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