slo’s WEDNESDAY 3/19 poll - Missing Your Flight ✈️

[Kitty 34]

Had a flight canceled on me in Dallas (That was a nightmare!!) but never actually missed a flight.

 

[ronandannette]

OK - I went back and changed my vote because I remembered one. Not sure how I actually forgot it because it was very upsetting at the time. We took a short cruise in May 2023, from Vancouver to Seattle. For some never-explained reason, US Customs wouldn’t clear the ship for disembarkation for hours and hours. We were all held on-board until almost noon with people becoming increasingly frantic. We finally made it out with 25 minutes before our final boarding call and although we made it to the airport, they wouldn’t board us because we had luggage to check and cargo had already been loaded.

We were flying Alaska Air and their next available flight to Calgary was 4 days later, so we had to eat the cost of the missed flight, as well as an overnight in Seattle and new tickets home on Air Canada.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

We had a classic running to our gate moment when I was a kid and we were flying to see my Grandparents. My Dad always woke up on his own at 4 am every day for work. The day we flew, my parents didn’t set an alarm and my Dad overslept.

As far as close calls. We were coming home from WDW and took Disney transportation to MCO and left at the last possible window to leave. Arriving at MCO, we saw the longest TSA line. We just made it to our gate before boarding. My husband and I are flying into MCO next month and because of that experience, we both recently obtained TSA Pre-Check.

 

[BayouQueen]

Yes, I have missed one. We were looking at property outside of Telluride, Colorado and I actually timed it and told DH we were two hours outside Telluride. He didn’t believe me and didn’t allow enough time to get back to Telluride to fly home. So we spent an extra night in Telluride.

Another time we were flying out of Tijuana to go to Cabo San Lucas and the gate person told us the plane doors were closed, so sorry out of luck. But she was just giving us the business because we were so late.

DH is a real panic to travel with. I arrive everywhere early. Totally opposite.

 

[Grand Koalafornian]

I've almost missed connections due to delayed flights a couple times. One made me particularly angry because we were delayed a short time because a passenger had to be removed for bad behavior, and that caused us to run into a 2-hour weather delay. Made it on time, though. Hope it continues to go well for me on vacation starting Friday.

 

[RedAngie]

Just once have I missed a connecting flight at MSP. My departure was from Seattle and bad weather there delayed many flights. We took off about two hours behind schedule. Fortunately there was another connecting flight In Minneapolis about an hour after we arrived there and we were able to get on it. Defunct Northwest Airlines.

 

[jimmymc]

I've missed a few connecting flights thanks to my first leg being delayed. Once I had to stay overnight, the other times I was able to get out on the same day.

 

[disney212]

Yes, first time was moving back to the US from Germany with a 6 and 7 year old with me. Our flight was delayed leaving Germany and after customs in Chicago our flight left. They booked us on a flight 5 hours later. It was a miserable day. Second was alm9st when our flight out had a stop in Charlotte. We had a 4 hour layover but were delayed 3.5 hours on our original flight. Lots of families going to Disney. We were able to run to the gate and were the last 2 to board. We felt awful for those who didn't make it. It was a later evening flight and the last one to Orlando that night. We told the gate agent but they closed the doors anyway. Lots of empty seats on that flight.

 

[Praying Colonel]

You may be entitled to compensation if you miss a flight to/from/in Europe. We flew from Chicago to Amsterdam several years ago and we missed our connection in Reykjavik because our Chicago flight was 7 hours late leaving. EU rules entitled us to about $1200 in compensation. There are companies that will do all the work pursuing the claim for a contingency fee.

 

[ak517]

Ooh this is fun. I once missed a flight from Shanghai to Mumbai because the bullet trains between Nanjing and Shanghai were all delayed for some unknown-to-me reason (I can't read or speak Mandarin and I couldn't find a single English speaker at the Nanjing train station). That was super annoying and a little scary. For a close call on another international trip, my flight from JFK to Taipei was delayed so I for sure thought I was going to miss my connection to Japan, but I sprinted across the airport and made it (my bag didn't).

The only train I've missed was just one to get to Philly from NYC, and although I left my apartment with plenty of time to get to Penn Station, I still managed to get to the platform to watch the train pull away.

 

[EACarlson]

I've only missed three connections, but they were on three consecutive flights last year. Flying SW with a connection at BWI and there was a broken plane at our gate, by the time they moved it, I had missed my connection, ended up having to connect again and made it to my destination 4 hours late. On the way home from that trip the incoming plane hit a bird on the way in. The delay while they checked the plane resulted in my having an unexpected night in Orlando. Then on my next trip to Orlando the next month, my flight flew a very roundabout route to Charlotte and I missed my flight by minutes due to having the wrong gate for my connection. Night spent in Charlotte and got to my destination about 14 hours late.
Never missed or even came close to missing an originating flight. I've made some connections I probably shouldn't have including 31 minutes to cross all of the Minneapolis airport and numerous 35 minute connections at Chicago O'Hare. You travel long enough and you're going to miss connections through no fault of your own.

 

[kimmar067]

Many years ago [more than 30, because our 30 y-o wasn't born ye!] we were sitting at the wrong gate - we were seated at Gate 13 and were SUPPOSED to be at Gate 16! When we realized our mistake, we hurried to the correct one but the flight attendant wouldn't let us board - she said that the door was already closed, so we watched through the window as our plane finally pulled away. She did give us a $150 voucher for breakfast and added our names to the 11AM flight [our original flight was scheduled for 9:30 AM and was a connecting flight in Charlotte, NC]. Needless to say, we missed our connecting flight, arriving at MCO 2-1/2 hours later. To this day, I only book non-stop direct flights!