I Missed My Flight!
So, I’m out partying with Sid, Bro, Uri and a bunch of other folks the night before I leave for the holidays. My plane is scheduled to depart at 6:00AM. I do the math. (… “If I need to be at La Guardia 60 minutes prior to departure … and I have to budget enough time to get there and I still need to pack … um, wait, where was I … What? It’s almost 1:00AM, you say? Okay, time for one more beer. Whose round is it?!?!?” …) So, then, before I know it — it’s morning. The day of my flight. After sleeping for less than 4 hours, I wake up at 5:01AM and I think, “OH. SHIT. My plane boards in 24 minutes, and I haven’t even left the house. And, I haven’t packed yet. And, I’m hungover. Not good.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand you, ma’am. I get it. I have to wait here at the airport and fly standby on the next open plane because I missed my original flight. But, what I *don’t* get is this: why. are you. talking. so. LOUD????? … What’s that you say? You’re not talking loud? Oh. Yeah. Ma’am, I appreciate your concern. But, I can assure you that I am not drunk.
So, now it’s 4:00PM. I’m still at the airport. I’ve been waiting for any empty seat on any plane for approximately 9 hours. Holiday travel. All planes are booked. Nevertheless, I’ve been assured that I will be able to travel on the 5:45PM flight to Chicago Midway. Unfortunately, something goes wrong and somehow — and only the sweet little baby Jesus knows exactly how — the airline mixes up the boarding passes and double books or bumps nearly 1/3 of the plane. Chaos. The airline’s people get frustrated with all of the angry customers and crying babies so they tell us: “Just board the plane and sit in any empty seat!!” And, board we all do. It’s a free for all, so I make a quick dash for the gate. But, my boarding pass doesn’t work for some reason. No worries. They allow me to board anyway. In the end, the flight (and I) arrive in Chicago safely.
Hmmm … I remember when I first arrived at the airport’s security checkpoint, they made me get rid of my Bath & Body Works Cucumber Melon Hand Lotion. The liquid, I was told, could be a security threat. So, here’s what I don’t get … At the boarding gate, they let a good chunk of people get on the plane even though the airline’s system didn’t recognize our boarding passes. If I follow this correctly: scented hand lotion equals security threat, unauthorized persons on an aircraft equals good???? Who knows … Maybe they’re right. I mean, you know, I certainly *felt* safer knowing that neither my nor anyone else’s hands smelled like Cucumber Melon on the plane. Anyway, I wonder … does anyone else out there have any travel (plane, train or automobile) horror stories. If so, you know the drill … share ‘em in the comment section.
December 27th, 2006 at 5:29 am
Wow that truly does like a panic situationl! I’m one of those insanely neurotic people who make the list for the packing weeks in advance and then start the packing a few days after that and write more lists…you get the picture!
Airline security truly baffles me. I was not allowed to take lip balm when flying to Glasgow, but I was allowed to take chewing gum. Isn’t it possible to disguise plastic explosives as chewing gum? They’re complete morons. Next to bus drivers I think most Airline staff have the worst personalities ever.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:39 am
oooh i have a similar story… in college stayed up really late finishing the last paper procrastinator that i am… it was 3am when i finished. i had to be up at 5- i figured i’d get 2 hrs of sleep…. im still sleeping when i hear my housemates discussing me- answering the phone housemate R says “It’s the car company for D, can you get her”- housemate C says “oh she already left for the airport”, then R again saying “her car waited outside for 20 minutes, and left. they’re just calling to tell her they’ll still be charging her credit card”… SHIT. I wake up and make a mad dash to get ready. I plead C to drive me to the airport- but lo and behold the car is frozen over this being the middle of winter. We get it started, and i tell her just to drive while i aim at removing the snow from the front all the while in the passengers seat.
We get to the airport only 45 mins late. but this is for an intl flight, and the lady tells me the only way she can let me on is only if i dont check anything in. i agree- rush out to C’s car and dump all the gifts and everything out. Only carrying as much as i can stuff into my carryon, and then stuffing countless other things into paper shopping bags… I walked through security looking like a bag lady with my 4 stuffed paper bags…
This was pre-9/11 and they let me through… i imagine i’d be detained and held for questioning if it were today… “What a 24 hour flight and no luggage?”
No gifts for the fam, but I GOT HOME!
December 27th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
This isn’t a holiday story, but in college I had just spent a wonderful semester abroad in Paris. Towards the end though I was ready to go home, I had a nasty end to a fling and I just wanted my own stuff and my own space. So I’m flying from Paris to Philly – get to Philly – they tell me my flight home is cancelled oh but go through customs and then and get onto this other flight. I ask what am I supposed to do with this giant backpack I’ve been lugging around Europe? Oh they’ll let you on the plane with it. This thing is huge – of course they yell at me at security WHAT ARE YOU THINKING YOU CAN’T TAKE THAT THROUGH HERE ….so I go to a counter, I get the run around, I start crying because I’m tired, by myself, and I want to go home. I’ve also got my giant back pack with me plus my carryon back pack with two bottles of wine in it. So the guy gets me on a flight through Charlotte, NC. I call my parents to tell them what’s up – dad is like there is a hurricane in NC. AHHHHH….so I get to Charlotte – run through the airport with my wine – and barely escape a hurricane and barely make my flight. Then I slept for 10,000 years…..
December 27th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Merry belated xmas fbc. Sry been busy as hell here. Btw airport securities suck, its just a front to show people that they are kind of protecting us. bleh
December 27th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
glad u got home– god, travel is so left to the gods, isn’t it? geez!
December 27th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
Last week, the TSA got me for my favorite tweezers.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
OMG! What airline did u fly? (so that I cross it out of my airlines list! :P) Open seating? That sounds like Southwest, yuck!
Ay, they made u get rid of your bath & body works lotion? don’t they know it’s liquid gold? For me, it’s the antibacterial moisturizing hand lotion: the warm vanilla sugar!! hmmm, it’s so delicious.. and it comes in a 2 ounces package so it totally fits my bag anytime! I love it and would never give it up; even if I have to miss my flight!
I have this story about going to Detroit this year. I came from Buenos Aires and thru Dallas, so they thought I was a kind of beef killer chick and took a while when we went through the security check point (My point is that we were coming from a plane, we’d just gone through inmigration.. where did I have the time to find a bomb, explosive, etc and put it in my stuff??? still sounds like a stupid idea) so it takes forever when they check MY bags (yeap, go to the beef chick, she’s got the goodies) and when I realize, we had landed at a different terminal and had to take an air train to get to the gate.. Me and my mom (who’s old and can’t run) are 15 minutes prior takeoff and we are in a stupid shuttle that travels 5mph (kidding, but certaintly felt like that). In the end we did get to the terminal, the gate and the plane but it was just because our lugagge was loaded on that plane.. they had already taken our cool seats so we got pissed and the other passangers had to move.. Can u belive they looked at us like “they were ours now” yeah, right.. whatever.
Don’t buy connections where you only have an hour to “relax”, I can tell u: wasn’t relaxing at all.
Next time you fly: Either don’t go to bed (just take one more beer, and you’ll ahve enough time to pack and make it to the airport early enough) or get a 9am nonstop: you’ll make it for lunch! Don’t you hate it when they feed u crap: peanuts and a soda? please, I want a big mac or chicken wings :D that’s be awesome!
When u said u had a story I thought it was sth about mean people in the airport.. doesn’t it always happen to you? Good night
December 27th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
My disaster was spectacular!
This is the Readers Digest version :-)
Happened in Dec 1999 when I was a student. Was going back to India, Garuda Indonesia was the carrier. The travel agent failed to mention that I needed a Visa in Jakartha. So I got deported from Jakartha to Bali, then from Bali to Singapore (spent the nite on a wodden chair in Bali!!!). I was supposed to stay in Singapore for 2 days and then go to India. Well, I was wrong again, since I had been deported in the last 24 hrs, S’pore won’t let me in and got deported to India. My luggage got lost!
When I got back to NZ, all I asked of the travel agent was an apology, but they wouldn’t and since I had no money to sue them, I went on a TV program called “Fairgo”. Well, I got my settlement, was on TV at prime time for a whole 10 minutes.. could never forget the experience! Still have it on tape
December 28th, 2006 at 12:19 am
Darwin: LIP BALM??? They barred you from bring lip balm on a flight? Unbelievable.
distar: Oooh, I remember the pre-9/11 days of flying. Food on the airplanes. Free booze. As many carryons as you could carry with your two arms. The good ol’ days! :-)
Twirly: WOW! You’re lucky you missed the hurricane!
papigiulio: Yeah, I know they’re doing all of this extra saftey stuff but, I have to admit, it doesn’t really make me feel much safer.
RJ March: I *hate* flying these days. Oh, and, welcome to the blog!!! :)
Mist1: Damn them!!!!
Nat: ATA, Southwest, Spirit, it’s all the same. The cheap fares are great, but the service isn’t. Actually, I probably shouldn’t include Southwest in that group because, along with Jet Blue, they’re probably one of the best low-fare airlines in The States. By the way, I flew through Detroit once, and I was almost kidnapped & killed. Never again. And, yes, B&BW lotion *is* liquid gold!! :)
Momok: DEPORTED??!?! NO!!! But, that’s pretty cool that you were on television.
December 28th, 2006 at 1:06 am
We are flying in a couple of weeks and I still don’t know what I can and cant take on board, if anything. Its been many years since I have been on an airplane and things have changed so much. All I hear is horror stories about checking in and waiting in lines and losing your seat because you checked in late and on and on. Not to mention that I am terrified about just having to fly!
December 28th, 2006 at 7:36 am
I fly quite a bit, but I’m *STILL* not sure what’s banned and what’s not. In general, don’t take anything that can be conceived as liquid (i.e. hand lotion, a bottle of water, liquid soap, or anything else).
If you’re concerned, it might be a good idea to check out the websites for your airport as well as for TSA; they should have a few helpful guidelines.
You’ll be fine. I’d like to think that my recent airport troubles are the exception, not the rule … at least, I hope. :)
December 28th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Americans’ in general are waaaaayyyyyy tooooo paranoid. Met an American guy the other day, who said they wouldn’t let anyone take the “puffer” (for ppl with asthma) on their carry on luggage, so he simply put it in his pocket and no one took any notice!
It’s just a comfort factor that the “terrorist” can’t do what they wanted to.. but i’m sure if they really wanted to, they could do almost anything!
December 29th, 2006 at 12:08 am
To quote John Lennon … “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” ;-)
December 30th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Okay, I’m new here but I have to share my story. Flying out of NY on a 6am flight Saturday in Oct, 06 I had a tote bag carry on and was asked if I had any lotions, sampoo,…..blah, blah,blah, mascara (Oh I have that one), big mistake. Brand new favorite mascara, can’t live without it. TSA says I have to but it in a quart size plastic baggie. I say “okay, give me the baggie.” “Oh we don’t have those. You have to get your own.” “Okay, where do I get one?” “Oh we don’t have any in the airport.” CRAP! “Okay, so what do I do?” I hand the mascara to the TSA agent to look at it and she says, I can’t take that. I said “what’s the difference if you examine itin a baggie or if you just look at it out of the baggie?” “Oh we are not allowed to handle personal belongs.” They can touch my shoes, and my tote bag but they can’t touch my mascara? I was told to deposit it into the large round metal receptical, (garbage can). DOUBLE CRAP!! I boad my flight and all is well.
I fly to LAX the next month and I have all sorts of junk in my tote bag. I have nasal spray, lipstick, liquid foundation, and my beloved mascara, the same one I had to throw out in NY. I just walked right up to that x-ray machine, dropped my bag on the conveyer belt and never said a word. My tote bag goes through the machine and I pick it up and walk to the gate. Nobody said one word to me. On my way back home from LAX one week later I did the exact same thing, only this time when my tote bag when through the agent said “Oh excuse me, it looks like you have medications in your bag.” Next time please remove them so we can see them.” I said okay no problem.” Then in Dec flew to MIA and just dropped my tote bag on the belt and it went through the machine and nobody said a word. I had the exact same contents as I had in NY and LAX. I have decided that if I don’t open my mouth they are pretty clueless.” Who hired all these people anyway? I feel so much safer that I threw out my mascara. It’s stuid. After traveling quite a bit in the last 3 months I have come to the conclusion that nobody at TSA or the airlines, know what the heck they are doing for security. Oh and that seat thing. Was on a flight from Boise to Atlanta that was half full. All the passengers were snug tight three to a row. When the plane took off everyone started to move around. I thought hey, take the exit row, I can open the door in an emergency. I asked the flight attendent and she said “Oh you can’t sit there unless you pay an additional $50.” I said “Okay then, I guess if the plane goes down we’ll get out our credit cards and anti up to open the emergency exit.” Sheeesh!
January 1st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
FUNNY stories!!! :-) Traveling can be so crazy.