I was on a 3 day work trip across the country. The first day was fine and dandy. The second day, I had the sniffles. The third day was full-blown flu.
I woke up on the fourth day (the day I had to leave and get on the plane) at 6 am, even sicker than the day before, to attend a 4 hour meeting before I was to board the plane. The meeting ended, I got to the airport. The plane was supposed to take off at 1 pm, and arrive back home at 5 pm. I couldn't wait to get in my bed and call in sick the next day! (Yes, I was scheduled to be at work the very next day.)
Turns out, there was a big ol' snowstorm back home. The flight was delayed by half an hour. The flight was continuously delayed every half hour up until 8 pm. (Yes, SEVEN HOURS of delays.) Keep in mind, I am sitting in the terminal with the flu, trying not only to not contaminate my work peers (including my boss, who saw me cry several times that day), but also trying not to faint.
Finally, at 8 pm, the flight. was. cancelled.
I flipped out.
The airport started rolling out these tiny, germy Army cots in the middle of the terminal, I guess for us to "sleep" on. They rescheduled our flight...for FIVE PM THE NEXT DAY.
Finally, they found us a flight to Boston( two hours from our hometown). On the company's expense, we hopped on that plane at 9 pm, made it to Boston at midnight, and rented an SUV from Enterprise.
The SUV, unfortunately, only had room for 8. There was 9 of us.
Because I was, by far, the smallest person there, I sat on the floor for the two hours back home, trying not to barf on my colleagues' shoes.
We arrived at our hometown airport at 2:20 am. We went to the front desk to get our luggage.
Guess whose luggage wasn't there? Her luggage with her IPad, Laptop, and all of her work files? Not to mention clothes, makeup, and hair styling products?
Yep.
I had to file a report. They finally found my luggage three days later in CANADA.
I got my luggage a week after we arrived home.
The good news is, I definitely called in sick the next day!
I was connecting in Atlanta on the way home Friday night after a week long business trip. A storm blew through Atlatnta before I took off on my flight there. It shut down the airport for 1 hour. That caused back-ups and delays the rest of the afternoon/evening. I was originally supposed to arrive at my final airport about 8:30 p.m. I didn't land at the airport til about 3:30 a.m. and still had a 1 h 15 min drive home.
My worst travel experience.
In Atlanta at the Hartford Airport. Delta oversells the flight and causes a big delay. Arguments are breaking out and Delta employees were instigating fights.
Weather? well I love Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I went there with my family for a week, it down-poured the whole week. We could not even take a boat over to Nantucket. Boston was great even in the rain.
Rude people? In New Jersey I would say this is a social way of communication while on the highway. Road rage is so prevalent there. One finger waves are so prevalent.
I suggest Northern California. Redwood forests, Wineries, and San-Fransisco is so much fun.
Flying into Budipest, Romania from the Ukrain aboard Romanian Airlines. When I boarded, the plane only seated about 30 people. I hadn't noticed that this was a PROP plane. Being used to jets, I was, to say the least, shocked and even more so when the engines started, the props began to sputter and spin and we putted down the runway. We took off fairly quickly to the roar and whine of the engines sounding like being aboard a motorboat on the water. The plant actually had three flight attendents who came around with little mints as our inflight food treat. I had a window seat and when I looked out, we had leveled off at an altitude that looked like 500 feet. I laugh when things aren't logical to me and I knew I was going to lose it now because, I looked at the groung and I could see cars, roads, houses, cows, you name it. We were hardly off the ground and moving slowly towards Budipest. I got so tickled and laughed so hard. We landed and had a great time in Budipest and all was great until it dawned on me that I had to take the same plane back.
When I got off the plane in French Guiana (visiting my parents who lived there at the time) I was stopped and fully searched for pretty much no reason. My brother who arrived a year earlier also was treated in a similar manner, but somehow my dad saw it and stopped the guy. I call it racism because the only difference between us and everyone else getting off the plane was me being Asian.
Everyone else was black/white, and there was NO probable reason to stop me or search me. Oh and the guy who was in the room next door that was also stopped was Asian. Ha, what a coincidence!
I was almost 16 so I did not know anything about what I could have done and I didn't do anything but I'd react differently if that happened to me again.
People complain about the TSA, but I've so far only had positive experiences in the US traveling and I've been to like 7 different American airports.
I was traveling to attend a wedding in another country, but the night before I decided to stay at a hotel closer to the airport because they prevent snow starting around 8 am, but the snow started really earlier and it was really heavy. I went to the airport most of the flight were canceled so I went back back to the hotel then I realized I left my phone someway so I had to go back. The airport was so packed, when I went back there was another lady at the desk she was being so rude and I was being impatient because I had to wait for the other lady to come back from break, when she got back, I got my phone thank God. So I drove back to the hotel I ended up locking my both key in the car. I had to call a towing company to open my car for 200 dollars. When I finally got in room around 6 something pm. I was relieved and that was the worst traveling experience I've had.
I went to Russia in the 1980's and it was hell. We were in the middle of the Cold War, the country was poor to the point of destitution trying to keep up with the West. We were accompanied by a KGB agent the whole time.
It was so unbelievably grim for the people that lived there, crammed into blocks of concrete flats. And so comfortable for the tourists, with sights to visit like The Hermitage...apart from the food.
Shredded swede was served at our most the most memorable dinner, along with a pot of broth that looked ok. I played Mum and stirred it with a ladle to give everyone a scoop - and up floated chickens feet.
The airline was Aeroflot and I spent the whole flight there and back thinking we might die.
Worst travel experience by far! I have been to Europe, around the US and within my state countless times, but I think this is the most memorable and worst!!!!
Back in my early teens my mother and father were taking my younger brother and I on a disney trip. My mother made a horrible mistake the night before we left. She fed us baked beans for dinner. We took my fathers car, which had a terrible tendancy to retain smells in the seats, and let me tell you, after that meal the night before the car smelled like our family was engagin in odor warfare!!! My mother even implimented a "no farting" rule, which of course to early teenage sons, meant nothing at all. We just kept passing gas,l the whole way up and my father station wagon smelled horrible for a solid couple days into and after the vacation. I'll never forget having to open the windows constantly because of the smell. I still feel terrible for mky mother.....
I was in London trying to get back to Pittsburgh, so my plan was to arrive at JFK in NYC and take a flight to Pittsburgh. When we arrived at New York, it was snowed out, so we circled above for a while. Now almost everyone on the plane was heading for Pittsburgh because we were all together. What ended up happening was the plane went to the Pittsburgh airport, but we couldn't leave because there were no customs there because it was a national airport. We were stuck on the plane for twelve hours! When we got to JFK, the flight to Pittsburgh was canceled and we were so mad.
It was way back in 1994 when I was at JFK international airport in NY. There appeared to be unexpected snowstorm just when it was about to be time for the flight. Soon it became chaos, the flights got grounded and everything quickly turned into a mess.
The entire night had to be spent at airport lobby roaming around from 1 spot to the other. The roads were blocked and there was no cab service to any hotel. Had to use airport restrooms and the janitorial service also appeared to be gone. I had to sleep the whole night on the chairs in lobby. However, luckily food was no problem as it was still available in airport. Had to buy toothbrush/toothpaste at airport too.
Nearly 20 hours were spent at airport doing nothing before the roads were plowed. Finally took a cab to the hotel.
I was about 11 and we were driving a trip that was supposed to take maybe 12 hours to my aunt's beach house. We left early and as we got to the end of the trip, the printed out directions totally messed up and we wound up driving around some area next to a swamp. By midnight, my parents gave up and found the only place to stay for the night. We got in the room and of course had to go to the bathroom. The toilet was clogged and there was a tiny dried piece of poop on the bathroom door. My dad called to tell them the toilet was clogged (by the people before us!) and they came to the room, handed him the plunger, and let him plunge some strangers business.
In the morning we got out of there and had a great trip, until the end when we left early because a teen in the family (distant cousin, nobody close) passed away because he did something dangerous.
