flyerblueatlantic

This is a little different from worst airport experience as you really can't get away from crying babies, or complain about leg room. Upgrade to first class

I'm talking about a moment where you missed/almost missed your flight because you were randomly picked for random security checks or bags were misplaced with no explanation from the airline and no refund or your flight being cancelled and certain people not being able to leave the airport cause their citizens of certain countries.

lakers6902

Lax-dfw, believe the flight departed at 1220am.

Checked in on the mobile app and had a mobile boarding pass. Show up at the airport at about 1150 and to my surprise, no AA rep in the terminal. Mobile boarding pass in hand though so shouldn't matter, right? Wrong... Briskly walk to security and am told no mobile boarding passes are accepted that late. Explained there's no rep in the terminal and the kiosks weren't allowing me to reprint a pass. TSA agent went to check with his supervisor and about two minutes later, comes back and says it doesn't matter if they let me through cause I wouldn't make the flight (could literally see the line of people boarding.) Tried explaining I could but he wouldn't budge.

Called AA at the airport and was told all i could do was file a complaint, and to better manage my time. Two weeks later all I got was a voucher for the original ticket price.

extramileage

At least a few times: airline delay inbound, sprint like Olympian across airport to the next departure, plane still comfortably at gate. Same airline. Denied boarding. "See you tomorrow, maybe."

CarolynUK

Nothing to do with lateness but dodgy handbag gage enforcement.

I was visiting my mother in Belfast for the weekend along with my toddler daughter, and I had a not over large bag with our clothes in it (think slightly large briefcase - but not as big as a pilots case). The Jobsworth on the check in desk for our return flight first told me it was too big to allow for hand luggage, and when I pointed out that it had been accepted by her airline for numerous trips including the inbound - she then told me I couldn't have it as it was too heavy - it was just over the allowed 5Kg!

I offered to transfer some items into my daughters hand luggage to reduce the weight to the limit, but no deal - my poor little bag was going into the hold, no matter what case I put forward to her. Sitting watching other passengers board with huge holdalls which were much bigger, and looked to be heavier than the bag I had been forced to check in was highly frustrating.

To add insult to injury, not only did I have to wait for nearly an hour at Heathrow with a tired and fractious toddler for the bag to appear on the carousel, when it did arrive - it was soaked through having obviously sat on top of the luggage wagon in the pouring rain......

And just to further make my night........ As I had a very tired daughter, I decided to spend the extra to take the Heathrow Express (15 minutes) back into the city rather than the 45 minute Underground trip...... Only to fall victim to some sort of problem just outside Paddington which caused the short trip to take longer than the Underground trip would have taken......

It was after midnight when I finally made it home to South East London that night..... Thanks to British Midland airlines...... It was easyjet/ BA/ Go ever after that for us.

Tchiowa

Airlines are cracking down on hand luggage all over. Just because you got away with it before doesn't mean you will in the future.

jcwoman

Years ago when online check-in was new (so I hadn't bothered to try it yet) I had to fly to a client site for work. Leaving from IAD on a Sunday afternoon in order to be fresh first thing Monday morning, had a small confluence of misfortune:

1) Parked in the economy lot, which I usually do with no problem. For some reason the parking shuttle driver decided that he would skip the farthest part of the lot to get us to the terminal faster. As we were leaving the lot, a lady on the shuttle piped up that he'd missed her car and he couldn't leave the lot yet. She put up such a stinkfest that he re-entered the lot and took her to her area. It did occur to me that it would inconvenience her less to stay on the shuttle for another ride out to the lot than it would inconvenience the rest of us who might miss our flights, but I'd arrived 2.5 hours before my flight so I would be fine anyway. So I didn't say anything, and nobody else did either. It only delayed us about 15 minutes.

2) Got into the main terminal for checking in and was confronted with a line out the door. Who would have expected day-before-Thanksgiving traffic loads in early August? Got in line to check in and by the time it was my turn, I'd missed the check in cut off time by something like 4 minutes. Denied checking in and told to go away and rebook. No compassion from the call center either, and had to rebook for a flight the next day. My boss was less than impressed with my time management skills.

I started using online check in after that experience!

BearX220

Nearly missed an early-morning flight at MHT owing to a combination of my own lateness and suddenly, mysteriously obstructive security. Posted the story here at the time:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...arassment.html

gobluetwo

Yes, but agents generally seem willing to let you "lighten the load" in order to meet requirements. That this agent would not does seem a bit unfair.

NetNathan

Alaska Airlines.
Upgraded to first class on SEA-PDX-ONT.
PDX was a layover, no need to exit airplane.
In PDX, AFTER the plane boarded, I was told I had to get off the plane, because a passenger that had purchased a first class ticket needed my seat and there were no more seats available in coach.
I tried to politely protest, and was immediately informed that security could come help me with my bags.
I had to get the next flight.

Never flew Alaska Airlines again.

gobluetwo

Hope you at least got the IDB compensation.

ft101

As the poster stated they later travelled with GO, current crackdowns are not really relevant.

GO Airlines stopped flying around 2002.

Venabili

This. Including United closing the door on the SFO-HKG flight just as I was entering the boarding gate area (was on the elevator going down). It was 20 seconds too late apparently and they did not budge (maybe they cleared a standby or whatever). Got rebooked on the same flight the next day - I can understand them closing when there are 2+ flights per day but on flights that are once per day, it is a bit... inconsiderate.

BuildingMyBento

The time DPS immigration wouldn't let me leave the country. Oh, what a weekend that was...

Sant

Years ago when secondary screening was being conducted prior to boarding, I got selected on a DFW-HOU flight. Back then on regional jets and turboprops, I would always opt to gate-check my 28". Unfortunately for both the screener and me, the combination of my luggage and stuffed briefcase prevented any other passenger from being screened. By the time she was done and I repacked, I was the last one to board the flight.

BA Humbug

I was just thinking of starting a thread here today on this! Here's my "ordeal" (TLDR: I was held up, probably illegally by international standards, at PEK for well over four hours, barely made the flight.)

Traveling HKG-PEK-YYZ on CA + AC with a 5 hour layover in PEK on a Canadian passport (but with the place of birth saying "Hong Kong")

Arrive in PEK and am interrogated (in Mandarin, which I do not understand at all) for 3 hours. After giving them blank stares and honestly saying "I do not understand you" they find someone who speaks a little broken English and get the point across that they simply do not believe I can be born in HK and am therefore not a Chinese citizen. They also believe that I'm lying about not understanding them, because apparently "all HK people understand Mandarin"

I'm then forced to give a detailed history of how my parents and I emigrated when I was two months old, where I went to school, where I grew up, etc. etc. They'd repeat all the questions in Mandarin (I think), which I could only deduce as a ploy to catch me off-guard.

In Round 3, they made me take out my passport and asked me things like why I was traveling in business class if I wasn't on business to HK (as if a high school student has "business" over Christmas vacation...), then questioned why a high school student was in business class in the first place. After a session of half-English, half-gestured communication, I'm made to sign a blank piece of paper numerous times to ensure that the signature on my passport matched the ones I was signing. (I almost forgot to take that blank piece of paper with me... I cannot imagine what they could use with my signature if they wanted to! )

I am finally given clearance with a 72-hour transit visa stamp with slightly over 45 minutes before departure, and am given further grilling by security for looking too sweaty and nervous. I ended up being the last person on the plane and delaying the departure time by about 20 mins, with visible glares from virtually everyone as I walked down the cabin.