Traveling QQ Stories

• Commander of Awesome

  

  As I sit in O'Hare airport waiting to board my plane that's been delayed so far by 6 hours (due to rain, lolwut? Can't fly in the rain now?), wanting to hear some other OC traveling QQ stories. I got a few:
  
  1. Flying from CA to Mich via Chicago. Took a red eye that landed in Chi at 7 am for a connecting flight at 10. Flight was delayed several times, then canceled due to snow. I checked the flight board of the Mich airport, no other flights canceled. I bring this up to gate agent, she tells they really canceled the flight due to pilots being over their hours. SMH. Ended up renting a car and driving as they couldn't get me in on another flight until 2 days from then. Didn't even offer to comp me or anything. $200+ for the rental, GFY american airlines
  
  2. Flying back from a wedding into SFO. I was supposed to land at 730 Sunday night. Ended up landing at 1 am, after public transit shut down. $120 cab ride home later, I was not pleased. Work sucked the next day too.
  
  3. Flying with a cat. NEVER. AGAIN.
  
  Lets hear yours.
• FatHobbit

  

  Commander of Awesome;1681277 wrote: 3. Flying with a cat. NEVER. AGAIN.

  Lol.
  
  Right after I got married we flew out of the country and I fucked up and booked my wife's ticket under her married name. (Her passport didn't match) It was a huge hassle getting it fixed but the lady behind the counter eventually got it all worked out. It's a good thing we were really early. Everything was great until our return flight when I found out instead of fixing our flight home she had just canceled my wife's ticket...
• Automatik

  

  Was headed from Copenhagen to Pittsburgh. CPH-JFK-Pittsburgh.
  
  Last night there of course we went HAM. Went to the airport on zero sleep. I get to JFK with no issues, other than puking on the plane (that was a first). I'm expecting a 4 hour layover, 6pm flight. I get there and realize the last leg of the flight wasn't until 6pm, the NEXT day. I then realized why the flight was much cheaper than others. I knew one person to crash with in NYC and he wasn't in town. I also had my phone deactivated and was unable to get it back on until the next business day, so I'm dealing with airport payphones.
  
  I tried to schedule a flight that night but all were booked, even at other airports. So I was able to move it up til 1pm the next day. I was too stubborn and poor to book a hotel so I said fuck it and posted up in JFK for the next 16 hours. They wouldn't let me enter the gates because I was so early so I ended up in like some middle area where other stragglers hung out. Needless to say, I hope I never have to go to JFK for the rest of my life.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Connecting flight in Atlanta on our way to Vegas.
  
  Got too drunk at a bar and missed the flight.
  
  Cool story brah
• Automatik

  

  lol, started the party too early brah.
  
  
  Wasn't it you that was hating on Spirit? They royally fucked my dad a few years ago. Coming from Myrtle Beach to Latrobe, the plane "didn't have enough workers to field a crew." So the flight just got cancelled. This was after a 3 hour+ delay. Next flight with room wasn't going out for 2 days. He was forced to rent a car and drive 12 hours with my mom, aunt, and grandmother. I would have wanted to fucking explode. :laugh:
• SportsAndLady

  

  Automatik;1681286 wrote:lol, started the party too early brah.
  
  
  Wasn't it you that was hating on Spirit? They royally fucked my dad a few years ago. Coming from Myrtle Beach to Latrobe, the plane "didn't have enough workers to field a crew." So the flight just got cancelled. This was after a 3 hour+ delay. Next flight with room wasn't going out for 2 days. He was forced to rent a car and drive 12 hours with my mom, aunt, and grandmother. I would have wanted to fucking explode. :laugh:

  No that wasn't me at least I don't think it was? I think I started a spirit thread I think, asking if anyone had problems with them. But I've always had a decent spirit experience.
• Tiernan

  One time while flying to Montreal I had a 2hr layover in Cleveburgh...it was a nightmare.
• jmog

  Flying from Cleveland to Kalcutta, India.
  
  My flights were Delta from Cleveland to Dubai then Emirates from Dubai to India.
  
  My flight leaving Cleveland was delayed then cancelled. Delta got me out the next morning but it was now connecting through Frankfurt Germany and the connecting flight was with Lufthansa.
  
  My luggage is lost of course and I get it shipped to my hotel (5 hour train ride from Kalcutta) and it arrives 4 days after I do. I am wearing clothes I had to buy in the 3rd world looking Kalcutta airport for 4 days.
  
  Fast forward 2 days and I am watching the news and the story is about a local terrorist group that has sabotaged a train's brakes and two trains collided at a stop killing 40+ people. In the story they said it was probably the same group that has bombed a set of train tracks a month earlier that led to a derailment and more deaths.
  
  The next morning I ask one of the Indian men that worked in our Indian office "Hey, that train sabotage and bombing, isn't that the same train system we will be riding back to Kalcutta in a couple days?"
  
  His reply (in a deep Indian accent) "Oh, no worries, they only bomb the trains at night. We are riding during the day."
  
  He was dead serious, he was not joking. He was ok with the train for that exact reason.
  
  Fast forward 3 days, I get to the Kalcutta airport (armed guards with AK-47s guarding a 3rd world looking airport) and I am told that I can not enter the airport because I do not have a ticket. I have no clue what is going on, I have no cell phone that works in India. My only option is to take a cab to the only other place I even knew existed in this God forsaken city (still by far the worst poverty stricken place I have ever been was Kalcutta) was the hotel I had stayed 1 night in 2 weeks earlier.
  
  I had no room, went there hoping they had a vacancy because I knew no where else.
  
  They do have a room, I get right on the phone and get pushed back and forth from Delta to Emirates about whose fault it was and why I was cancelled. Emirates is blaming Delta, Delta is blaming Emirates, etc. I get to the point that the Indian offices of both airlines are closed for the night and I have no way out of India. I call the U.S. Delta office and someone finally gives me options. They can get me out of India the next night but can't get me out of Dubai right away. I could either spend an extra night in Kalcutta, or have a 23 hour layover in the Dubai airport. Both options got me home at the same time.
  
  I got the F out of India (worst country I have ever been to, and I have traveled to many). 23 hr layover in Dubai was just fine, amazing airport, got home to Cleveland and they freaking lost my luggage again.
  
  By far worst trip I have ever had.
  
  I forgot to mention that a woman tried to hand me her baby through a taxi window to take with me. She just saw a white face and figured her baby would be better off.
  
  
  That hotel phone bill was $600+. The accounting lady at work loved that line item on my expense report.
• Ironman92

  

  jmog;1681310 wrote:Flying from Cleveland to Kalcutta, India.
  
  My flights were Delta from Cleveland to Dubai then Emirates from Dubai to India.
  
  My flight leaving Cleveland was delayed then cancelled. Delta got me out the next morning but it was now connecting through Frankfurt Germany and the connecting flight was with Lufthansa.
  
  My luggage is lost of course and I get it shipped to my hotel (5 hour train ride from Kalcutta) and it arrives 4 days after I do. I am wearing clothes I had to buy in the 3rd world looking Kalcutta airport for 4 days.
  
  Fast forward 2 days and I am watching the news and the story is about a local terrorist group that has sabotaged a train's brakes and two trains collided at a stop killing 40+ people. In the story they said it was probably the same group that has bombed a set of train tracks a month earlier that led to a derailment and more deaths.
  
  The next morning I ask one of the Indian men that worked in our Indian office "Hey, that train sabotage and bombing, isn't that the same train system we will be riding back to Kalcutta in a couple days?"
  
  His reply (in a deep Indian accent) "Oh, no worries, they only bomb the trains at night. We are riding during the day."
  
  He was dead serious, he was not joking. He was ok with the train for that exact reason.
  
  Fast forward 3 days, I get to the Kalcutta airport (armed guards with AK-47s guarding a 3rd world looking airport) and I am told that I can not enter the airport because I do not have a ticket. I have no clue what is going on, I have no cell phone that works in India. My only option is to take a cab to the only other place I even knew existed in this God forsaken city (still by far the worst poverty stricken place I have ever been was Kalcutta) was the hotel I had stayed 1 night in 2 weeks earlier.
  
  I had no room, went there hoping they had a vacancy because I knew no where else.
  
  They do have a room, I get right on the phone and get pushed back and forth from Delta to Emirates about whose fault it was and why I was cancelled. Emirates is blaming Delta, Delta is blaming Emirates, etc. I get to the point that the Indian offices of both airlines are closed for the night and I have no way out of India. I call the U.S. Delta office and someone finally gives me options. They can get me out of India the next night but can't get me out of Dubai right away. I could either spend an extra night in Kalcutta, or have a 23 hour layover in the Dubai airport. Both options got me home at the same time.
  
  I got the F out of India (worst country I have ever been to, and I have traveled to many). 23 hr layover in Dubai was just fine, amazing airport, got home to Cleveland and they freaking lost my luggage again.
  
  By far worst trip I have ever had.
  
  I forgot to mention that a woman tried to hand me her baby through a taxi window to take with me. She just saw a white face and figured her baby would be better off.
  
  
  That hotel phone bill was $600+. The accounting lady at work loved that line item on my expense report.

  Lol, my god.....fuck all of that
• Automatik

  

  jmog;1681310 wrote:Flying from Cleveland to Kalcutta, India.
  
  My flights were Delta from Cleveland to Dubai then Emirates from Dubai to India.
  
  My flight leaving Cleveland was delayed then cancelled. Delta got me out the next morning but it was now connecting through Frankfurt Germany and the connecting flight was with Lufthansa.
  
  My luggage is lost of course and I get it shipped to my hotel (5 hour train ride from Kalcutta) and it arrives 4 days after I do. I am wearing clothes I had to buy in the 3rd world looking Kalcutta airport for 4 days.
  
  Fast forward 2 days and I am watching the news and the story is about a local terrorist group that has sabotaged a train's brakes and two trains collided at a stop killing 40+ people. In the story they said it was probably the same group that has bombed a set of train tracks a month earlier that led to a derailment and more deaths.
  
  The next morning I ask one of the Indian men that worked in our Indian office "Hey, that train sabotage and bombing, isn't that the same train system we will be riding back to Kalcutta in a couple days?"
  
  His reply (in a deep Indian accent) "Oh, no worries, they only bomb the trains at night. We are riding during the day."
  
  He was dead serious, he was not joking. He was ok with the train for that exact reason.
  
  Fast forward 3 days, I get to the Kalcutta airport (armed guards with AK-47s guarding a 3rd world looking airport) and I am told that I can not enter the airport because I do not have a ticket. I have no clue what is going on, I have no cell phone that works in India. My only option is to take a cab to the only other place I even knew existed in this God forsaken city (still by far the worst poverty stricken place I have ever been was Kalcutta) was the hotel I had stayed 1 night in 2 weeks earlier.
  
  I had no room, went there hoping they had a vacancy because I knew no where else.
  
  They do have a room, I get right on the phone and get pushed back and forth from Delta to Emirates about whose fault it was and why I was cancelled. Emirates is blaming Delta, Delta is blaming Emirates, etc. I get to the point that the Indian offices of both airlines are closed for the night and I have no way out of India. I call the U.S. Delta office and someone finally gives me options. They can get me out of India the next night but can't get me out of Dubai right away. I could either spend an extra night in Kalcutta, or have a 23 hour layover in the Dubai airport. Both options got me home at the same time.
  
  I got the F out of India (worst country I have ever been to, and I have traveled to many). 23 hr layover in Dubai was just fine, amazing airport, got home to Cleveland and they freaking lost my luggage again.
  
  By far worst trip I have ever had.
  
  I forgot to mention that a woman tried to hand me her baby through a taxi window to take with me. She just saw a white face and figured her baby would be better off.
  
  
  That hotel phone bill was $600+. The accounting lady at work loved that line item on my expense report.

  Wow, you win.
• Benny The Jet

  

  Had a flight booked on SkyBus while in college. They literally closed up their operations while I was in line to check in for my flight.
• sportchampps

  Flight from Kansas City to Columbus. I had a 1 hour layover in Milwaukee (usually an awesome layover where I can grab a spotted cow or two). It's a blizzard in KC. I get 5 minutes from the airport where I all of a sudden see every car in front of me hitting a sheet of ice and spinning. Luckily everyone was keeping good distance and no one is hitting each other just going into ditches. I dont have time to stop so I hit the ice and spin to. I literally stop maybe 2 inches from a sign on the side of the road hitting my car. Somehow out of all the cars my Scion TC gets out of the ditch.
  
  I get get to the airport to find out my flight is delayed an hour and a half so I'm goig to miss my connection so their just rebooking us at the KC airport for a new connection. We got on the flight and the pilot says we're taking a "shortcut" and we some how arrive in time for the original connection. So there's bout 10 other people were all excited and run to the gate and watch everyone board. The gate agent then stops us and won't let us on because the KC airport had rebooked us. So on Christmas Eve we all spent 7 hours in the Milwaukee airport and got like a $50 comp. Only good thing is I did spend the 7 hours talking to a really hot girl who ws on the same flights.
• Pick6

  

  I'll be working on a project in Youngstown for the next 3 months for a minimum of 4 days a week. Nuff said.
• sherm03

  

  I was flying from Cincy to Chicago for a national training for work. We have a slight delay due to storms in Chicago, but it's no big deal because the flight is about 45 minutes and they always schedule the time as if the flight is an hour and 10 minutes. So I'm still set to arrive at the same time. We get about half way there when the pilot comes on and says that the storms didn't clear out as expected and that they are asking flights to circle Chicago until they can land. He said that we didn't have enough gas to do that, so instead, we're going back to Cincinnati. We fly back to Cincy so they could gas up the plane and we leave again for Chicago. 45 minute flight ended up landing 4 hours late.
• GoChiefs

  

  Was visiting family in North Carolina. Headed back home on Sunday the weekend of Memorial Day. Hit a deer in the Charger doing about 80 around Wytheville, Virginia. Front of the car was destroyed. Did almost $8k in damage. It was gonna cost a shit load of money to tow it back to Canton. All the car rental places around were closed Sunday and Monday. Had to shack up in a hotel until Tuesday when we could finally rent a car to go home. My cousin drove down with his truck and trailer and trailered the car back to Canton for me while we followed behind in the rental.
• Midstate01

  

  Flying from dayton-atl-sacramento last year, my flight in Dayton was delayed due to de-icing. Get to atl, gave 20 minutes to make it to my plane. I pick up my one year old and literally run. I make it to the plane and give the lady my ticket. She tells me they gave my seat away because my plane was late into atl. The door was still open. I was irate. I needed that flight to Sacramento so I could get go Travis afb that night and fly back to Hawaii. The lady knows how mad I am and asks where I'm trying to go, I tell her hawaii. She looks it up and tells me to go use these phones they have that go directly to customer service. Tell them I the situation and they'll put me on a direct to Honolulu. So now I'm pretty happy. So I get on the phone. The lady apologizes and tells me they will help me. So I'm feeling great until she tells me she just needs my credit card info. I ask why snd she tells me the ticket will cost 1300. I was so pissed. After arguing I tell her just get me to Sacramento now. Instead of going from atl straight to sac. I flew to Memphis, then houston, them salt lake, then Sacramento. By the time I got to Sacramento and Travis afb I had missed two c5's going to Hawaii and ended up having to pay for 4 nights hotel at Travis afb until I could get on a plane back to Honolulu. I sent a nasty email to delta and explained everything and got a nice email back telling me they hoped they can do better next time. Last time I'll ever fly delta unless the military books the flight. Would have been bad enough alone, but adding in a one year old was awful.
• DeyDurkie5

  

  Jmog wins
• jmog

  I had another much less drama filled one but no less frightening.
  
  I can't remember for the life of me where I was flying home from (to CLE).
  
  We get near Cleveland and the CLE completely closes due to a bad snow storm. We get redirected to Columbus. We get down to Columbus and have to start circling the city because almost all Cleveland flights were redirected to either Columbus or Pittsburgh (smaller ones went to Canton Akron). We circle Columbus for about an hour when the pilot comes on to give an update and says this at the end "don't worry folks, we have plenty of fuel to circle, have another 45 minutes of fuel left" (I want to say it was a flight home from the west coast).
  
  No more than 10 minutes later he comes back on and announces we are being redirected to Indianapolis and we would be there in 50 minutes...
  
  Ok, so I obviously did the math in my head and was a little worried...we land safely and I was in the back of the plane so I was the last off. I asked the pilot "Hey, you mentioned 45 minutes of fuel and we flew for about 60 minutes after that to landing".
  
  He put a worried smile on and just said "Yeah, we were coasting in with no fuel the last 10-15 minutes, it was not good, but it was our only option tonight".
  
  That was so much better than what happened on that India trip above.
• Zoltan

  Flying out Brazil - Sau Paulo
  
  It's the summer before the World Cup, so Brazil is hosting the Confederations Cup. They had just raised the bus fare, in part to cover the cost of new stadiums, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. People are protesting and basically just standing on the highways to shut everything down. On Friday when I am supposed to leave, I get a cab early to make sure I get the airport super early. We get about 1/2 mile from the terminal and the driver can no longer move. I get out with my luggage in tow and walk the rest of the way through protests.
  
  When i finally arrive the ticket agent says go directly to your gate, but I my flight doesn't leave for 4 hours. She explains the rioters are now trying to storm the airport, and they will try to leave ASAP. Go to the gate, they laugh and say we aren't leaving anytime soon. I head to the bar and start drinking, while my flight slowly gets delayed 15 minutes at a time. Finally they shut the airport down, nobody in or out. Massive amounts of armed guards outside to block rioters trying to get in. Around 1 AM (my flight was supposed to leave at 9 PM), they say we won't be leaving until sometime the next day, but we can't leave to go a hotel. This airport doesn't even have carpet on the floors. I stumble by some dudes playing cards, and hear, "No, that’s the right bower," Immediately I know they are playing euckre and are probably from the Midwest. Two of them were from Indiana, and were thrilled another person knew how to play so we sat on the floor , drank caned beers, and played for awhile until people finally passed out about 3 AM.
  
  Next day flight leaves around 10 AM local time, finally get back home around 8 PM, and all I want do is take a damn shower. It's about 90 degrees outside and my damn power is out from a storm, so no hot water. I just about lost it.
• fish82

  

  Watched lightning hit the wing of the CRJ on climb out from CVG about 10 years ago. It was a little unnerving.
  
  I've had more 5+ hour delays and slept in more airports than I can even begin to count.
• Fab4Runner

  

  You guys are making me feel super fortunate. I have never had anything more than an hour delay. No lost luggage, no redirects.
  
  *Knocks on wood.*
• Commander of Awesome

  

  It's astonishing how incompetent airlines are.
  
  Great stories so far though, keep em coming.
• Tiernan

  Jmog...that sounds absolutely dreadful...having to be in that human hell hole...my God man how long were you in Cleveland before you could take off?
• ernest_t_bass

  

  jmog;1681310 wrote:Flying from Cleveland to Kalcutta, India.
  
  My flights were Delta from Cleveland to Dubai then Emirates from Dubai to India.
  
  My flight leaving Cleveland was delayed then cancelled. Delta got me out the next morning but it was now connecting through Frankfurt Germany and the connecting flight was with Lufthansa.
  
  My luggage is lost of course and I get it shipped to my hotel (5 hour train ride from Kalcutta) and it arrives 4 days after I do. I am wearing clothes I had to buy in the 3rd world looking Kalcutta airport for 4 days.
  
  Fast forward 2 days and I am watching the news and the story is about a local terrorist group that has sabotaged a train's brakes and two trains collided at a stop killing 40+ people. In the story they said it was probably the same group that has bombed a set of train tracks a month earlier that led to a derailment and more deaths.
  
  The next morning I ask one of the Indian men that worked in our Indian office "Hey, that train sabotage and bombing, isn't that the same train system we will be riding back to Kalcutta in a couple days?"
  
  His reply (in a deep Indian accent) "Oh, no worries, they only bomb the trains at night. We are riding during the day."
  
  He was dead serious, he was not joking. He was ok with the train for that exact reason.
  
  Fast forward 3 days, I get to the Kalcutta airport (armed guards with AK-47s guarding a 3rd world looking airport) and I am told that I can not enter the airport because I do not have a ticket. I have no clue what is going on, I have no cell phone that works in India. My only option is to take a cab to the only other place I even knew existed in this God forsaken city (still by far the worst poverty stricken place I have ever been was Kalcutta) was the hotel I had stayed 1 night in 2 weeks earlier.
  
  I had no room, went there hoping they had a vacancy because I knew no where else.
  
  They do have a room, I get right on the phone and get pushed back and forth from Delta to Emirates about whose fault it was and why I was cancelled. Emirates is blaming Delta, Delta is blaming Emirates, etc. I get to the point that the Indian offices of both airlines are closed for the night and I have no way out of India. I call the U.S. Delta office and someone finally gives me options. They can get me out of India the next night but can't get me out of Dubai right away. I could either spend an extra night in Kalcutta, or have a 23 hour layover in the Dubai airport. Both options got me home at the same time.
  
  I got the F out of India (worst country I have ever been to, and I have traveled to many). 23 hr layover in Dubai was just fine, amazing airport, got home to Cleveland and they freaking lost my luggage again.
  
  By far worst trip I have ever had.
  
  I forgot to mention that a woman tried to hand me her baby through a taxi window to take with me. She just saw a white face and figured her baby would be better off.
  
  
  That hotel phone bill was $600+. The accounting lady at work loved that line item on my expense report.

  This takes the cake. Damn.
• iclfan2

  

  I have slept in the Newark airport overnight, had numerous flights delayed and cancelled, only lost luggage once, and was stuck in Wytheville, Virgina when they closed the tunnels on 77 due to a blizzard. Found one of the last hotel rooms in the town. I hate flying because the airports are so incompetent. I'd say I used to fly more than average for work, and delays happened at least 50% of the time if not more. Had a cancellation last year due to the "door seal" not working. Yet they flew into the airport right before that? To top it off they wouldn't compensate me for parking at the airport and tried to refuse me my $50 to use points for the flight. I do not fly as much anymore after I switched jobs and I do not miss it.
  
  Jmog, I didn't have any trouble while in India, but it is def a shit hole. Although I was in Delhi which was probably a little better, and flew 1st class on a direct flight from NY To Delhi.