Most foolish error/omission you've made while travelling? What did it cost you?
Mar 27, 2008, 1:52 pm
#31
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: YVR
Programs: AA GLD/1MM, Marriott GLD, IHG Spire
Posts: 75
On the outbound leg of my last trip YVR-ORD-MAD, I failed to notice that the ticketing agent only checked my bags as far as ORD. Took four days for them to catch up with me. And it's not as if my bags were immediately whisked away with the wrong routing, as US-bound departures from YVR require you to retain your checked bags through passport control and US customs before depositing them on the belt.
Mar 27, 2008, 3:02 pm
#32
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Kiel, Germany (HAM)
Programs: LH FTL, DL Silver, Amex Plat, Priority Pass
Posts: 67
Last year I wanted to make a short sidetrip to Boracay and Manila from SIN. I was having Chili Crab with friends and left just in time for Changi airport. Unfortunately traffic was a major issue on both the way to the hotel (to pick up my luggage - next time I'll take it along!) and to the airport. My reserved cab couldn't make it to the hotel so I ended up with a 'VIP' taxi speeding through Singapore.
I arrived a few minutes before Check-In ended ... but 4 hours before the flight actually left.
Instead of taking the non-stop mainstream airline flight to MNL I took the scenic route on Cebu Pacfic via CEB and BCD into MNL. I should have worked fine with some sleep on a plane instead of a 4:00AMish arrival in MNL and waiting time at the domestic terminal.
Being late I barely made my connection in Cebu. I did not know that I would have to pick up my two bags at every single stop and re-check it. I eventually got some sleep on the short 40min hop to BCD. Once in Bacolod I was told I cannot check into the next flight as it already left. I looked across the field (literally) and noticed that the flight just landed. A nerve-wrecking 15 minutes later I was ready to board the flight. The only other flight that day would have been back to Cebu.
Once at the domestic terminal in MNL I was left with no ATM and just a few US dollars cash. I got myself a coke and talked to an American guy who was on his way to Cebu to 'pick up my[his] future wife and bring her home' (sic).
The last flight of the day to MPH (Caticlan) on a Do328 made up for everything, though.
Oh, and booking an apartment right on the beach may be a bad idea if the rain season kicks in and you wake up to waves breaking in the palms right in front of your porch
I arrived a few minutes before Check-In ended ... but 4 hours before the flight actually left.
Instead of taking the non-stop mainstream airline flight to MNL I took the scenic route on Cebu Pacfic via CEB and BCD into MNL. I should have worked fine with some sleep on a plane instead of a 4:00AMish arrival in MNL and waiting time at the domestic terminal.
Being late I barely made my connection in Cebu. I did not know that I would have to pick up my two bags at every single stop and re-check it. I eventually got some sleep on the short 40min hop to BCD. Once in Bacolod I was told I cannot check into the next flight as it already left. I looked across the field (literally) and noticed that the flight just landed. A nerve-wrecking 15 minutes later I was ready to board the flight. The only other flight that day would have been back to Cebu.
Once at the domestic terminal in MNL I was left with no ATM and just a few US dollars cash. I got myself a coke and talked to an American guy who was on his way to Cebu to 'pick up my[his] future wife and bring her home' (sic).
The last flight of the day to MPH (Caticlan) on a Do328 made up for everything, though.
Oh, and booking an apartment right on the beach may be a bad idea if the rain season kicks in and you wake up to waves breaking in the palms right in front of your porch
Mar 27, 2008, 5:21 pm
#33
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3*G, IHG Gold
Posts: 121
Once made a stop-over in London, on the way home from a camping trip in Iceland. Rather than lug all the cold-weather gear and equipment into town, I used the left luggage counter.
When it came time to depart LHR, I realised that my flight was in T3, while my luggage was where I had arrived, in T2. Worked up quite a sweat dragging everything up and down, through the endless corridors in Heathrow. It's never fun getting frisked at security, but in this case, not for the security guy either.
When it came time to depart LHR, I realised that my flight was in T3, while my luggage was where I had arrived, in T2. Worked up quite a sweat dragging everything up and down, through the endless corridors in Heathrow. It's never fun getting frisked at security, but in this case, not for the security guy either.
Mar 27, 2008, 6:25 pm
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 11,956
Mar 27, 2008, 6:33 pm
#35
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Washington, DC USA
Programs: UA; Amtrak
Posts: 2,002
From https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=566229:
$100 change fee. At least my upgrade still cleared.
"Was my flight canceled? I never got a notification and was able to check in all right... 7pm to LAX. It's not on the monitor."
"Sir, I don't think we have a 7pm flight to LAX. May I see your boarding pass?"
"Here, but I specifically chose this flight so I could get to LA before 10pm."
"Mr. choster, your flight is out of Baltimore."
"It's a nonstop to LAX."
"Yes, Mr. choster, but this is Dulles."
"Sir, I don't think we have a 7pm flight to LAX. May I see your boarding pass?"
"Here, but I specifically chose this flight so I could get to LA before 10pm."
"Mr. choster, your flight is out of Baltimore."
"It's a nonstop to LAX."
"Yes, Mr. choster, but this is Dulles."
Mar 27, 2008, 8:12 pm
#36
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA
Posts: 2,066
So we're going to San Jose, Costa Rica and show up at the car rental agency. Oops I made the car reservation for the prior month. Luckily car available.
Been MANY close calls on booking my flights and friends/relatives travels but so far I've been able to correct it or catch it before it turned into a major mistake.
Been MANY close calls on booking my flights and friends/relatives travels but so far I've been able to correct it or catch it before it turned into a major mistake.
Mar 27, 2008, 8:26 pm
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: FLL -> Where The Boyars Are
Programs: AA EXP 1.7 M, Hilton Gold, Hertz 5*, AARP Sophomore, 14-time Croix de Candlestick
Posts: 18,669
Flew EWR-MUC overnight, then immediately picked up a rental car and drove (by myself) non-stop eight hours to Pesaro, Italy, for a performance that same evening.... After dozing off during the second act, I resolved never to try that again , and have subsequently always inserted a time-zone adjustment day into future trips.
Mar 27, 2008, 8:56 pm
#38
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: MCO
Programs: UA Silver, DL Silver (MM), HH LT Diamond, MR LT Platinum
Posts: 564
Almost too many to list after 24 years of business travel:
Left underwear, socks, belt and leather jacket in various hotel rooms (my wife still gives me grief about the jacket, a gift from her)
Brought the black suit coat and the navy blue suit pants
Fell asleep in the MH lounge in KUL and woke up hearing my name being paged for last call--had to do an OJ Simpson through the concourse to make my flight
Left my laptop at security at Jakarta airport. I wondered why my bag was so light. Fortunately it was waiting for me at security on top of the X-ray machine. I thought it would be a goner.
Left my Bose headphones case with IPOD inside on my seat while deplaning. Guy one row back tracked me down in the jetway.
One trip from hell in the 80's:
1. Check hadn't cleared the bank so couldn't withdraw money from an airport ATM
2. Got in the wrong rental car (funny why the key wouldn't work--took me a few tries to realize my error). Found the right one, but couldn't take the toll roads (see #1 above) so had to take the great circle route to get the hotel
3. Halfway to my destination and realized that I had left my suit jacket in the wrong rental car I sat in briefly
4. Not my fault but opened the door to my hotel room to see I'd interrupted the sleep of an overweight gentlemen in his underwear (got upgraded for that one)
Left underwear, socks, belt and leather jacket in various hotel rooms (my wife still gives me grief about the jacket, a gift from her)
Brought the black suit coat and the navy blue suit pants
Fell asleep in the MH lounge in KUL and woke up hearing my name being paged for last call--had to do an OJ Simpson through the concourse to make my flight
Left my laptop at security at Jakarta airport. I wondered why my bag was so light. Fortunately it was waiting for me at security on top of the X-ray machine. I thought it would be a goner.
Left my Bose headphones case with IPOD inside on my seat while deplaning. Guy one row back tracked me down in the jetway.
One trip from hell in the 80's:
1. Check hadn't cleared the bank so couldn't withdraw money from an airport ATM
2. Got in the wrong rental car (funny why the key wouldn't work--took me a few tries to realize my error). Found the right one, but couldn't take the toll roads (see #1 above) so had to take the great circle route to get the hotel
3. Halfway to my destination and realized that I had left my suit jacket in the wrong rental car I sat in briefly
4. Not my fault but opened the door to my hotel room to see I'd interrupted the sleep of an overweight gentlemen in his underwear (got upgraded for that one)
Mar 27, 2008, 11:30 pm
#39
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: A3*G, UA Gold EY Silver
Posts: 8,954
2 that I know of 
1. Booked a weekend trip to MIA last year, only to realize that I was scheduled to fly back monday night not sunday night (somehow the redeye in there messed me up). Added an extra day to my res on PL and that was that
2. Forgot a jacket somewhere between 3 flights and 4 airports (OAK, LAX, ATL, MCI) duringa MR.
1. Booked a weekend trip to MIA last year, only to realize that I was scheduled to fly back monday night not sunday night (somehow the redeye in there messed me up). Added an extra day to my res on PL and that was that
2. Forgot a jacket somewhere between 3 flights and 4 airports (OAK, LAX, ATL, MCI) duringa MR.
Mar 27, 2008, 11:55 pm
#40
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: San Jose CA
Posts: 1,100
My wife and I arrived at the airport 90 minutes before flight 740 left at 930. Except it was the other way around...
Left my ipod in a rental car about a month ago but hey, time for an upgrade!
Flew across country on a Saturday to setup a class in an empty office building on Sunday but left the ID badge they'd sent me on my kitchen counter. Hey, our first exercise this Monday morning is to setup a classroom network with 300 pounds of gear, about 100 cables, and a dozen laptops!
Left my ipod in a rental car about a month ago but hey, time for an upgrade!
Flew across country on a Saturday to setup a class in an empty office building on Sunday but left the ID badge they'd sent me on my kitchen counter. Hey, our first exercise this Monday morning is to setup a classroom network with 300 pounds of gear, about 100 cables, and a dozen laptops!
Mar 28, 2008, 10:18 am
#41
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Posts: 171
Where to start - first the common ones
1) Forgot to pack a dress belt on a trip for an interview - had time to pick up another before the interview
2) Forgot to pack dress shoes (at least once)
3) Left etymotic earphones in plane (2-3x) (none recovered)
4) Left shure earphones in plane (not recovered)
5) Left phone in airplane - recovered before leaving terminal
6) Left sunglasses in rental car (2-3x not recovered)
7) Left CD's in rental car (3-4x not recovered)
8) Back in the day when you could show up at IAD 45 minutes before a flight and be fine - didn't see my flight posted went to counter where the nice lady explained my flight was out of DCA.
9) Booked a trip returning on 1 May, sent itin to wife. Wife reminds me that I already have a 1 May trip to MSY. Can't find ticket with normal carriers, ask for idiot assistance on FT, kind person reminds me that I should be able to track it down on my cc bill. Find it. Changed flight to return 30 April n/c -under 24 hours.
Probably others, but as may have noticed sometimes I'm forgetful.
Cheers,
Jeff
1) Forgot to pack a dress belt on a trip for an interview - had time to pick up another before the interview
2) Forgot to pack dress shoes (at least once)
3) Left etymotic earphones in plane (2-3x) (none recovered)
4) Left shure earphones in plane (not recovered)
5) Left phone in airplane - recovered before leaving terminal
6) Left sunglasses in rental car (2-3x not recovered)
7) Left CD's in rental car (3-4x not recovered)
8) Back in the day when you could show up at IAD 45 minutes before a flight and be fine - didn't see my flight posted went to counter where the nice lady explained my flight was out of DCA.
9) Booked a trip returning on 1 May, sent itin to wife. Wife reminds me that I already have a 1 May trip to MSY. Can't find ticket with normal carriers, ask for idiot assistance on FT, kind person reminds me that I should be able to track it down on my cc bill. Find it. Changed flight to return 30 April n/c -under 24 hours.
Probably others, but as may have noticed sometimes I'm forgetful.
Cheers,
Jeff
Mar 28, 2008, 10:49 am
#42
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: PHX
Programs: US,HH
Posts: 636
The last night of a cruise you are required to pack your bags and put them in the hallway where they are picked up quite early in the morning.
Packed all the ex-boyfriends shoes and he had to walk through the ship and filthy cruise terminal barefoot
Packed all the ex-boyfriends shoes and he had to walk through the ship and filthy cruise terminal barefoot
Mar 28, 2008, 11:13 am
#43
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: Aer Lingus Gold, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Gold Passport, BMI Diamond Club Silver, UA Premier
Posts: 67
Few weeks ago was supposed to fly LHR to Dublin to go home for the weekend. I've been doing this every Thursday for months now. I fly out on Aer Lingus and back on BMI, for points and timing reasons. I checked in at the office before heading to the airport and commented to my colleague that my flight time was 10 minutes later than normal, but thought no more of it.
So, I get to the security check at T1 and the guy scans my BP and the compure makes the 'does not compute' noise. The guy looks confused and tries it a couple more times. Then he turns the screen to me and says that it's a bit weird but the BP says my destination is LHR. We have a laugh and he says maybe my BP's barcode is screwed up and I should get a new one. On my way back to the ticket desk it hits me that I booked my flight the wrong way round. Of course it was the day when some loon had broken through the seccurity perimeter and BA and Aer Lingus had cancelled all their flights and filled the BMI flights with their passengers.
One hectic and sweaty dash to Gatwick later and I made it home for the weekend.
So, I get to the security check at T1 and the guy scans my BP and the compure makes the 'does not compute' noise. The guy looks confused and tries it a couple more times. Then he turns the screen to me and says that it's a bit weird but the BP says my destination is LHR. We have a laugh and he says maybe my BP's barcode is screwed up and I should get a new one. On my way back to the ticket desk it hits me that I booked my flight the wrong way round. Of course it was the day when some loon had broken through the seccurity perimeter and BA and Aer Lingus had cancelled all their flights and filled the BMI flights with their passengers.
One hectic and sweaty dash to Gatwick later and I made it home for the weekend.
Mar 28, 2008, 6:51 pm
#44
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA 1K, VX Founding Member; HH/Hyatt Diamond, SPG Platinum; National Exec Elite, Hertz 5* Gold
Posts: 205
left carry-on plane-side yesterday
I fly SFO->LAX several times each week and just carry my laptop bag. This week I did a 4 day trip so I brought a roller-bag along, too. Had to check the roller-bag plane-side yesterday. My roller-bag already had a green security tag on it from a previous trip so I did not get a new stub from the agent.
When I got off the plane in SFO I got a call from my limo driver that he was waiting at the curb so I darted out of the terminal but luckily remembered my mistake right before I stepped across the security line. I ran back to the gate, looked through the closed door, and saw my bag perched at the end. The agent insisted there were no bags left and when I pointed to it she said, "oh" and asked for my claim ticket. Doh! I told her I didn't have a claim ticket and she said to file a missing bag claim. I started screaming at her and told her it wasn't missing it was right there and I wasn't going anywhere unless security dragged me out. She realized that I wasn't going to just give up and go home without my bag (especially when it was in plain sight) so she begrudgingly went down the jetway and brought it to me.
Also left my wallet in the rental car at Denver but circled back around on the rental car shuttle and it was still there. This is why we go to the airport early.
When I got off the plane in SFO I got a call from my limo driver that he was waiting at the curb so I darted out of the terminal but luckily remembered my mistake right before I stepped across the security line. I ran back to the gate, looked through the closed door, and saw my bag perched at the end. The agent insisted there were no bags left and when I pointed to it she said, "oh" and asked for my claim ticket. Doh! I told her I didn't have a claim ticket and she said to file a missing bag claim. I started screaming at her and told her it wasn't missing it was right there and I wasn't going anywhere unless security dragged me out. She realized that I wasn't going to just give up and go home without my bag (especially when it was in plain sight) so she begrudgingly went down the jetway and brought it to me.
Also left my wallet in the rental car at Denver but circled back around on the rental car shuttle and it was still there. This is why we go to the airport early.
Mar 28, 2008, 7:13 pm
#45
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Tennessee
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum by marriage
Posts: 3
Can't wait to see what I do forget!
I'm reading these funny posts about leaving passports and tickets and belongings behind when I realize I'm leaving tomorrow for Norway and my passports still in the drawer - likely all your stories saved me an error tomorrow!
I did, however, leave a coat in Copenhagen at the security belt and didn't realize I was missing it until I was halfway to Chicago.......in winter....
I did, however, leave a coat in Copenhagen at the security belt and didn't realize I was missing it until I was halfway to Chicago.......in winter....