riteshraja

Travelling every week for a year DTW-SFO. Show up at the airport Monday morning expecting to have a reservation like every week. $1200 later did have one ...

CMK10

Here's one that just shows it's not good to have a big mouth.

Last February I was working for Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I hated the job and had made up my mind to quit after one last trip. When I went to drop off my Dodge Avenger at JAX I got a return agent who personified why I hated the company. She was the type who would lie about the coverage and had drunk the green Kool-Ade to such a degree that she was impossible to work with for the fresh out of college kids like me who were duped into working for E-Rac. Therefore, I went out of my way to be as rude as possible thinking I was being really funny and clever and fighting back against Big Green. (I know how stupid and immature this was now believe me).

Halfway back to the terminal I realized I had left my CDs in the car. Believe me, I never saw them again

primusux

Hands down mine was in 2006. We had flown from Germany to Italy during a break in play of the World Cup right before the Semi-final between Italy and Germany in Dortmund. On the day we were supposed to return to Germany to attend the match (we had tickets for all 7 Italy matches) there was a taxi strike in Rome. We somehow managed to get our hotel to hire us a private car to get us to the airport. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, bid farewell to the driver and walked inside to check in.

Sadly my brother had told him to take us to the wrong airport.

We then made a mad dash outside to see if we could catch the driver but he was long gone. We looked at the flights available and there was nothing going anywhere near Dortmund. We finally found one flight that had 1 seat to Baden-Baden. 1 seat, two people. My brother bought the seat and through the language barrier I was put on stand-by. Finally just before the flight was to leave I was taken off of stand-by, charged a crazy fee and boarded the plane.

We arrived in Baden-Baden, saw a Hertz counter and ran to make it before anyone else on the plane. We barely beat another couple of guys who must have been trying to do what we were. We again paid an insane 1-way fee to rent a car. We got in the car, pulled out a map and drove as fast as I've ever driven (and probably ever will) all the way up to Dortmund, stopping once for gas.

Having used our cell phones to call back to the States to get directions to the parking lots for the stadium we finally arrived. As we arrive we see a shuttle getting ready to leave for the stadium. We flag him down, jump on and are taken to the stadium. We see about 50 people milling around outside, with the rest already being inside the stadium.
We had two extra tickets to this match and as our way of thanking whatever force got us there in time, we gave them to two lucky German fans who were walking away from the stadium in their failed attempt to buy spare tickets. We got inside, ran to our seats and just as we sat down the national anthem for Italy started to play.

I truly believe we made those fans' year by giving them tickets as they just kept going nuts. That is, until the 118th minute in extra-time when Italy scored twice to send them to the final in Berlin. This completed the most insane travel mistake I've ever had.

CMK10

Great story primusux!

Back in 2006 I flew SNA-SJC and sat next to a gentleman who was all excited to go to the World Cup at Dortmund. I don't suppose that was you was it?

primusux

heh, nope. I haven't flown out of SNA as far as I recall.

stimpy

I just made a pretty dumb mistake, but all's well that end's well.

I somehow left my wallet in my room when I checked out of the W Lakeshore in Chicago. I took a taxi to ORD where I realized what I had done. Fortunately it was a 10pm flight (to FRA) and I had left the hotel at 7pm so had a lot of extra time. I called the hotel and spoke to Security. They quickly found my wallet. I figured I had two choices. One, Fed Ex it to me in Europe. Two, put the wallet in a taxi to the airport. I asked them to do the latter and about 40 minutes later the taxi driver called my cell phone and I came out from the lounge to get my wallet. Cost: $38 plus a nice tip. ^

Ichinensei

Of all my relatives and friends etc - only one has ever missed a flight after checking in. My uncle. He has missed three planes and also showed up at the airport one day early once.

stimpy

Hey! This thread is not titled "The dumbest travel-related mistake your uncle ever made?"!!!

UK Traveler

London Easter Weekend 2003 Went to London for four concerts, 2 before the holiday and 2 after. Had a reservation to go to Amsterdam for the weekend. Didn't set the alarm, woke up too late to make the flight. Concierge said my only chance was a taxi. He did fly, but I missed the flight. Was going to cost me $1,000 to rebook, so I went back to hotel. Friends who were to pick me up in Amsterdam were not happy and I didn't blame them. They had long left for the airport, so all I could do was leave a message.

For my very first flight, a birthday present in 8th grade to fly to see my best friend who had moved away, when we got to the airport, my parents had booked the wrong date. I would guess it was the first time they ever booked a flight and this was in the mid-60's. There were plenty of seats available, so no problem getting on the flight. I was so giddy that the nice lady sitting by me let me have the window seat. She took good care of me.

tfar

Great story, indeed. Thanks.

And thanks to all for sharing their mistakes. It makes me feel so much better!

Till

tripinforfun

A few years back...... I was home asleep with a 5 am get-up for a YEG flight to ORD....my mistake was setting the clock to 5PM.....whoops! After pleading (for a couple of hours)and doing my best to be gracious, I had a very understanding AC ticket agent, rebook me on standby from YEG to YVR and then to ORD (no extra charge) made it for dinner by 8pm with clients................long day, ....I sent a big Thank you with gifts to the AC YVR and the head office for the hard work of the staff.....Thanks AC

kylemore

None of my mistakes are quite as bad, except for one particular incident that involved a dispute about correct Eurail pass usage that ended up costing €100 or so. That's a story I prefer to tell in person....

One incident that happened recently was a sterling example of how a simple mistake combined with absolutely indifferent or outright hostile employees can be frustrating and turn someone off of a brand forever.

Like many of the stories here it involved a forgotten item in a hotel room. Wanting to pad my schedule before a TPAC flight departing SEA I had flown in the night before. I stayed at the SEA-TAC Holiday Inn Express, which seemed adequate for its price and I slept well. The morning of my flight I packed my stuff and checked out. Since my flight wasn't until later that evening I headed to the local mall and then returned to the HIE and sat there playing with my iphone for a couple of hours.

It was soon time to return to the airport and as I was collecting my gear I realized I had left my bathroom bag/shaving kit (more about the contents in a second) in my room! Thankful that I had remembered before I departed for the airport and embarking on a 2 week trip I returned to the front desk and explained what happened. Should have easily been taken care of, right? No luck. "Sorry, but everyone who has access to the room where lost items are kept has left for the day." I actually thought the front desk clerk was joking for a second. He (not very sympathetically) explained that only a handful of people had access to that particular room, and certainly none of them were working this late into the afternoon. He offered to have a manager call me the next day so we could arrange for me to be re-united with my goods in some manner.

Of course that call never came. Just a simple bathroom bag, right? Well yes, but it also had some expensive stuff in it, such as a modified single edge razor from a small outfit in CA and a not-so-cheap badger-hair brush. Not a devastating loss by any means, but lets just say the retail prices of the stuff in there would have covered a few nights at this HIE.

Well, back to the story. I survive (no surprise) my trip and have a layover in Seattle that would allow enough time to go over to the hotel and collect my stuff. Before departing for SEA I call the hotel and talk to the receptionist. As soon as I mention "left item" she interrupts me and says I would have to talk to her manager, who wasn't in. I try to explain I had left an item and would love to swing by to pick it up, but I wouldn't be there until later in the evening and maybe the bag could be held at the front desk. I finish, get silence on the other end, and then a "sir, I have no idea what you're talking about." I try explaining again, once again am interrupted and was told I would have to talk to xxxx (can't remember the name). Before I can say anything I am transferred straight to a voicemail. I leave a message, hang up and call the front desk back. No answer. Hang up and try again. No answer. Get frustrated, think nasty thoughts about the desk lady and vow to never stay in a HIE again.

Fortunately I was eventually (several days later) able to talk with someone who knew what they were doing. A not-so-nominal shipping fee later I had my gear back.

Like I said at the beginning, this isn't nearly as traumatic as losing a passport, but there was no reason to have to jump through 10 extra hoops just to get a bag left that very day. It WOULD have been a disaster if I didn't pack my glasses and contact solution separately, as I am nearly blind without anything on and wear hard contacts, and the storing solutions for those can be difficult to find.

HawaiiTrvlr

Here is my story and a very valuable lesson learned. I was traveling back on government business from Jacksonville FL to Texas (this was Oct 1996 or 1997). I was on Delta through Atlanta to DFW to my home airport at the time. After checking in and sitting at the gate for my flight, they put a call out for volunteers to give up their seat. I wasn't in a hurry to get back home so I volunteered. Their offer was a free ticket anywhere Delta flies (in the lower 48 states) good anytime. Sounded like a good deal to me so I took it (and a $5 meal voucher) for a later flight. So the agent prints out my flight coupon and tells me not to lose it because it can't be replaced. Well, later on in the day, I am on the flight from ATL-DFW leg. I am pretty pleased that I have a free ticket to go home for Christmas. I had been using the flight coupon as a bookmark in the book I had been reading. While I was reading, I put the coupon in the seatback in front of me. So, we land and I put my stuff away, get off the aircraft, and go to the commuter terminal to catch my flight home. At the commuter terminal is when I realize the flight coupon is still in the seatback on my last flight. I start panicking. My flight home is starting to board so I go to the gate agent and explain the problem. She calls back to the gate I just came from and they are nice enough to go back on the airplane to retrieve my flight coupon. However, there isn't enough time to bring it to me. The gate agent assures me that she will put it on the next commuter flight after mine. So I board for my flight and land in my home town. I go to the ticket counter and explain the situation. I give them my home number and tell me to call me when the next flight lands and I can pick up my flight coupon. Well, of course I didnt hear from them. So, I go back out to the airport to see if it came it. "No sir, we don't have anything and nothing came on that flight for you." I am sure I won't be seeing the free ticket coupon again. Well, wouldn't you know the last flight of the day (nearly 11pm), I get the call to come and pick up my coupon. I was extremely grateful just to get it back. I did use it to fly home for Christmas that year.

KymberKane

I flew ORD to LGA and recognized someone I flew with the past week that had been one of my seatmates on a prior flight. I recalled him because after the flight , we all shared a cab went to the same hotel and had a couple drinks and moaned about the flight.

So when I boarded this flight a week later , here the guy is again seated a couple rows ahead. I said Hi , how are you / good to see you again when I first walked past him. He acted like he didn't know me. I assumed it was becaause I had less makeup and had a new hairdo (color and cut)? Wrong!
As the flight got into progress I went forward and introduced myself again and he said he had not been on a flight the past week. I still didn't "get it" . Stupid me :-)

I went back to my seat and looked in my wallet , where I was sure I had his card when we all exchanged cards. I couldn't remember his name / but knew his face for sure. I was going to take it to the front and ask him if he was so and so. (good that I didn't i guess).

A few mins later, he took a walk to the back of plane and on his way back he dropped off a new biz card / on the back said , i'm with my wife. sorry. call me sometime ? LOL.

Na. I think not.

Lesson learned: Don't talk to strangers :-)

Podcat

Denver airport last summer from SNA, waiting for a flight to New Orleans at around 7:30 PM. I had almost two hours to kill -- plenty of time.

Made my way to the departing gate. No one around; too early.
So I found a good seat a ways away near an AC outlet, plugged int the laptop and became subsumed in the internet.

Heard some faraway announcement, calling some passenger's name.
That's funny, I thought. I almost never notice those things.
And who can understand them anyway? Funny -- that name does sound kind of like mine. But it isn't. My name is impossible to spell or pronounce, and I've still got at least an hour.

The announcement was repeated several times. I ignored it several times.
Kind of annoying, really.

Noticing it was 7:15, where was the boarding call?
Went to the gate, showed my ticket to the agent. He said something that just didn't register. Several tries later, I finally understood that he was telling me my flight had left without me.

It was, of course, 8:15.

MDT.

Cost: $106 and a night at the Marriott (martinis not included).