Horror stories due to terrible travel companions
Jul 12, 2016, 11:37 pm
#76
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
I would be as well if that happened in Singapore. Order chicken wings at bar is $12 and glass of wine - $18. I am not sure that many here would be willing to pay for someone's drinks with these prices.
Jul 13, 2016, 8:36 am
#77
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 814
A neighbor had asked me to take her, her daughter and granddaughter to catch a 4:00 PM flight to Europe to see family who lived there. Easy, I thought. We will leave about 1:15 to get them to the airport by 2:00 and I can be home before rush hour hits.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
Jul 13, 2016, 8:54 am
#78
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: LHR GVA HKG TLV PVG JFK
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 3,952
Imo, a lump sum with no receipts required is wrong for business expense. It makes it very tempting to spend as little as humanly possible and put all the spare into your own pocket, which will hurt business adversely. If you do not have a proper meal and sleep in a very poor hotel (or perhaps book a very exhausting flight with uncomfortable chairs/long layovers etc.) because the company offered you a lump sum for the expense and you can keep the rest, it will not make it so that you function at your 100 per cent best. Better to set only a guideline for the max spend, and require receipts for everything. This also avoids problems in case overspend is required.
In my country, you have to declare and show receipts for virtually any expense. Travel, bills, etc. I even have to take a picture of my bus ticket, if not I will not get it reimbursed. The main exception is travel by car, for that you get only a fixed rate, and yes people will make some small profit if they have a very eco-friendly car. But that's exactly what the government wants anyway, that people use eco-friendly cars.
Some companies only pay the fixed-rate travel and not individual train/bus tickets, but my company does the latter if you travel by public transport. If the company pays the fixed-rate regardless if you take the car or not, you can make some good extra money by cycling rather than taking the car (but again thats exactly what the government wants you to do anyway cause its healthy).
In my country, you have to declare and show receipts for virtually any expense. Travel, bills, etc. I even have to take a picture of my bus ticket, if not I will not get it reimbursed. The main exception is travel by car, for that you get only a fixed rate, and yes people will make some small profit if they have a very eco-friendly car. But that's exactly what the government wants anyway, that people use eco-friendly cars.
Some companies only pay the fixed-rate travel and not individual train/bus tickets, but my company does the latter if you travel by public transport. If the company pays the fixed-rate regardless if you take the car or not, you can make some good extra money by cycling rather than taking the car (but again thats exactly what the government wants you to do anyway cause its healthy).
Jul 13, 2016, 9:24 am
#79
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, IHG, Enterprise, Avios, Nexus
Posts: 8,355
A neighbor had asked me to take her, her daughter and granddaughter to catch a 4:00 PM flight to Europe to see family who lived there. Easy, I thought. We will leave about 1:15 to get them to the airport by 2:00 and I can be home before rush hour hits.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
The other habit after travelling once a year on a baseball trip with a group of guys is that if you have a customs and immigration problem you are on your own.
Jul 13, 2016, 11:09 am
#80
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
Of course we all got to wait while he went through secondary. It didn't take long that time, anyway.
Jul 13, 2016, 11:26 am
#81
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
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Posts: 31,452
Travelling with two work colleagues to the beach in Destin FL. They decided to have sex in the hotel GM's accidentally unlocked office instead of asking me to go for a walk. Hotel GM returned mid-coitus and locked them in the office. They got arrested and carted off to jail, we all got kicked out of the hotel, and I had to spend two days figuring out bail money and procedures for them. Never made it to the beach. On a happier note, they are happily married to each other now.
Jul 13, 2016, 11:27 am
#82
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Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: FLL -> Where The Boyars Are
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That reminds me of the time I arrived at the US border in Buffalo in a van full of fellow students from Toronto. A very spacy friend of mine got held up for a while. It seems he thought it would be a good idea to answer "I'm not sure" when asked what his citizenship was. Of course we all got to wait while he went through secondary. It didn't take long that time, anyway.
Of course we all got to wait while he went through secondary. It didn't take long that time, anyway.
Jul 13, 2016, 11:47 am
#83
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,733
A neighbor had asked me to take her, her daughter and granddaughter to catch a 4:00 PM flight to Europe to see family who lived there. Easy, I thought. We will leave about 1:15 to get them to the airport by 2:00 and I can be home before rush hour hits.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
Jul 13, 2016, 4:12 pm
#84
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, IHG, Enterprise, Avios, Nexus
Posts: 8,355
Similar situation going the other way: One friend and I flew into Burlington VT and drove to Montreal. At the border, I told my friend to let me do the talking. I told the Canadian officer that our trip was for a weekend of Expos baseball games. He was satisfied and was about to wave us through when my friend exclaimed out of nowhere "we're here for wine women and song" and some other nonsense expressions. The officer was not amused, and we got the secondary.
One night we pulled up in a car driven by a very large friend of ours. The guard asked the driver, "Have you ever been ordered out of the U.S.A.?" The driver responded, "No, but I've been carried out a few times."
The guard eyed him up and down and responded, "You look a little too big to be carried out tonight. Turn your car around and go back to Canada."
Jul 13, 2016, 7:19 pm
#85
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: SPG, Rapid Rewards, HHonors.
Posts: 186
Any trip outside of the 4-6 people range is bound to end in disaster if its long enough. The trips are doomed from two scenarios (Only applies when everybody tries to do everything together)
Scenario 1
Nobody never knows what they want to do and nobody wants to take the lead so you end up with the "What do you want to do?" " I don't know, what do you want to do?" convo.
Shortly after that everybody gets agitated because time gets wasted and the group ends up doing something nobody really wants to do because nobody else had a better idea and nobody wanted to say no. Trip goes downhill from here.
Scenario 2
The trip planning is taken over by the master planner who tries to plan 100 activities into each day. Given that the group is a large size in one house it ends up moving at a snails pace and the master planner ends up getting agitated and things go downhill from there.
I've since moved to the "This is what I'm doing today, whose coming with me"" approach unless there is a pre planned event I want to take part of.
Scenario 1
Nobody never knows what they want to do and nobody wants to take the lead so you end up with the "What do you want to do?" " I don't know, what do you want to do?" convo.
Shortly after that everybody gets agitated because time gets wasted and the group ends up doing something nobody really wants to do because nobody else had a better idea and nobody wanted to say no. Trip goes downhill from here.
Scenario 2
The trip planning is taken over by the master planner who tries to plan 100 activities into each day. Given that the group is a large size in one house it ends up moving at a snails pace and the master planner ends up getting agitated and things go downhill from there.
I've since moved to the "This is what I'm doing today, whose coming with me"" approach unless there is a pre planned event I want to take part of.
Jul 13, 2016, 8:34 pm
#86
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 24
A neighbor had asked me to take her, her daughter and granddaughter to catch a 4:00 PM flight to Europe to see family who lived there. Easy, I thought. We will leave about 1:15 to get them to the airport by 2:00 and I can be home before rush hour hits.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
Jul 13, 2016, 9:12 pm
#87
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: BRU, SIN, PEK
Programs: SQ TPP, LH SEN
Posts: 3,235
A friend of mine always plans a solo trip without her family because her husband is a total homebody and so she ends up doing most of the heavy lifting of planning etc. The family vacations are for the kids and bonding time, but for a real vacation she goes solo or with her usual travel mates.
It's not about family relations, it's really about travel compatibility.
Jul 13, 2016, 9:43 pm
#88
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
A neighbor had asked me to take her, her daughter and granddaughter to catch a 4:00 PM flight to Europe to see family who lived there. Easy, I thought. We will leave about 1:15 to get them to the airport by 2:00 and I can be home before rush hour hits.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
It was not to be.
At 2:00 I call my neighbor asking when they will be ready? She tells me that her daughter just decided to give the child a bath and and was now filling the tub. !!!!
We ended up leaving at 3:00 and I had to drive like a madman to get them to the airport by 3:30. Somehow, they made the flight, so in the view of the daughter it all worked out OK. Of course, I fought rush hour traffic all the way home, broke several speed laws and generally felt lousy about the whole experience. But 'she' was OK, so it was all OK.
My neighbor, a good person who was even more irritated than I, told me in the future she would schedule an airport van, and if her darling-daughter was not ready, mom would be going anyway.
I have gotten to the airport about 1/2 hour from flight time, checkin was closed, we didn't fly. They had to rebook us though because it was their mistake. (This was back long before the internet, we had the wrong flight time on our tickets.)
Jul 14, 2016, 8:55 am
#89
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 702
Any trip outside of the 4-6 people range is bound to end in disaster if its long enough. The trips are doomed from two scenarios (Only applies when everybody tries to do everything together)
Scenario 1
Nobody never knows what they want to do and nobody wants to take the lead so you end up with the "What do you want to do?" " I don't know, what do you want to do?" convo.
Shortly after that everybody gets agitated because time gets wasted and the group ends up doing something nobody really wants to do because nobody else had a better idea and nobody wanted to say no. Trip goes downhill from here.
Scenario 2
The trip planning is taken over by the master planner who tries to plan 100 activities into each day. Given that the group is a large size in one house it ends up moving at a snails pace and the master planner ends up getting agitated and things go downhill from there.
I've since moved to the "This is what I'm doing today, whose coming with me"" approach unless there is a pre planned event I want to take part of.
Scenario 1
Nobody never knows what they want to do and nobody wants to take the lead so you end up with the "What do you want to do?" " I don't know, what do you want to do?" convo.
Shortly after that everybody gets agitated because time gets wasted and the group ends up doing something nobody really wants to do because nobody else had a better idea and nobody wanted to say no. Trip goes downhill from here.
Scenario 2
The trip planning is taken over by the master planner who tries to plan 100 activities into each day. Given that the group is a large size in one house it ends up moving at a snails pace and the master planner ends up getting agitated and things go downhill from there.
I've since moved to the "This is what I'm doing today, whose coming with me"" approach unless there is a pre planned event I want to take part of.
I am the planner in the group. I take along the schedule, which is really just a rough outline of what I want to do during the trip, and distribute it. 99% of the time, they follow it. It isn't as controlling it as it sounds
Jul 14, 2016, 9:15 am
#90
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
On the other extreme, I've been informed, when trying to find a faster way to get to the airport, not to worry because "they will wait for me". Hmm.