Comments on: It happened to me. What was your worst travel mistake?

By: UK Airport Person

UK Airport Person — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:41:02 +0000

We tried to check in at the wrong hotel in London. They had two Holiday Inn hotels on the same street within 100 yards of each other in Kensington (don’t know why, but I’m guessing two competing franchises). We had a receptionist who didn’t bother to tell us about the other one and wanted to sell us a room. It was only when we left in a huff in search of a new hotel that wouldn’t charge us the rack rate that we found our intended hotel.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:37:57 +0000

My niece flew back to Jhb on 8 December 2009 via British Airways. After boarding she put her cell phone in the basket and her handbag went through the conveyor security machine. She lifted her handbag on the other side of the conveyor security machine and waited for her cell phone. The cell phone did not surface. She asked where her cellphone was. Security insisted that someone ahead of her had stolen her cellphone. She said “but surely 5 security people should spot someone stealing my cellphone”. She is convinced that one of the security ladies stole her cellphone. The airport announced her name to board during the commotion and she had to rush to catch her flight. The cellphone has never been found. Who would be responsible for this??

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:24:54 +0000

My wife and I had booked airline tickets for our honeymoon in France and since this was almost 30 years ago we’d booked them under her “married” name. We got to the airport and since all she had was ID showing her “unmarried” name they were not going to let her on the flight unless we could show them a marriage certificate, proving she was the person who was named on the ticket. Lots of tears and hard words didn’t move them. Long story short, our best man made a frantic high speed drive to find the priest who’d married us, got a copy of the form, and made it back to the airport just in time to get us on the plane.

By: CS

CS — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:23:39 +0000

Napping in airport is certainly a mistake. I was to fly from Bremen to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Montreal, and Montreal to Toronto. For some odd reason, Bremen airport could issue only the boarding pass for the first flight. The attendant at the counter told me to get the boarding passes for the remaining trip in Frankfurt. The airline’s counter in Frankfurt was super busy so I thought I would come back in an hour. (There was a 3-hour wait between the flights.) Instead, I fell asleep near the gate.
I woke up about 30 minutes before the flight was to depart. The passengers were already lined up in front of the gate. I tried to get a boarding pass from the counter, but my seat has been already taken. In other words, the airline thought that I did not make it to the airport. Worse still, the flight was completely full! I explain to the attendant at the counter that Bremen could not issue the boarding passes for my second and third flight. The attendant realized that there was an empty spot in first class and put me there. So my mistake turned out to be good: I got leg room, service, food and wine from first class!
(Disclaimer: Do not attempt. You may end up stuck in the airport instead of flying in first class.)

By: Nick HS

Nick HS — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:48:10 +0000

Eeek all the stories bring back bad memories but my worst experience by far was flying from Singapore to Indonesia and nobody telling me I needed six months on my passport. Of course Indonesian passport control noticed and ensued a five hour drama involving me paying a very large *cough* fine to avoid staying overnight in one of their “hospitality suites” (which would involve a whole new range of *cough* fines).

By: James Henstridge

James Henstridge — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:51:25 +0000

I guess one of the things about that experience that surprised me most was that the plane left with my checked luggage on board.
In most parts of the world I’ve travelled to, it is standard practice to unload the checked luggage of a passenger who fails to board. After all, if you had a bomb in your luggage you might be less inclined to fly on the plane.
Yet in the US — a country that appears to have more stringent airport security — they didn’t seem to have any problem leaving with my luggage.

By: stormy

stormy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:28:06 +0000

Nights in airports are never fun. I spent the night in the LA airport once (was supposed to spend the night at a friend’s house but that fell through) – I woke up to the cleaning woman standing over me going “God bless you! God bless you!”

By: stormy

stormy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:26:58 +0000

Living in a major city like that can be an advantage some times … Denver doesn’t have (m)any embassies. We have to go to Houston, Chicago or San Francisco. Or mail our passports there …

By: stormy

stormy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:26:14 +0000

Yikes! Why did you have to go back through security.
I bet you have to get a new visa too. I did with India. I got a new passport and had to get a new visa …

By: stormy

stormy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:25:55 +0000

Ouch! It’s very stressful to have travel problems. I think because there’s not really anything you can do but try to convince somebody else to help …