BordeauxBlaise

Floods are not that unusual on Napa’s Silverado Trail. This time, I was leaving at 4:30am for 8a SFO-LAS flight to meet mom for a few shows and slot machines. River was rising so fast, Trail near house flooded. With two fire trucks and crew blocking road. I explained my situation and they said “go slow and you’ll get through, if not we will rescue you.” They told me ways to avoid flooding elsewhere. I got through and made it to the gate with 15 min to spare (rain was heavy throughout Bay Area). On this trip, I hit the jackpot.

alexdown

Few years ago, TPE. After a week of meetings at client's office, my colleagues fly out on Fri afternoon and I stay back, as my flight out was Sat 2-ish pm.
I met a girl in the hotel lobby, we go out that evening and had an amazing night strolling around the city, visiting temples, night markets, ... we agree to spend the next morning touristing the city together.
Wanting to maximize time spent with said girl, I check out from hotel early sat morning, leave my bag in a locker at Taipei station, met with her and we go out and about.

We went back to the station around 12:30, with plenty of time to spare for me to get my bag and a taxi to the airport...or so I thought. Thing is, I could not remember/find the locker where my bag was, and I spend 1hr running around every corner of the station frantically looking for that locker.. we finally found it, I got in a cab, and ran to the airport...of course only after I got the girl's phone number!!

...I don't know how said girl did it, but she apparently called the airline, and when I arrived at the airport, an EVAair ground crew was waiting for me at the door, handed me a boarding pass, walked me through security, and told me run to the gate... at every corner there was a EVAair/airport staff with my name on a sign, telling me which direction to go. I got to the gate, last to board and the door closed behind me.

Ah, and that girl is now my wife

robbo9

Last summer, going ORD-MAN-LHR-CPH (classic J sAAver routing). ORD-MAN is on AA metal, the rest on BA. My AA app provides the boarding pass for the first leg, but says to get the boarding passes for the other legs at the airport. At ORD, gate agent tells us we'll get them when we land in MAN. I've never been to MAN but that seemed a little concerning as I assumed there were customs that needed clearing, so in the AA lounge at ORD my girlfriend who's traveling with me asks the lounge agent if we can print our boarding passes there. The agent puts a few calls in but no dice.

Don't think anything else of it and enjoy the flight. Walking off the plane in MAN there's a gate agent standing in the jetway saying my girlfriend's name - apparently since the AA lounge agent called ahead they printed a boarding pass for her, and had it ready for her right there. What service! Of course, they didn't have anything for me. Ominous foreshadowing, though still feeling fine since it's T-60.

Finding our way through MAN proved tougher than expected for a little airport - the customs line for arrivals was packed, but there wasn't an obvious place to go for connecting flights. We followed this weird hallway that led to an empty stairwell that brought us to a bus that drove across what felt like all of the runways (bus driver assured us we were in the right spot), only to end up on a different side of the same terminal. At this point I'm getting nervous that we'll miss the connecting flight, so we hustle off the bus to get in the customs line. Now it's T-35 and the line is moving slooow. Since this line was also a security checkpoint, I angrily chugged the oj I had pocketed from breakfast while they ask for our passports and boarding passes. I tried to explain how I don't have a boarding pass because they said I'd get one when I land, so after some back and forth (thank god I have the itinerary on my AA app) we get through security.

Apparently customs is set up to be a holding area so that they let groups through in batches, but at this point it's T-10 so I tell them we really need to go now. The security agent ushers us to the customs window, and I do the back and forth about a boarding pass again. I think my quickly rising panic rubbed off on the guy so he hurriedly stamped my passport and waved us through the doors. We hustle through and get stopped at yet ANOTHER checkpoint (maybe some UK specific airport thing?), where I have to have the same conversation as my girlfriend gets a head start. This guy prints me not a boarding pass but basically just a generic hall pass for the airport. As it's printing I hear our names being called - he turns to hand me the slip of paper and gestures to my girlfriend, who's now reached the top of the stairs at the end of the hall and says "you better run." So I sprint, catch up with her, and we find the gate just at T-0. I was expecting the door to be literally closing but there were a couple agents standing there who seemed to be expecting us, and we even we told them to wait since another lady from our flight was behind us (she wasn't as fast of a runner).

Of course, I still never got a boarding pass so I had to go through the same thing in LHR, though the layover was a lot longer so no risk of missing the final leg. Best part was BA lost our bags in LHR and since we were staying in the Latin Quarter in Copenhagen (several blocks with no cars) we got our bags hand-delivered to us two days later.

JonoVK

Two different ones.
1. ORD-ANC, 1991 or 92. Traffic on Kennedy on our way to friend's house - got there an hour after planned. Drove back route to O'Hare. Check in 20 min to departure. UAL had special window for late check ins back then. Agent took bags, issued BPs and bag tags, said hurry. Of course flight was from C terminal. I ran down escalator to tunnel. as I neared bottom, there were a bunch of people standing on both sides of escalator. Yelled "Coming Through!" and jumped. Landed safely, and continued to run, not looking back. made it through tunnel and ran up escalator to C. Found gate. Last one there. Partner somewhere behind me, not sure how far. through gasps and heaves, relayed to gate agent that one more was coming. She said not to worry. When he finally arrived, we boarded, door closed and started to taxi as soon as we sat down. When I asked what took him so long, he said that down escalator stopped suddenly when I landed and everyone was angry. Took a while to get through everyone so he could hurry.

2. BA LHR-ORD, 1999 or 2000. Heathrow Express to airport. Train stops at first stop. we wait, and wait. Announcement of bomb threat, everyone evacuate, leave everything on board. get out of station. Pre T-5 days. go to domestic BA desk in T2 ?!? to ask if message can be sent about bomb threat. Sorry sir, no way to contact other terminal. HE station finally reopens and we are allowed back in. No train in station. All bags removed from train and left in piles on platform. Find bags, wait for next train and get to check in less than 60 minutes before flight. Agent says sorry, flight is closed, you are not going to Chicago today. I explain what happened with bomb threat. She says let me see what I can do. rebooks us on AA. Gives us some paperwork and says we should be all set. Finally find AA desk to check in. Very nice agent says, Oh, they gave you incorrect paperwork, but let me see what I can do. makes a few calls, leaves for a few minutes and finally returns. Says, OK, we made it work. You are set on flight. Agent flirts with us for a while and then sends us to gate. Getting ready to board. Suddenly agent shows up. He gives us his personal card, asks us to stay in touch and let him know when we will be back in London. He put us in second to last row center section by ourselves. enough for us to take turns lying down and napping. rest of flight was full. Went out for drinks with him next time we went to London.

Ghenghy

About 15 years ago, I went with a friend to Russia where she was going to adopt two sisters. Her husband was coming along to do the paper work, but he had to leave early to get back to take care of their other children, so she asked me to come along to help. After picking up the girls, her husband went home but we stayed a few more days to finish all the necessary documentation. When it was our time to go home, we arrived at Kemerovo and handed over our tickets. The agent stopped on my ticket, wordlessly handed it back to me and pointed at the date on the ticket. This was the moment my heart sank when I realized the travel agent had booked my departure flight as if I was heading home on the same date as my friend's husband. I had missed my flight by days! As far as I was concerned, I was stuck in Siberia, leaving my friend alone with the girls, unable to speak any Russian, and it was rare to find anyone who spoke English, not to mention I was unemployed at the time and this was potentially going to be a large unplanned expense to get me home. This was bad.

With me standing there in shock, the agent's eyes traveled down to the little girl clutching my hand. After a moment, she gruffly gestured for us to stand on the side, which we did, and she continued processing other passengers. Thinking this was a good sign as she hadn't sent us away, I discretely pulled out a can of chocolate covered macadamia nuts I had brought along to give as gifts. When there was a break in the line, she waved us back over and handed me a new ticket for the same flight! I thanked her profusely in Russian (one of the few phrases I knew) and handed her the can. I actually got the agent to smile, although she quickly got her face back to being serious and waved us on our way. She never said a single word, but I still think about the kindness that agent did for us that day.

elbrazo63

I had booked a 20 hour layover in Chicago so I could go watch the 2017 BMW golf Championship in Lake Forest Ill, part of the FedEx Cup playoffs. I was staying at the Hilton in ORD so Friday morning I took the blue line from ORD downtown and then a Metra train out to Lake Forest and watched about 6 hours of golf. My flight home was departing at 7 pm so I boarded an afternoon Metra train back to Chicago for what should have been a 1 hour ride. About half way back to Chicago our electric Train engine died in the middle of no where. For safety reasons they wouldn't let people off the train, not that we could go anywhere. They told us we would have to wait an hour for the next train to come along and push us into Chicago. So we waited an hour until the next train arrived, connected up to us and then pushed us, very slowly I might add, all the way back to Chicago. We arrived at the station around 7 PM, I had already resigned myself to having missed my 7 PM flight. I took the Blue line back to ORD and just after you get off the trains there are arrival/departure boards. I looked up to that my flight was delayed until midnight! Still had time to make it to the lounge and have a few snacks and drinks before departure. Couldn't believe I made that flight!

Spec1alk

This was pre-9/11. I had a flight out of SAN. I was working and my dad picked me up to take me to the airport for a flight that was around 5pm. Hit massive traffic on the 5/805S and pulled to the airport with <30min. This was also before TSA-Pre, so I waited in line at security, and ran through the terminal to my gate, which was at the very end of the terminal. The GA saw me running and asked if I was so-and-so. They had closed the door, but were waiting on luggage to finish loading. They re-opened the door and let me board.

trapezeflyer

Flying SMF-PHX-SJD on AA. Got to the airport parking lot (35 minute drive from my home), opened the back of the car, and discovered I left my wife's bag at home. Mad dash back home and return to SMF. Parked car and shuttled to the terminal. AA staff said we were too late to make the flight and wanted to rebook us on next flight. I insisted on trying, made it through TSA precheck and sprinted to the gate just as they were about to close the door. Half way down the jetway when I realized I left my iPad at the GA's podium. Ran back to the podium, retrieved iPad, made the flight, and avoided the wrath of my wife. Whew!
Another trip to SJC, returning home, again via PHX. As we were about to exit US Customs in PHX the agent told me I scanned positive for radioactivity and would need further evaluation before we could proceed to our connecting flight to SMF. Turns out I was about 2 months out from having radioactive seeds implanted in my prostate for cancer and I was "hot". Unfortunately CBP had no idea what to do with me. Seemed like I was the first traveler they had ever seen with radioactive seeds. After much discussion/head scratching, they called Washington DC and found somebody who knew the protocol to follow. They released us to sprint between terminals at PHX Sky Harbor (a very long trek) and we made our flight home with seconds to spare.

jim787

I was travelling in the evening from Bangkok to Calcutta (Kali-ghat, or whatever they call it now), to connect the next afternoon with the daily flight to Silliguri (Salu-garh), an airstrip on an air force base that is the jumping off point for roads climbing up to Darjeeling (dorje-ling) and also, in those days, to Sikkim and Bhutan. There are always interesting passengers at that airport. Both flights were by Indian Airlines. For some hours I sat in the waiting room at BKK (Don Muang) watching the board, reading "Delayed" for the IA flight to Cal. During that time I noticed a large group of Indian men get up and head into the boarding area. The sign still read "Delayed". Now I began to have doubts. I found the IA office on an upper floor. One man was in attendance. He doubted my claim that I had missed the announcement. However, he put me in the airport hotel for the night. The Indian traders had been bussed to a cheap place some distance away. My inattention had caused me to miss the bus. Or perhaps, I suspect, the announcement had been made in a language not English.
The cause of this delay was a one-day strike (bandh) at Calcutta airport. The strike included IA, but not non-Indian carriers such as Thai Air. Next morning the plane loaded and departed, arriving just at the scheduled time for my flight. I jumped the queue to immigration--people were understanding--and the officer stamped my visa with no ado. Then it was on to the IA checkin desk. This is why I always travel with "no checked baggage," unless I am actually changing residence. Ground crew hustled me through security onto the tarmac. The plane was sitting there under the roasting sun, engine and aircon turned off. It was full except for one empty seat, waiting for me. The plane, as you might imagine, was stiflingly hot. In addition, everyone was dressed in warm woolens in anticipation of the car or minibus ride up the winding road into the cold mists of Darjeeling at the top of the ridge. As I went to my seat I made an apology with brief explanation.

IkeEsq

In the Summer of 2000, I was heading to Nairobi from New York as part of a two-week trip sponsored by the Wildlife Conservancy (who run the Bronx Zoo among other things). My sister and parents were flying separately from RIC to AMS and then we were all flying to NBO together, A bunch of others from the group, who I did not know, were also on the same flights I was on.

My flight was at 5:40 PM and I did not leave the house (~1 hour from JFK) until 2:45 . . . on my way to Stamford, CT to pickup my rental car . . . but stopping by work first to drop off my car so I would avoid having to pay for two weeks of airport parking. Stamford is about 20 minutes from my house and 45-50 minutes from JFK on a good day. Would this be a good day?

I had to wait at work for the person who was going to drop me off at Hertz (5 minutes away), and the anxiety level began to rise. I arrived at Hertz and got my car at 3:45. Traffic was traffic and I arrived at the airport at 4:50, only to find that Hertz had moved and access to Terminals 1-3 were blocked by police activity, thus creating a bad traffic situation.

I got to the terminal and tried going directly to the gate but was rebuffed at Security and sent to the check-in counter. When I got down to KLM departures I told them I had a flight to Amsterdam in 20 minutes and they sent me to the Ticket Office. There were two people working there, each with a single customer. I stood there for 10 minutes listening to every possible flight combination for some trip nine months in the future with no end in sight and I was mentally going over other options on how to get to Amsterdam, possibly catching an American Airlines flight in an hour, in order to meet up with my parents and sister for the flight to Nairobi.

Ten Minutes before my flight was scheduled to leave I heard them talking over the radios about people going to Nairobi and 1 person being missing. I told one of the people at the Ticket Office counter that I was that person, but she seemed indifferent. I looked over to the normal Check-In people and saw a guy talking on the radio there. I went up to him and told him that I was the missing passenger to Nairobi and he asked if I had any bags to check while he talked to the plane on the radio. I told him that I had one (not very large) bag to check and he told me to grab my stuff and run after him.

Running through the airport laden with bags is always the best way to start a vacation. So I guess I was lucky in more ways than one! I made it back to Security, breezed through, ran past customs without stopping, and was joined by another KLM employee who had a baggage check sticker for me but who decided I could just take the bag on the plane. I was handed my boarding pass and met the leader of the tour at the door of the airplane. He was blocking it from closing!

I spent the first 30 minutes of the flight sweating and drinking water. But I made it.

tl;dr: I arrived at JFK about 20 minutes before an international departure and made my flight.

CMK10

A few weeks ago. A new client wants to meet in Raleigh near his job not in Durham at my office. I have to catch a 3:15 PM flight. I say okay, we can meet at a Starbucks that's quiet right near his job and a 15 minute ride from the airport and schedule the meeting for 1:45 PM. The client is 25 minutes late. I wanted to leave but he texted he would be there in 5 minutes. He arrives in 10. I rush through the meeting as quickly as I can but of course he has a number of questions. Finally he's satisfied and agrees to sign and I floor it towards RDU. But of course the parking garage is full. So I drive across I-40 to a hotel I know that doesn't check to make sure the cars in the parking lot are those of registered guests. I call for an Uber but accidentally drop the pin across the highway so the driver shows up 10 minutes away. I call for a Lyft who thankfully is just down the road. I get the United push notification that boarding has started as we're two minutes from the terminal. Thankfully no line at Precheck and they didn't give my upgrade away. The flight attendant even offered to put my overnight bag in the closet for me.

ughunter

I had a job interview in another city, and they flew me out there. Interview went great, and eventually I did get that job. Worst job of my life, but that's another story.

I had an evening flight scheduled after the interview, and hit rush hour traffic made worse by an accident. The normal 40 minute trip now became a 120 minute trip, and I still had to return the rental car. By the time I got to the rental return the flight was scheduled to depart so I got on the phone with the airline to see what I could do about getting on later flight. This was in the days before airline apps.

Of course, while on the rental shuttle I was on hold with the airlines customer service and committed to having missed the flight already. The shuttle arrived at the terminal, I got into the front doors, and saw the board..the flight I "missed" had been delayed 3 hours. That was when an agent finally took me off hold, and I said "never mind" and hung up. Made it with 40 minutes to spare thanks to the delay.

arollins

I have several:
A) Right after the flight ban was lifted after 9/11, my wife and I had booked a trip to Cancun. That was at the time when you where required to be at the airport at least 3hrs prior your flight. We had a 8am flight and lived about 40 minutes from airport. Oversleep, woke up at 6:30am, drove like a maniac, arrived airport by 7:10 or so, parked car in main lot ($$$) made it through security, no luggage to check, and where last to board plane.

B) BRU-LHR-ORD, we had a 2hr layover LHR, departure BRU was 1hr late, no biggie as it is still a short flight, however, upon arrival LHR, there no gates available, we sat on tarmac about 30 minutes, where meet by connecting agents who gave us the FASTLANE ticket. made the T3-T5 (or is it backwards) connection, cleared security, and of course, upon going towards our LHR-ORD flight, it was all the way at the end of the gate, we ran like hell, but made the connection, again last to board. Overall I think we did the whole thing in less than 30 minutes. As we sat down, we where exhausted, from all the running.

LAX2Anywhere

Remembered another very old one - from the 80s, I think on the old Continental.
Was flying TUS-PHX-LAX. Plane was coming from somewhere in Texas with weather issues. We were still waiting for the plane to arrive in TUS when boarding was scheduled to start in PHX!
Plane finally arrives, everybody scrambled on board and we sped off to PHX. At PHX, FA asked who was trying to make the LAX connection - about 10 passengers were.
Continental borrowed a van from one of food services, took us down the stairs at the end of the jet way, into the van and we tore across the tarmac to the PHX-LAX gate.
We went up the stairs at the PHX-LAX gate and popped out into the jet way to the surprise of passengers already boarding.

offvoice

Year is 2010, I'm traveling from SGN to LAS (SGN-NRT-LAX-LAS).

Flight to NRT scheduled in the very early morning (either 6 or 8am, can't remember). I arrived early at the airport, I check-in at the desk. Or so I thought. I was asked to produce my ESTA documentation (I'm a French national).

I traveled to the US before, from France, and was not required to produce it, just to say that I had it. Knowing my ESTA was still valid, I didn't even had my registration number with me (looking back it was stupid, but I was young).

Now the VN check-in agent is telling me I cannot board without it. I explained that I don't need to produce the actual paper, but nothing, they wouldn't move. Now you have to understand : I have 17 hours of flights coming, this is my last visa day in Viet-Nam, and I'm meeting family in the US, so I do need to get on this flight. I ask to see the manager, who was obviously not here because it was so early in the morning. In the meantime, I contacted some friends in France to see if they could fast track a new Esta application online (who knows, perhaps it could be done in a matter of minutes).

Finally, the head of VN office in SGN arrives, and I'm now being explained that the relation between VN & the US are not exactly the same as the relation between France and the US (I can understand that), and that they will not let me board without this ESTA.

Clock is ticking

And... I finally negotiate to sign a waiver (I didn't even knew such document existed) on a blue sheet of carbon paper stating that shall the US decline to let me enter their territory, I would pay on my own expense for being sent back to Viet-Nam, covering up to $20'000 USD in cost (I guess they would have fly me private, or at the very least in F, back from LAX for this cost). They finally agree to check me in, and let me clear custom and security. I rushed to the gate as they were closing, and boarded to NRT safe and almost sound.

Upon connecting in NRT, I was asked again if I had the ESTA clearance... I just said "yes" and went right through!

Quite an adventure