do travel.

Being sat on a ORD - Man flight, in december, on the runway in Newfoundland, in the worst Blizzard ever for 5 hours springs to mind.

Just wondered what other peoples experiences were!

I bet some passengers on an NRT flight over Easter will have some nightmares to post.....[}:)];)

[HighFlyer]

Touch wood ... I've never had any disasters. Never missed a flight, never been delayed over 2 hours, never lost my luggage. (I'm flying in 10 days ... bet i have tempted fate!)

Travel nightmares have only occurred in the form of fellow passengers that have been strange or decidedly annoying; the 'Mr Chatty in 71C' or 'Sweaty Bill from Tucson in 1D' and the like.

Thanks,
Sarah

[preiffer]

Spending 6.5 hours in the toilet of an Air Canada flight from Montreal with food poisoning. Somewhat gutting, knowing that you're supposed to be sat in a £3,500 seat at the time [ii][:(]

[Scrooge]

Well this could turn into a multi page thread very quickly.

Let's see, sitting on the balcony of a suite drinking my morning coffee, get a nagging feeling that something is wrong, jump in the shower, the feeling gets worse, drying off and it dawns on me that I may off booked the return flights for the wrong date, grab the reservation and notice that my flight was going to leave in 2hrs...while I was 500 miles/ 2 days away.

Sitting on a DL 757 in coach on a taxiway at JFK for 2 1/2 hrs.

Cowering in various hotel rooms during hurricanes/typhon's.

Being on a ship that cannot dock due to a hurricane, then the ship running out of JD !

Originally posted by Scrooge
Well this could turn into a multi page thread very quickly.

Sitting on a DL 757 in coach on a taxiway at JFK for 2 1/2 hrs.

I've been sat in a v.small turbo prop at AMS on the taxi for two hours because of the wind. If it was too windy to take off, you can only imagine what it felt like being in the 30 seater for two hours!!!

Leaving Darwin on a Quantas flight and then going to find my wallet in my bag - and its gone!!! Then having that "moment" where I think its left behind at Darwin airport and throwing everything out of the overhead locker til I eventually find it..in my pocket!!

And coming back from that Oz trip and meeting my Mum crying at the airport - apparently she had turned up at our house to "house sit" and scared off the b**tards who were trying to burgle our house!!

Or - we used to carry around a video camera bag which ALWAYS had the video, our camera and the passports/tickets/money. We made sure we always carried this whenever we parked a car on holiday - just in case the car was broken into. Once in Sacremento we were walking back from having had a coffee in a downtown shopping centre when we realised that neither of us had the bag!!! Aaghhh!! We ran back about a mile and as we raced up the escalator we saw the bag on the floor under the table we had been sat at - untouched!! To this day I love the people of Sacramento!!

Wandering around Pompeii, which we were visiting off a cruise ship in the blazing sun. Then getting sunstroke and having to stay in the cabin for 2 days feeling ill!! Not plez[:$]

Other than that I agree with Dave - anywhere that runs out of booze when you are on holiday is a nightmare - BIG TIME!!

[HighFlyer]

I've been on a VS flight that ran out of JD! Not a pretty moment ... I had to start drinking lesser alcoholic drinks instead!

Thanks,
Sarah

[mitchja]

My travel nightmare would have to be my first (and last) visit to BGI several years ago.

It didn't get off to a great start as it was the first year VS flew to BGI but in the end they didnt get the paperwork done in time so we ended up on a BA flight (even though it was a V Hols booking). Got to the hotel only to find there was no booking for us (although the manager went out of his way to find us an upgraded room). The hotel pool had to be drained for 4 out of the 7 days we where there as it had a leak. The hotel was, however, great with fantastic staff and amazing food.

The problems really started the second you stepped outside the hotel gate, it was a total and utter nightmare. We where follwed around Bridgetown by some guy trying to sell us things.

I then had my wallet pick-pocketed in Bridgetown by someone else. Reported it to the police to get a crime number for the insurance and they didn't even believe me. Some friends we met at the hotel had a bag stollen from them at knife point whilst sat on the beach in front of the hotel. You couldn't sit on the beach for too long as every 5 mins someone came along trying to sell you something (anything from music tapes to drugs). Every other day there where police turning up at the hotel to take statements from tourists to fill in crime reports.

Before I had my wallet stollen, whilst on a dive the guy who was left on the boat took money out of my wallet (which didnt realise until I got back to the hotel)

I didnt feel safe at all during my entire weeks stay.

I could not wait to get back on that BA flight back to the UK.

Never ever again.

Regards

On a flight to Moscow Decker left my passport on the plane but managed to have his on him.

I was left sitting on my own at Immigration - well not exactly on my own, there were quite a few men with guns standing very close to me...

Not an experience I would like to go through again!

Mrs D

[preiffer]

When you say "left", Mrs D. Did he EVER actually claim it was an accident? [:w][:p]


[:0]

[honey lamb]

Going through security at T1 international security on the way to a SAA flight to JNB and having to have a pat-down search while 6 year old Aer John blithely went on mingling with the surge of business travellers bound for Europe. The more I got agitated as he disappeared from sight the more they were convinced I was hiding something.

Being asked for my ticket stubs on my first VS flight (again to JNB) as there was a discrepancy between the number of cases listed on the computer as opposed to the number that were physically there. It was in the time of paper tickets and the plane took off with our tickets still in LHR. (It was VS's handling of this incidentwhich wedded me firmly to them)

Arriving in MCO from a flight from DCA just as a thunderstorm closed the ramp. We had to wait about two and a half hours for our luggage. Actually we were quite philosophical about it and quite enjoyed watching a woman from Philadelphia freaking out about the whole thing.

Being made to check in a bag at MCO which we had intended to carry-on. It had in it our camcorder which was stolen. MCO police refused to take responsibility as we couldn't prove it was stolen in MCO - we were going to GSO via CLT. Because we couldn't get a police statement we couldn't claim it from our insurance.

On several occasions spending a couple of hours sitting in an Aer Arann ATR72/42 at ORK and then being offloaded because of weather or engine failure. The re-scheduled flight to DUB would have had me there just as the meeting I was due to attend was finishing and so I had no option but to go back to the office insread of poncing around the capital after the meeting [:I]

Trying to wake up a friend at 5:30am who was to bring us to ORK and failing miserably. We had to use our own car and arrange for someone to pick it up later from the airport.

On the same occasion travelling to LHR via MAN because Aer Lingus was on strike (they honoured the tix and the ORK-MAN flight was in business and so we had a hot breakfast) only to find the most horrendous queues for VS. It took us over an hour to check in via the PE line and the flight was delayed an hour because at the time of departure 60 pax still had to check in.

All SSSS screening but especially the TSA agent who kept on wanding the underwire in my bra to the amusement of the pax watching [:I] In fact all TSA screening

The last flight to MCO with the screaming baby [:0]

In spite of all this we enjoyed all of these flights. What makes them a nightmare is if you let them. Treat them as an experience and something to dine out on for the next few months and they aren't so bad. However there are some experiences which really cannot be treated in such a way such as being mugged or robbed. These are true nightmares

[Neil]

I have only ever had 1 truly horrible travelling experience and that was coming home from Jamaica 2 years ago. Left MBJ at 4:30pm after a short hop over to KIN we were all off loaded and put in the most terrible of waiting lounges with 2 shops and a burger type place, due to leave KIN at 6:30pm, but then we had delay after delay after delay called, and finally after every excuse you could ever imagine we boarded and left at 5:20am.

Air Jamaica ([n][n][n]) left us in the horrible little lounge, with the most uncomfortable seats ever and gave us a voucher which had the value of 90p, luckily there were 10 of us travelling and we could club together to buy some chips and a drink. I am still ashamed to say that I turned into the pax from hell (think idiots who shout at people/demand to see supervisor's etc on Airport and such like[:I])but am now content in the knowledge I will never fly Air Jamaica again.

Neil

Flying back from Charlotte NC (pre 911). Aircraft at end of runway about to take off. Captain on intercom "we have to go back to terminal as a passenger needs to get off". OK, perhaps medical emergency or personal tragedy communicated to cockpit. No, some geezer has decided "one wing is lower than the other" and wishes not to fly.

Back at terminal, full security search. All bags out of overhead lockers to check geezer hasn't left a present for the rest of us. All sorted. Passenger in seat next to geezer then decides they want to get off too. More security malarkey. Repeat this several times as geezer has spooked the entire row (but they can't get their act together to get off all at once).

Crew now out of hours. New crew found. Aircraft then declared faulty as rear lavatory u/s. Everyone off. Charlotte NC airport not set up for people being there after 11 pm. Another aircraft found. Everyone to gate. Electrical storm hits. More delays.

..oh..and waiting to collect baggage at BGI in non airconditioned shed where belt would start...one bag...stop...wait...start....one bag...(repeat several hundred times). Subsequently have adopted "soon come" attitude on arrival in Carribean...

Paul

My worst nightmare involved not a plane but a train. July 8th 2001 - I remember the date because the next day it was the Men's Final at Wimbledon - Goran Ivanisevic vs Pat Rafter.

We were booked on the last Eurostar service from Paris to London in Premium First around 8.30pm. Boarding was delayed and the train was full (this being a Sunday evening) as some people were rebooked and upgraded onto our train. What should have been a normal 3 hour journey turned into a 9 hour nightmare as a train had broken down and blocked the only rail line from the Channel Tunnel in Kent

We eventually arrived into London Waterloo just before 5am and rushed in a cab (paid for by Eurostar) to get to Wimbledon and there were already people queueing up at this time in the morning to buy tickets for the final (People's Monday they called it).

Eurostar refunded the £500 cost of our tickets and paid £80 for downgrading us to first class. Goran went on to win the title and kiss the grass...and we went home feeling very jet-lagged.

Article from BBC news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1429709.stm

Leaving rucksack with passports + tickets in on courtesy Dollar bus on way to LAX [:I]

Flight cancelled from CDG to Reunion and then having to wait for three days while us and three hundred other pax try to get on the next flights as stand-by.[xx(]

VS.

My Nightmare trip was to Orlando in 2005.
Me and my mate sat in row 63 H+K all other seats in rows 61,62,63,64 were taken by Pi**ed up squaddies, the one exception being one poor American girl in 63F distraught to find where she had been seated.
Then after 8 hours of singing drinking and shouting we get off to find a 2 hour queue at immigration.
My mate then decides it is a good idea to check the contents of his luggage (right there in the baggage hall) because the lock had been broken[ii]
SC was then written on his customs document by a stern security guard, I walk over to find out what the problem is, Òare you together?Ó says the guard, I stupidly say yes and SC is written on my card[V]
Then follows a 15 min interrogation by customs and after being asked if I have any fruit for the 4th time I admit I have an unopened bag of honey roast peanuts [:I] the officer rolls his eyes and we are let through.
First time at MCO and we find that out baggage was whisked away and have to go through a secondary security check[B)]
Finally we collect our luggage for a second time my mates bag takes another 30 mins to come through.
we can now go and collect our hire car, when we find the correct desk there is a massive queue, over an hour later we make it to collect the car only to find the car type we had paid for (Standard) wasn't called that!!
I tried asking an Alamo employee who only spoke Spanish gave up and jumped in a full size car and drove to the gate, thankfully no one batted an eyelid and after getting lost several times on the way to the hotel finally checked in 5 1/2 hours after landing.

I've mentioned some of my nightmare flights on another thread, but one question I've been asked by others is why I hate(and yes, there is no lesser word for it) HP to no end. Here's why:

Back in the late '90's I was in PHX, and after seeing my father released from the hospital, I quietly drove my rental car back to Sky Harbor with myself, my cat in his fabric Sherpa bag, two boxes of assorted presents and shopping to check, and one carry-on tote with my don't-dare-lose-it items packed into it.

I'd called good old America West's FlightFund number, and had been told my aircraft was enroute. I even asked for a tail number check. I left for the airport at 4:15 PM, due to rush-hour traffic in Phoenix. At that time there were no looping freeways to miss all the mess, and it took ages to slog from the west into the center of town. (Cat in bag, 4 PM)

When I checked in at Terminal 4 (5:19PM), same info. Leaving 6:30, arriving at 9:40 at SEA (Sea-Tac). I checked my boxes and went wandering onward. But there's now a snag. I'd been repeately lied to by many HP employees (and on orders, I late found out - they were telling everyone their flights were on time no matter what their own system was showing them). My aircraft is not enroute. About 9:30 we finally board a plane which arrived from Chicago (and I tried in vain to be 240'd, my cat being the problem I couldn't find another flight - cabin pet restrictions as to number of pets per cabin).

In flight the FA dropped a full can of Coke onto my cat's head! We'd been having a rather bumpy ride due to turbulence and his bag had slipped about 4 inches out from under the seat in front of me. It was so bumpy I'd stowed my tray and given up working. Yet they were still serving drinks! Anyway, my cat let out a yowl and didn't stop.

Now, my cat has more frequent-flier miles than most people - if I'm in the US he travels with me. He was flying at 8 weeks. If I could get a card for him he'd have free tix up the wazoo, but I can't. (I'm still bummed that I have to pay a fortune to stuff him under the seat in front of me, while others can take children which scream, squall, vomit, throw things, and otherwise be a right nuisance - and all for free [n]) For him to make a peep was totally unlike him.

I had his carrier out and up on my lap instantly, and that's when the FA let me have it. She told me I had to keep him in the carrier, no matter what! By now he was visibly hurting, and in pain, if the yowls weren't sign enough. I asked her to file a report. 'For a cat?' Asking for the purser wasn't enough - I raised a ruckus before anyone finally did anything in writing (had to - my cat hadn't shut up, and was now screaming nonstop).

Upon landing at 12:30 in the morning, I found out they'd lost my boxes (sent to Portland! AA brought them up for me, since I was also one of their members.) When I said I had more inportant things than waiting for my bags, like finding a vet right now, I was told rudely off by HP. I left the airport anyway. (AA politely delivered the bags to me after hearing the story. Too bad they've raised my ire over the VX mess. I like them!)

I knew where the 24 hour emergency vet was in Auburn (around 18 miles away), and even had their phone number. I called as I drove in the fog, and when I arrived my cat was having seizures. They kept him overnight until my regular vet opened, and fortunately, he is alive and enjoying his 14th year on this planet today. No thanks to America West.

After six months of writing and calling, I didn't get so much as a free ticket for my cat, or miles for myself. They also didn't pay my $1200. vet bill. So I cut up my Flight FUnd card, told them they'd never again see one dime of my business (I was Gold, on the edge of Platinum at the time), and I have kept my promise.

HP. [n] Friends don't let friends fly HP. [V]

Have to say 9/ll. We were in Cape Cod when the events happened and due to fly home that Saturday - four days after the attacks. Anxiously watched for any news of airports re-opening, but of course they stayed closed for days.

Cutting a long story short (er), we were delayed by 2 days, at which point Virgin bussed us from Boston, where we now were, to JFK. Itell you, emptiest roads either we or the driver have ever encountered to that airport! Flight was delayed and delayed, and then delayed some more, at which point they wanted to bus us over to Newark. We'd had enough and told them we didn't want to be moved around again, so stayed at JFK (actually, got upgraded - not sure quite why, but the only good thing about the experience!). Flight eventually took off around 6 hours late. We got back to the UK - to Heathrow. Sadly, our car was parked at Gatwick! Long and tortuous bus ride between the airports. It was grey, chilly and raining, and we were so disorientated that we couldn't find the car for a while. We got home, having been travelling for 24 hours and wanting nothing more than a hot shower, but no such luck - boiler had broken down (we were without hot water for a week, as it took that long for goold old British Gas to sort the problem out!)

Oh yes - I was late for the start of my new job as well.... you couldn't make it up![:0]