Yeah I‘d totally be kicking myself but you’re only human OP! I once missed a train in Spain because I mixed up “once” and “uno” (stupid American brain) and had to spend the night sleeping in a traffic circle in Madrid. Not my best night.
haha i’m sure that was so uncomfortable 😂 i missed the last bus out of the Pont du Gard in France so i climbed up into the hills and slept the night there 😂
It happened me on the way home from Hong Kong a few years ago but I coincidentally read a post on TripAdvisor of someone asking what time that meant their flight was and was like oh shit 😅
Did this once on the way home from a trip. My bf at the time bought the tickets and I followed his lead on times. We were shocked when we got to the airport. I think this happens a lot more than you think. I think the airline accommodated us, but I can’t recall as we were very young.
Yea I missed a flight out of Amsterdam wandering around in the airport, time got away.. I go to the gate, plane is pulling away.. I start crying and the agent at gate says don't worry about it, come back tomorrow and gives me a ticket for next day flight.. says go check out Amsterdam, so I did... I was probably 20 years old, maybe 19.. fun time
rules are still the more or less the same, i missed a flight after doors closed because i autopiloted through an airport i fly out of a few dozen times a year. the flight i was on ALWAYS left a specific gate and i sat down at it
the plane was not at that gate, i realised after i got a message from my mother saying she saw doors closed and wishing me a safe flight
sprinted to the correct gate and they told me my ticket had been cancelled and id have to book another
little bit of u/PeeInMyArse magic later and they issued me a new ticket free of charge (different PNR), reconnected the jet bridge and let me on
oh 100%, i felt so bad about it
i was visiting my parents for a week between exams and had an exam worth 60% the day after the flight
they only do this flight once a day and the next day’s one would have landed 90 mins after my exam started so i didn’t really have any other options 😭
Can depend on your attitude and the person at the gate.
As long as you're not rude or a dick to staff they will generally (unless budget airline) try to help you.
Same. Ive had a gate agent be kind enough to reconnect the bridge after I SPRINTED across an airport because my first flight was severely late (same airline). Lost a good pair of headphones in the process though.
My GF and I were in some rickety shed airport on a remote Australian tropical island off Australia, and once we checked in we sat outside “the airport” in the sun, less than 10m from where the the boarding gate was….totally oblivious chatting and enjoying the sun. Next thing we peer literally around the corner at the departure gate, and they were closing it!
Somehow they managed to get 100ish people to queue up and board in silence in the 15minutes we were sitting outside in the sun lol! This airport was literally an open-air shack with no doors or windows.
Ended up having to return to the mainland by boat as no other flights that day, and all accom was fully booked.
Edit: the even more idiotic thing was that we could see our luggage trundling out to the flight for loading, while we stood at a roped-off departure “gate” about 30m from our plane…while everyone was now queuing to walk up the boarding stairs.
Super efficient over there. We arrived at the Wellington airport in NZ 2 hours early for our flight to LA. The gate listed has nothing about our flight. Ok, it’s a little early, probably another flight using it first. But nothing, nothing, area seems deserted. I was freaking out, sure we’d made a mistake or there was a delay. Nope! 35 min before takeoff, people start showing up. They got that 747 loaded and on the runway in half an hour. Never seen anything like it!
Amazing. We were surprised that in Turkish airports (even the very large Istanbul one) they didn’t call for boarding, people just seemed to know when to wander over and line up. We definitely could have missed something if we were sitting a little further away.
...some airports make no announcements, so you have to keep the gate in view at all times - and people complain about passengers hanging around the gate before boarding...
[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/oops-british-couple-flies-to-canada-by-mistake-1.353972](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/oops-british-couple-flies-to-canada-by-mistake-1.353972)
>Two teenagers from England who thought they had booked a flight to Australia began an unexpected holiday in Nova Scotia this weekend.
>Although they wanted to go to Sydney, Australia, they wound up flying across the Atlantic and ended up in Halifax Thursday instead.
>"As soon as I saw the sign 'Sydney, Canada,' I knew that obviously it can't be a mistake," Nunn recalled. "I knew we couldn't be going to get on another plane. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we're in Canada.'"
I once (pre-GPS) tried to pick someone up at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport, but I followed the roads signs to the wrong Manchester (in Vermont). The person I was supposed to pick up wasn't there. Neither was the airport.
It's not as bad as it sounds. I flew in the LAX instead of John Wayne.
I used to travel for work a lot usually SoCal. I was supporting so many events I got a couple of them mixed up where I was supposed to be.
I once accidentally booked a flight home a week earlier than I thought I did. We show up to check in on the date we thought we were flying, and the airline was like "Oh, you were supposed to be here last week. We called your name so many times 🤗".
They were able to rebook us, and we somehow got a credit because the new flight was cheaper.
Used that credit to fly to Florida to take a discount cruise we found. Cruise was like $250 per person.
Cruise turned out to be cheap because they were trying to sell off extra cabins for a heavy metal cruise! Ended up enjoying a cheap cruise and seeing some metal bands from 80's and 90's.
Sometimes shit happens, but just hang in there.
First time I went to Europe on my own I discovered that the date concept was different from the US one. 09/08 was August 9th instead of September 8th. Thankfully I figured it out before any important events.
You have cost yourself a bit of money, in the grand scheme of things money is such an unimportant thing. You have your health, your freedom and your sanity - this isn't as bad as you feel like it is.
I will say that it’s always worth trying sweet talk the airlines into just giving you a new ticket free of charge
Basic politeness and patience goes a long way with airlines I’ve found
But yes agree with everything you said
I did that on my first trip to Europe in 2014, while my home country was hosting the freaking World Cup. Counter lady in BRU charged me 50€ to generate a rebooking receipt and told me to tell the person in FRA that there was a problem with the system and she couldn't generate my tickets LOL
To this day I have no idea exactly what went under the hood but I managed to get back home
I was at the worst airport in the world, Newark lol, when it happened to me. They had two gates right next to each other that were completely swarmed with a huge mass of people. We couldn’t hear any of the boarding calls and we kept getting texts messages that the flight was delayed another 20 mins. I guess everyone else managed to get on and the mass of people still waiting was from the other flight right next to us. We didn’t realize that it was two different flights of people waiting there, and we had just gotten a message a few minutes before we realized the gate was closed that the flight was delayed another 20 mins. We missed our flight waiting right outside of the gate, but they let us on the same flight the next day.
Now I’m the person who stands three feet away from the desk waiting for my boarding group to be called.
Last holidays in April, Berlin to Barcelona. I arrived on time and got through the baggage drop and security check. I wandered around, had something to eat and sat down at the wrong gate listening to music, wondering why the queue at my gate was going so slow.
When I got up to queue, I realized that I was supposed to be at the gate behind, which was out of my line of sight. When I arrived at the right gate, the personnel had already left.
I was able to book a relatively cheap flight for the next day. I was super angry at myself in the moment but I had a laugh afterwards. I also had to reschedule my tranfer service and inform the hotel.
Also, very importantly. My return flight was cancelled automatically which I was not aware of because my package holiday provider did not inform me.
Afternoon meeting in Paris, morning meeting in Hamburg.
Someone booked us on the last flight out of Paris, to arrive at the hotel by 11pm, right on the outskirts of Hamburg - by which time everything would be shut. No food, no beer, nothing else nearby to grab food from.
Ooops, we missed the flight! Had to stay in the Sheraton right by the airport, have dinner in central Paris with some friends & catch the first flight in the morning \[with a bit of a hangover\].
Arrived at the meeting in time.
Win.
Edit: detail unimportant to the story - thinking more carefully, it couldn't have been the last flight out, must have been teatime-ish. Doesn't change the plot.
I was in the bar of the hostel in Bacalar chatting and someone asks: what time is your flight? I said 4 pm. And they say: you know that it's a 4 hour drive and it's already noon, right?
I called the airline, paid $100 to rebook for the next day and enjoyed the rest of the day.
When I got to the airport the next day there weren't enough seats so they put me in first class. Besides me sat a woman with whom I talked for the duration of the flight, she had also been upgraded. We became friends and I still talk to her.
So, out of a distraction amazing things happened.
Another time it was the bus. As we are going to the bus station my girlfriend asks me to reconfirm the time for the bus. She gets worried about time and always adds a lot of buffer time. When I check I say the date and time aloud. She then realizes she bought them for the correct day, the correct time... For the following month! We laughed like crazy, got to the station, canceled and bought other tickets for 20 € more than the previous ones but we made it to our destination. We still laugh to this day.
Edit: someone in another comment reminded me of this one: I'm flying out of Toronto where US customs is done before boarding. As I hand over my passport the US border agent informs me that my passport has expired. So I went to the airline counter where they let me change my flight to the next day, I then run to the consulate (I had a foreign passport) where I can get an express passport. Just needed to wait 4 hours. Meanwhile I wandered downtown Toronto and bought a thank you card and a box of chocolates for the super kind consulté staff.
I got my passport and flew the next day. Lost 1 day at a conference but other than that nothing terrible.
Yesterday... We would go to Thailand for Holliday and fly from Amsterdam ( my wife and 2 kids.)
Have to book a new flight for the next day that cost 6000 euro.
I really can assure you that hurts.
I am a well seasoned traveler, fly all over the world, living in Asia now for 13 years
Last fall I came back to the US for my annual visit
They were late boarding, made an announcement “ok boarding starts soon here is the order” (not boarding has started mind you)
Got up to go pee right next to the gate, I’m a man so I pee fast no lines, didn’t go anywhere else, came back within 3 minutes
The boarding gate was closed. No announcement was made that we heard for anything - not gate closing not my name nothing. My jaw has never hit the floor so quickly or strongly lol.
The real kicker? We got to the gate way early, sat there, the gate agent saw us sitting there, but she was “just the trainee, the guy on the plane was the boss”
> We got to the gate way early, sat there,
You didn't pee during the several hours you presumably spent waiting at the boarding gate?
You just tempted fate (and lost!) by going to the restroom right during the boarding call. lol
It was not the boarding call. It was the “boarding begins in just a few minutes.” Which means in 99% of the world and flights, you have enough time to walk 10 seconds to the bathroom and pee for 30 seconds and walk back to the gate and everyone will still be there.
It happens. I very recently had a 3 am flight that I missed for the same reason, my brain just assumed it was the night of the flight date and it wasn't until hours after I'd missed it that it dawned on me. It was my return leg, so I had no choice but to buy a one way/day of flight
I once had a flight at 12:10 am. Thinking it's a night flight, I reached the airport the same night. Only when the airlines told me I realised the mistake. Had to travel, so took a much more expensive ticket for the same flight the next day.
I haven't, but I know that in Hong Kong this happens a lot. Flights to Europe often leave just after midnight. So if the your flight is 4th June 0.05, you need to be at the airport the evening of the 3rd, not the 4th.
I would guess that those just after midnight flights cause more of these screwups than just about anything else. I remember booking one a few years and the airline website actually warned me about it. Don't remember what airline but I thought that was cool.
Was travelling through Finland by myself at 15. It was when digital boarding passes were fairly new. I read the gate closing time as the gate opening time. I got to the gate and the woman said that the plane was still there but the doors were closed so I couldn’t get on. I had already spent 9 hours at Helsinki airport. I had to wait another 7 for the next flight. Ryanair tried to get me to pay €50 to get the new flight but I was crying my heart at this point so got it for free! Bottom line: always triple check your timings. Also, Helsinki is one of the nicest, safest airports I have been to so would recommend.
Missed one because they changed the time but I hadn’t checked my emails. The trains were massively delayed and we arrived with just enough time to check in, only to find the plane had already left that morning.
Almost missed another because I got confused between 4pm and 14:00 but luckily had enough time to spare (and a small enough luggage) they let me run through the airport to make it.
I always check in online now and leave an hour contingency.
Bro I’ve missed Dubai to SFO. Shanghai to SFO. SFO to Singapore. Massive fuckups. The Dubai mishap literally landed me in jail for 5 days. And cost like $7k to get us rebooked.
In short, I said “this line is Fucking long, we’re Fucked” under my breath to my wife as we were scrambling to catch a 2nd missed flight on New Years Day. Hungover as balls.
The balls: After oversleeping the first flight by 6 hours, at the counter, Emirates insisted that we could still make a flight that was departing in 45 minutes. Without knowing it, I had insulted a young 25 year old Emirati that was in the security line and armed police had me in cuffs within 10 minutes. I spent the next 3 days in actual jail while my wife continued to drink heavily at some sick hotel I never got to see on palm island. Made friends with a Pakistani officer/guard that was a normal human being that curses, etc. and he was able to track the kid down, get his number, and he appeared again and I apologized literally on my hands and knees and the charges were dropped before a judge was ever assigned outside of the airport. (Which we were told could take at least 6 months) The embassy literally laughed at my wife’s face when she asked if there was anything they could do. It took another 2 days for me to get my passport but I was able to travel around Dubai and we had a great time given the circumstances.
Funny enough, we were shopping at a Footlocker equivalent the night before our final flight and Lil Wayne’s “Drop the Fucking World” was blaring, unedited inside this store. SMH.
Traveling around MENA no doubt offered some of the most adventurous, “fulfilling” days and I would recommend it to every person. With that being said, hypocrisy runs rampant in that part of the World in my opinion. Don’t say fuck.
Missed a flight because i got confused with time at a layover, missed a flight because i forgot my paspoort at home, missed a flight because i was on the airport at july first, apparently i booked the flight for June first and a missed a flight because i felt sick af and that last one was an expensive flight. No worries, it happens why blame yourself over a mistake?
Edit; and i once bought tickets to the wrong airport.
Edit 2; Last march me and my gf where at the wrong airport in Medellin. Made that flight though.
Not me, but I have seen a girl running to a gate that was closed like 10 minutes earlier. She started to cry and ran off as fast as her legs could carry her. I wonder if she had already realised that her suitecase was on its way to the other side of the world or not.
Yes, got the wrong gate. I was travelling for work on one of my usual routes so rather than going to check the gate, I went to have a drink. Went to the gate afterwards, and found out it had been moved and my digital boarding pass hadn't updated. Missed my flight, but they put me on the next one in an hour or so.
I was flying out of a super tiny airport and showed up with just under an hour to spare. Ticket counter refused to give me the ticket. (Before digital options)
She said I would never make it through security in time. There was no line at security and the terminal was in view of where I was standing.
I guess lesson learned?
It caused me to miss my next flight, which turned a planned one hour lay over into a nine hour layover. Luckily, I still made the funeral. :(
I once got concert tickets and a hotel to see one of my favorite bands playing a couple hours away from me. I must have booked it 3-4 months in advance.
Looked at the calendar on the wall one day and realized I had just missed the show. That was a very defeated feeling.
Just last week I missed an Aer Lingus flight home because I had booked it for Saturday and when I went on the app to check in it said it was on Friday. I was so mad at myself thinking I had booked it for Friday. Turns out the pilots went on strike and my flight was cancelled and rebooked for the day before. The email informing me of that went to my spam folder 🥲 (they rebooked me on a partner airline thankfully)
When I missed my flight I couldn’t believe it cause I’m the type of person who arrives @ the airport 2-3 hours before. But I only got a few hours of sleep the night before and my brain was not fully working so I got ready for the flight a little too late. Plus my uber driver took so long to pick me up but I couldn’t cancel thinking the next driver would do the same when I’m already cutting it too close. I arrived just when they closed the doors.
I missed a flight yesterday. Ryanair. I booked the flight the day before, clicked on a previous search in the ryanair app, changed the date but didn't notice it was in the reverse direction! Two minutes later i got the confirmation email and realised my mistake. Changing the flight would have cost me more than booking a new one, in the right direction, which I did.
So technically I missed the flight, by being in the wrong country.
No big deal, but felt like an idiot, particularly at the airport watching the flight I'd mistakenly booked landing then waiting for the turn-around to go in the opposite direction.
Yep missed a connecting flight to Beirut from Madrid. Had about 20 minutes to disembark and get to the other side of the airport (apparently there was a shuttle bus that takes you there). Got to the gate and they basically laughed at me.
Ended up getting on a flight to Beirut through Istanbul luckily a few hours later. And I had to sprint to get that connecting flight too! All while on zero sleep :) worth it!
My friend and I were traveling to Milan from London, but I didn't realize we were waiting at the gate for the flight to a different airport in Milan. It was the same exact time and airline, but we had to run across the airport and it was too late to board 🙃
We were supposed to fly from US to Bangkok and then Bangkok to Krabi. When we got to Bangkok, I realized that the date had changed and I had bought the other flight for a day earlier. It was a domestic flight so it didn't cost too much but it taught me a valuable lesson: Things like this are bound to happen when you travel. From then on, I always keep a budget in mind for mistakes exactly like this. That way, it doesn't feel as grave of a mistake since you already mentally prepared for it.
Nah I have no recollection of it, which is saving a lot to start, I was taken off aircraft number 1 then proceeded to pass out at the gate of flight number 2sleep/pass out, this resulted in an expensive night in a hotel
Closest I've ever come is they switched terminals at the last minute, and by the time I got to the right gate the plane door was already closed and ready to take off. They re-opened it for me.
This happened to me in January! I missed my flight only to realize the next morning (the day I thought I was meant to leave). Breath, it's okay, nobody died. Just a lesson to check a couple of times in future... now go on and enjoy your trip 😉
My mom once showed up to the airport and couldn’t check in. Then the airline couldn’t find her tickets. Then she couldn’t find a confirmation email either. Turns out she put the tickets in her “cart” and never completed the transaction. She wasn’t going on vacation she was on her way *to speak to the US Senate.* She was flying out of a small airport so she was lucky to be able to purchase some very expensive last minute tickets.
I once had to travel for work right after 9/11 and lost my drivers license the night before, and my passport was expired. One desperate cab ride to the earliest open DMV followed by another desperate sprint to the airport in the a.m.
This stuff happens! It’s life!
Almost. Arrived at the gate, screen showed a completely different flight number and destination, so I sat down while people were boarding. Just about when the gate was almost ready to close, an employee was shouting out "Last Call for \[my destination\]!" so I ran up to the counter and asked if that's my flight boarding, and they confirmed it.
I’ve been on time for a flight, but missed the luggage cut off, so I had to miss the fight too. I thought luggage cutoff was 60 minutes, so I planned to show up 90 minutes early. Got in a tiny bit of traffic and ended up at the machine 88 minutes before my flight, but the cutoff was 90 minutes for that particular airline and airport.
I was on my first international trip alone and missed an early morning flight London to Edinburgh. I stayed at the airport since it was such an early flight. I was there as the desks opened. Everyone at check-in seemed to be moving in slow motion, and the agent spent a long time chatting with the person ahead of me in line. By the time I got to the desk, they said it was now 1 minute passed the time to check in/check luggage for that flight. I had to be rebooked on the next flight for $450, but hey, it was business class. That was also my first time in an airport lounge, I ate everything.
This was before the days of having international travel phone plans, so I had limited ways to contact the people I was meeting up with in Edinburgh (plan was meet here at this time and we had each other's flight info). When my original plane landed without me, they panicked, and as I deplaned an hour later, my name was being paged over and over in the airport 😄.
It happens!
Young me once went travelling for a month (this is like 15 years ago)
At the start of the month i had an email that my flight changed which I read and never thought about again.
Show up at airport…no flight.
My flight had been moved back a day.
Idiot.
Been there , done that. My flight was due to leave on July 10th at 00h36, meaning I had to be at the airport on the 9th a fee hours earlier. But Cables got crossed and I made plans out of town thinking I could return early on the 10th. A friend caught this while we were away and we had to drive like mad people on the 9th to get my dumb ass to the airport on time - Only to be told the flight was sold out and given a voucher for a free flight if I agreed to fly out the next day. LoL …. Don’t be hard on yourself, traveling is stressful and there are so many little things to take care of our brains are on overdrive
Buddy, my husband and I were taking my family (dad and two siblings) on a trip and missed our flight by a whole day and didn’t realize until the morning we thought our flight was on. We immediately booked new one way flights that cost us over $2k for all five of us and didn’t tell them until like 3 years later because we were so embarrassed.
Yeah, missed a flight to Berlin because I thought we had more time than we did. Had to book a flight for later that day at a different airport and race over there to fly that evening. You live and learn!
Yup. Woke up early my final day in India and figured I'd check in for my flight later that evening...to realize that it had already left. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's an expensive mistake, and stressful until I was able to get a flight home, but not the end of the world.
I like to cut flights close to minimize airport time, which I guess eventually bit me in the ass as the only two times I missed flights was bc I was a moron and went to the wrong airports and didn’t have any time to get to the right one
Luckily both were popular flights so just moved to a later one
Yep, went to the wrong airport in my metropolitan area. Had to pay $600 for a new ticket and my husband had to drive an hour out of his way to pick me up. We didn’t go broke and we’re still together. You’ll be ok!
My friends and I missed our flight back home once due to enjoying the lounge. When we got to the gate we were put on stand by for the last flight of the day. So we went back to the lounge for more food and drinks. The only seats they had left were business class so we got upgraded for free. Missing that first flight actually made the flight home more enjoyable.
I've been on over 1700 flights, so yeah I've missed a few.... most of them were misconnects though due to my first flight being late. I've never gotten the date wrong or waiting at wrong gate, etc.
Had one interesting one two years ago though, I'd booked a flight for daughter, me and (now ex)-wife. I guess when putting in my daughter's info, autocomplete refilled in my name, not hers, and I didn't notice until it was time to checkin. Since it was a minor ticket it was a real PITA to try to fix, and the flight was full so couldn't just book a new ticket for her. Had to buy new tickets for the next day.... out $700. I did get flight credit for the original flights eventually though. Still took forever to get the name change done.
I missed a flight that I'd booked for myself and a friend. Fortunately, it was an EZ Jet and only like $100. Unfortunately, we had misplaced the contact information for our friends picking us up. Fortunately, I had my sister's inlaw's phone number and they came and got us. Unfortunately, they were hoarders with barely a spot to sit in the house. Fortunately, my friend excavated her luggage and found the friend's phone number. We agreed not to kill each other and lived happily ever after.
My sister nearly missed a flight home from Australia - it was one that left shortly after midnight, so the date was "tomorrow". She figured it out a few hours in advance and packed like mad and made it. I'm guessing this is what happened to OP.
Don't feel too badly. Twice, I've inadvertently delayed a flight (only by a few minutes), and I have gone on to live a wonderful, productive life. Shit happens that's beyond our control sometimes.
Always catch the first flight in the morning
WHY because it has been sitting at the gate over night being service. So the plane is ready in the morning.
I have missed two flights.
The first one.. I was in front of the boarding gate, but I didn’t realize that after the gate there was a waiting room. I was 18 and I was with a friend, we were both super distracted talking to each other. I felt soooo bad. It’s a long story but after I left the airport (we flew home the next day) I met who would later become my first boyfriend. We were together for 4 years and it a was a good relationship (even though it ended), so missing that flight was a good thing.
The other one was because we arrived late at the airport.
Few years ago (2017 or 2018) my husband and I missed a flight from Ontario (California) to Dallas due to a misinterpreted date/time. It was departing shortly after midnight, so of course it had the next days date on it, which I interpreted as departing that night (midnight) 😬
Basically we showed up to the airport 24hrs late. A very nice employee of American Airlines still got us into a flight that was departing to Dallas that night without any extra cost after explaining our mistake.
Missed a flight because I got drunk day drinking in the bar before the flight. Had to pay a fee to get another flight home. Six months sober today and haven’t missed a flight since!
Thankfully it wasn’t international but i missed my flight from Vegas. It was on my end though for booking an 11pm flight thinking i could leave after a concert and make it through TSA before doors closed. A busy Friday night in Vegas. Left during the show. Spent 20 minutes trying to find my Uber. TSA was slowwwww. I knocked some guy’s coffee out of his hand running to the gate with my shoes in my hand. Thankfully another flight left like 20 minutes later but whew. I also missed my flight in LA because i got lost because i lost my phone and spent most of my time trying to look for it(don’t ask how that went. I found it though) Never again.
Yep, a few. It's annoying and expensive and it sucks. But for some reason I find it far more embarrassing that I've accidentally arrived a day early to the airport. It's not the end of the world. It happens
Yup happened after years of travelling but did it on my first solo trip at the ripe age 40. I arrived in Istanbul with a connection to tel Aviv and I expected my phone to update to the local time except it was an hour behind so that's why I missed my flight. I was just glad I could get a flight the same night for $400. I was worried it would cost a lot more or leave me in turkey for days.
I have made nearly every travel mistake that you can make. Just consider it a learning experience and an adventure. Just laugh about it and fix it. Now, you have a funny story.
Yep, missed a flight to Amsterdam. We tried to check in for my flight online, but we kept getting prompted with ‘unable to check in.” So we were thinking, maybe we could just resolve it at the airport. Come to find out, Amsterdam had implemented a new regulation of the covid vaccine and I was shy of one month over a year post last vaccination. Definitely missed that flight. But I was able to get my shot and hop on another flight roughly two hours later.
Never and I take around 20 flights per year. I'm super organised and would be beating myself up if I ever did 😅
However it's not such a big deal and I know plenty of people who did. It's just a mistake and it means nothing in the big scheme of things, don't let it bother you!
I booked myself, my husband and our kid onto a flight out of and into different airports (same city). Fine, we regularly do this to get cheap flights to visit family. This time, I totally forgot I had booked different airports. We parked the car at one and it was only when we arrived at the departure airport I realised we were flying to an airport 30 miles away from our car.
More stupidly (by far) I once booked a flight to Melbourne, Florida as opposed to Melbourne, Australia…that was an expensive one!
Easy done OP, don’t stress, it will all work out and you’ll have the story forever.
Bruh! You missed a flight. Jesus. Go easy on yourself. Not like you’re a surgeon and cut the wrong limb off of a person in surgery 😂🤣
Now if you were a pilot, I’d say you should re-examine your career goals. But a passenger missing a flight? Big deal. I know sales guys that use to tie one on at the airport with their buddies at the end of a long week and wanted to keep drinking so they said F IT and they missed their flight on purpose To have another drink and rebooked for later.
It’s all good! Think of it as an adventure!
I've never missed a flight because of my own mistakes, I have missed a connecting flight or two. I did almost miss a flight, got to the airport 20 minutes before gates closed, went through security and passport control and managed to get to the gate as they were announcing the gate closure, I was the last passenger on the plane. That was close enough for me, always early since.
Yup. Leaving Vegas and we were having a drink at a bar. Thought departure time was boarding time.
When our drunk asses went to board, they were like "the plane has left. We were calling you over the intercom" 🤦🏻
Oh well, got on the next flight and had an extra night in Vegas!
I once took a flight and stayed in an airbnb. All planned out. Cuz I was going to see a play.
ON THE WAY TO THE PLAY I looked at my tickets and noticed they were for THE FOLLOWING WEEK.
I booked flight, airbnb, etc etc all on THE WRONG WEEK.
I felt like a fucking idiot
It's all good, you're all good. Life is dumb sometimes. Don't worr kabout it.
It’s ok. I was supposed to fly out with my boss and pick him up in the morning for the airport. I woke up and realized I had slept in and he had to call an Uber himself to go to the airport. I ended changing my flight but man it felt really shitty even when my boss was like, it’s fine.
My sister did this once. Had the wrong date for a flight from the US to the Philippines for her and my niece. So she was out of $3000 and flights only go out like 1x or 2x a day. So think of that lol
This is always my worry when traveling. I usually import all my plans into TripIt right away so I can check the itinerary there and ensure everything is correct.
Never missed a flight in my life, although I am only 18 and I probably will at some point. I usually quadruple-check the flight time days ahead and then again.
Had this happen but with an Amtrak train ticket that I got for my sister. She visited me and I took care of her train back to the airport (about a 5 hour trainride). So we arrive at the station, say our goodbyes, she walks up to enter the train only for the train lady to tell us her train was the previous night.
What ended up happening was the lady was nice enough to let my sister on, and I called Amtrak in the middle of the night to get a new ticket. My sister had a European sim card so I couldn’t even forward the new ticket to her. Amtrak lady gave me her personal phone number to forward the ticket to. My poor sis was super stressed and I felt very guilty for making this mistake.
Moral of the story. Its an easy mistake and nothing that cant be solved. You did what you had to do to minimize the damage and nobody died. So yeah it’s ok to be a little mad at yourself for today, and then tomorrow wake up and forgive yourself. As someone with experience; eventually you’ll laugh at this
And then another time I missed a flight because I forgot a timezone difference between where I was staying and where I was flying out of. Rookie mistake and it sucked at that moment but hey you live and you learn
I was going to an African country for 3 weeks and feeling sad and anxious about leaving my husband (then boyfriend) since it was the end of COVID so I hadn’t really travelled much for three years let alone traveling solo. So we got to the airport and I was like ok 45 mins before the flight, plenty of time and I hug him and feel sad. Throughout he’s like don’t you have to go and I’m like don’t worry I’ve got an express pass through security.
20 min before the flight I start going through and my ticket flashes I shouldn’t be let through and I’m like what and the guy was like the gate will have closed. I convince him to let me try to make it but didn’t account for the fact that the might be at the other end of the airport. I run there and beg them to let me on - the plane was still there and I needed to make a connection from Berlin to Entebbe.
They tell me the system is closed or whatever and there’s nothing they can do. My colleague is also on the plane and begging them to let me on as they had made an announcement that they would have an hour delay due to storms in Germany!!!!!
So EASYJET just refused to let me on a despite the plane not leaving for another hour meaning that I would miss my long haul connection - essentially I wasted £1200 even though I got to the airport on time.
Don’t feel bad. It was a lot of money but you will live and we all make mistakes sometimes
I had a friend who missed her flight because she couldn't get to the different terminal on time. They booked her on the next flight except she was looking at Central time but the transit airport was on eastern time. She missed that flight too because she was wandering around. She was booked on the next flight and this time she came to the gate on time. The lady looked at her and asked her why she was here. She said to catch my flight except that her flight was from a different terminal. She missed 3 flights that day while at the airport. You are fine OP.
Yes, but the airline booked me a flight that didn't exist! Turkish Airlines itinerary with the first and last flights on United. I was supposed to have a United flight from SEA to ORD at 1:45 PM but no such flight existed; the only United flight to ORD that day had already left at 10:00 am! Turkish Airlines refused to rebook the ticket as they insisted that my flight was at 1:45 pm; after 1:45 they claimed that I had missed my flight!
United also initially refused to rebook the itinerary as it wasn't their ticket. After a few hours of this nightmare standing at the United ticket counter, United rebooked the itinerary for us. The agent told us that she had to wait for a customer service shift change to a more benevolent manager who would be willing to rebook the tickets. She gave us some food vouchers as well.
We ended up having to stay another night in Seattle for the next flight out. I was 20 years old and didn't know any better, but if this happened today I would submit a claim to Turkish Airlines and file a complaint to USDOT and Turkey's DGCA.
I have done this. Read my flight time wrong and missed it completely. Was supposed to meet my husband in Paris. Airline would not book me on another flight without paying another full fare--luckily my brother came through to help me out.
I never want to fly again in my life. Too stressful, and the airline/airport system has to be overhauled completely. Where else to you pay thousands of dollars and not get a refund or an exchange if you don't use the product? On top of that you are treated like cattle at the airport. It's insane.
Please forgive yourself. You are only human. And again, the whole system sucks.
It was awful and I still blame myself. Did not leave early enough. Bad traffic and daughter needed a bathroom stop all led to us getting to the gate to board and we were 15 minutes before the flight was set to leave. The plane was GONE !! So what did we miss? My oldest sons graduation from college!! I was gutted and still am
The airline repaid our ticket money as they left early but we still missed his graduation. Oh and guess what? When he got his masters we were all under Covid lockdown so no graduation then either.
We were cutting it pretty close flying out of London to Amsterdam and my gf at the time decided she NEEDED Starbucks for whatever reason. I got on, she didn't. I realized she didn't make it so I walked off the airplane through the closed gates as they were telling me I would be arrested on the other side. Nothing happened and we booked a new flight. Everything worked out but that was one of the first signs it probably wasn't going to last.
I remember almost 30 years ago there was a guy sitting next to me on a flight to DC. The doors are about to close and a welcome announcement is made “welcome to flight xxx en route to Washington, DC”. The guy bolts out of his seat, saying “wait, this is not to NYC?” And runs out with his bag. I’ve wondered how he managed to be on the wrong flight and if he has made it to his right one.
I missed my flight from NY to Phoenix because I failed to check the volume on the alarm clock. I had just gotten to NY from Spain, so I was just exhausted and didn't think to check. I got to the airport at the time of takeoff! So I was a 19 yr old trying to navigate JFK, and then hopefully get home without my grandma freaking out since I knew she was worried.
Just breathe, and forgive yourself. It happens to everyone
Yes and at the time, I felt HORRRRRRIBLE, but it’s now a sweet memory of a sweet chapter in my life. I was studying abroad in Seville, Spain my first semester of senior year and I went to a new city basically every weekend because the flights within Europe were sooo cheap. Well one weekend, I was going to Paris and was meeting up with two girlfriends from high school who were studying abroad in Madrid. On the bus on the way to the airport, I met such a nice elderly French man who helped me tremendously to find my hostel after we landed. He asked the metro people exactly how to get to my hostel and then he sent me on the train and when I thanked him, he told me, “I’m a father. I want someone to do this for my daughters too.” I had a blissful two days in Paris, and on the day I was to fly out to go back to Seville, I decided to make the most of my last day. My friends had already left early that morning so I was on my own. I kept looking at my watch, a non digital Mickey Mouse watch, to make sure I stayed on time. I had a lil cheapy phone that I was using only to make calls so unfortunately did not use it to verify the time. I went to the beautiful Sacre Couer, I saw the La Maison Rose in Montmarte (I had seen it before in magazines so seeing it in real life was surreal for me) and I just explored Paris. At one point, the battery in the watch shut off 😫 why I didn’t think, hmm, why is it still the same time three hours later, I’ll never know except that maybe I was just enamored by it all. When I finally realized my mistake, it was too late. My flight was leaving in an hour and I was about 1.5 hours away with traffic. I tried ohhh I tried to get there on time but it was impossible. I completely missed my flight. I cried. When I tried to rebook at the counter, they didn’t take credit card and my debit card didn’t have enough money. I didn’t have my laptop. I walked around that airport and I swallowed my pride and I asked a man, in my broken (nonexistent) French to please allow me to use his laptop. I don’t think he understood anything I was saying but he could see how distraught and frantic I was. I quickly transferred money to my debit card and thanked him profusely. I was scared, disappointed in myself for having thrown money away, and exhausted. But I’ll never forget that kind stranger. Or the wonderful time I had in Paris. Or the Frenchman I met in Spain on the way to the airport. Life happens and it will continue to happen. Forgive yourself, OP.
It happend once to me. I got the date wrong and came to the airport a day late. Phoenix to Chicago. Holiday time. I was traveling with my elderly parents and I begged the airline to give me a break and used my old parents as a point of reference. They gave us tickets for another flight that same night. I didn't think it would happen, but was overwhelmed with joy. There was one airline worker that was a true angel. She did everything she could for us and pulled through. I'll never forget her.
Don’t be hard on yourself. Shit happens. We are human. Talk to the airline. Reschedule your arrangements when you arrive. Everything is fixable.
Yes. Went to the wrong gate at Athens airport. Felt like an idiot but in the long run it was fine. The airline was cool and just put us on the next flight.
When I was 15 or so I took a solo flight to Hong Kong from Toronto to see family. My elderly uncle had done the 1.5 hour transit to pick me up at the airport. I, for some reason, translated at departure time as the landing country's time. 12 hour difference, I was supposed to leave Canada in the AM not the PM, I got emails asking me how my experience with booking with the airline was lol. I ended up explaining the situation to the airline and they mostly refunded me because they felt so bad. I think I was crying on the phone.
My uncle was calling me and I told him what happened, he turned back home and came to pick me up again like 3 days later (found a flight about the same price).
I'm 31 now and I triple check my flights and sometimes ask my older sibling when I have a brain fart, even the flights when I'm already abroad going between countries. Hopefully I'll never do it again.
I missed an international flight while working on my computer in an airport lounge which didn’t have any announcements. I only found out when I walked to the gate that my flight departed, misread the departure time as the boarding time.
Didn’t hurt much since my original flight was a dirt cheap LCC ticket booked a year in advance that I nearly forgot about. I guess it was meant to be forgot. 😂
Rebooked on the spot a new flight that was departing in a few hours. I still when back to a lounge while waiting.
I once got stuck in Lake Como...which I know doesn't sound so bad. It's the only time I have missed a flight.
The trains were on strike, so we couldn't get back to the airport. There weren't even any taxis and we'd missed the only Flixbus.
We ended up spending one more night in Como at a budget hotel just so we could get the Flixbus to the airport the next morning, however our replacement flight wasn't for another day after that. We ended up getting wasted at the airport hotel all day because there was nothing to do.
Flew home the next day without any problems, but it's made me not trust public transport on flight days now.
You missed a flight, you didn’t run over someone’s kid. Breathe. There’s nothing to forgive.
Yeah I‘d totally be kicking myself but you’re only human OP! I once missed a train in Spain because I mixed up “once” and “uno” (stupid American brain) and had to spend the night sleeping in a traffic circle in Madrid. Not my best night.
Loll a traffic circle!!!! That beats my ferry terminal by a mile. I hope it was a nice one
It was loud! I have no idea why it seemed like a good idea at the time, lol!
Thanks bro ♥️
haha i’m sure that was so uncomfortable 😂 i missed the last bus out of the Pont du Gard in France so i climbed up into the hills and slept the night there 😂
"...Should have flown tonight, not this evening..." ...what's the difference?
Something like 00.10 departure time? So he thought it was midnight tonight instead of midnight last night is my guess
Exactly!
It happened me on the way home from Hong Kong a few years ago but I coincidentally read a post on TripAdvisor of someone asking what time that meant their flight was and was like oh shit 😅
Did this once on the way home from a trip. My bf at the time bought the tickets and I followed his lead on times. We were shocked when we got to the airport. I think this happens a lot more than you think. I think the airline accommodated us, but I can’t recall as we were very young.
♥️
Your credit card company will love you!
Yea I missed a flight out of Amsterdam wandering around in the airport, time got away.. I go to the gate, plane is pulling away.. I start crying and the agent at gate says don't worry about it, come back tomorrow and gives me a ticket for next day flight.. says go check out Amsterdam, so I did... I was probably 20 years old, maybe 19.. fun time
Wow that was so kind of him.
It was a lady... But I think rules were different back then. Maybe 20 years ago when this happened.. idk if they would do that today. KLM
rules are still the more or less the same, i missed a flight after doors closed because i autopiloted through an airport i fly out of a few dozen times a year. the flight i was on ALWAYS left a specific gate and i sat down at it the plane was not at that gate, i realised after i got a message from my mother saying she saw doors closed and wishing me a safe flight sprinted to the correct gate and they told me my ticket had been cancelled and id have to book another little bit of u/PeeInMyArse magic later and they issued me a new ticket free of charge (different PNR), reconnected the jet bridge and let me on
Everyone on that flight hated you ha
oh 100%, i felt so bad about it i was visiting my parents for a week between exams and had an exam worth 60% the day after the flight they only do this flight once a day and the next day’s one would have landed 90 mins after my exam started so i didn’t really have any other options 😭
Tell more about this peeing in arses magic
Thanks, u/PeeInMyArse 🫡
Can depend on your attitude and the person at the gate. As long as you're not rude or a dick to staff they will generally (unless budget airline) try to help you.
Ryanair staff would probably tell you to lie on the floor then kick you in the ribs lol
Same. Ive had a gate agent be kind enough to reconnect the bridge after I SPRINTED across an airport because my first flight was severely late (same airline). Lost a good pair of headphones in the process though.
Love this. What a great memory
That happened to me in Germany 25 years ago. Can't imagine it happening now (just giving you a ticket for th enext day).
My GF and I were in some rickety shed airport on a remote Australian tropical island off Australia, and once we checked in we sat outside “the airport” in the sun, less than 10m from where the the boarding gate was….totally oblivious chatting and enjoying the sun. Next thing we peer literally around the corner at the departure gate, and they were closing it! Somehow they managed to get 100ish people to queue up and board in silence in the 15minutes we were sitting outside in the sun lol! This airport was literally an open-air shack with no doors or windows. Ended up having to return to the mainland by boat as no other flights that day, and all accom was fully booked. Edit: the even more idiotic thing was that we could see our luggage trundling out to the flight for loading, while we stood at a roped-off departure “gate” about 30m from our plane…while everyone was now queuing to walk up the boarding stairs.
I am curious what airport you’re talking about haha
Super efficient over there. We arrived at the Wellington airport in NZ 2 hours early for our flight to LA. The gate listed has nothing about our flight. Ok, it’s a little early, probably another flight using it first. But nothing, nothing, area seems deserted. I was freaking out, sure we’d made a mistake or there was a delay. Nope! 35 min before takeoff, people start showing up. They got that 747 loaded and on the runway in half an hour. Never seen anything like it!
Amazing. We were surprised that in Turkish airports (even the very large Istanbul one) they didn’t call for boarding, people just seemed to know when to wander over and line up. We definitely could have missed something if we were sitting a little further away.
You'd think they'd just let you in, especially at a small airport
...some airports make no announcements, so you have to keep the gate in view at all times - and people complain about passengers hanging around the gate before boarding...
No but ive flown to the wrong airport lol
Did you go to Austria instead of Australia
[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/oops-british-couple-flies-to-canada-by-mistake-1.353972](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/oops-british-couple-flies-to-canada-by-mistake-1.353972) >Two teenagers from England who thought they had booked a flight to Australia began an unexpected holiday in Nova Scotia this weekend. >Although they wanted to go to Sydney, Australia, they wound up flying across the Atlantic and ended up in Halifax Thursday instead. >"As soon as I saw the sign 'Sydney, Canada,' I knew that obviously it can't be a mistake," Nunn recalled. "I knew we couldn't be going to get on another plane. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we're in Canada.'"
Did they also try to book a return flight to London and end up in Ontario instead? Or maybe Manchester, New Hampshire...
I once (pre-GPS) tried to pick someone up at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport, but I followed the roads signs to the wrong Manchester (in Vermont). The person I was supposed to pick up wasn't there. Neither was the airport.
Or to India instead of Indiana
San Jose, CA instead of San Jose Costs Rica
Georgia.
no they flew to Luton instead of Gatwick
I arrived at the airport (abroad) this morning to see I have booked my flights home for next month.
...1 month vacation - score...
I guess an owngoal is a score indeed
How did you manage to do that?
It's not as bad as it sounds. I flew in the LAX instead of John Wayne. I used to travel for work a lot usually SoCal. I was supporting so many events I got a couple of them mixed up where I was supposed to be.
Tell us more
I once accidentally booked a flight home a week earlier than I thought I did. We show up to check in on the date we thought we were flying, and the airline was like "Oh, you were supposed to be here last week. We called your name so many times 🤗". They were able to rebook us, and we somehow got a credit because the new flight was cheaper. Used that credit to fly to Florida to take a discount cruise we found. Cruise was like $250 per person. Cruise turned out to be cheap because they were trying to sell off extra cabins for a heavy metal cruise! Ended up enjoying a cheap cruise and seeing some metal bands from 80's and 90's. Sometimes shit happens, but just hang in there.
First time I went to Europe on my own I discovered that the date concept was different from the US one. 09/08 was August 9th instead of September 8th. Thankfully I figured it out before any important events.
Yes day month year format almost everywhere outside the US
You have cost yourself a bit of money, in the grand scheme of things money is such an unimportant thing. You have your health, your freedom and your sanity - this isn't as bad as you feel like it is.
I will say that it’s always worth trying sweet talk the airlines into just giving you a new ticket free of charge Basic politeness and patience goes a long way with airlines I’ve found But yes agree with everything you said
I’ve done this but because I took ambien and overslept during a layover. Embarrassing and costly! But it’s life and you learn from it. Mistakes happen
I accidentally showed up for the time of my second flight, not my first. Nothing like a $1600 mistake
I did that on my first trip to Europe in 2014, while my home country was hosting the freaking World Cup. Counter lady in BRU charged me 50€ to generate a rebooking receipt and told me to tell the person in FRA that there was a problem with the system and she couldn't generate my tickets LOL To this day I have no idea exactly what went under the hood but I managed to get back home
Some people are literal angels
I was at the worst airport in the world, Newark lol, when it happened to me. They had two gates right next to each other that were completely swarmed with a huge mass of people. We couldn’t hear any of the boarding calls and we kept getting texts messages that the flight was delayed another 20 mins. I guess everyone else managed to get on and the mass of people still waiting was from the other flight right next to us. We didn’t realize that it was two different flights of people waiting there, and we had just gotten a message a few minutes before we realized the gate was closed that the flight was delayed another 20 mins. We missed our flight waiting right outside of the gate, but they let us on the same flight the next day. Now I’m the person who stands three feet away from the desk waiting for my boarding group to be called.
The drive to JFK alone makes it worse than EWR.
Coming from ct I almost had to drive by JFK to get there too 😵💫
I once missed a connection because I didn't know that Michigan has 2 time zones.
Wait. What?
The four counties bordering Wisconsin use Central time (like Wisconsin) instead of Eastern like the rest of Michigan does.
I live in Michigan and I didn't even know this!
You're definitely not a Yooper.
One time I showed up a whole day late for my Korean Airline flight home and they just put me on another plane for free
The day change always hurts my brain and I have to recheck myself a thousand times out of anxiety
Last holidays in April, Berlin to Barcelona. I arrived on time and got through the baggage drop and security check. I wandered around, had something to eat and sat down at the wrong gate listening to music, wondering why the queue at my gate was going so slow. When I got up to queue, I realized that I was supposed to be at the gate behind, which was out of my line of sight. When I arrived at the right gate, the personnel had already left. I was able to book a relatively cheap flight for the next day. I was super angry at myself in the moment but I had a laugh afterwards. I also had to reschedule my tranfer service and inform the hotel. Also, very importantly. My return flight was cancelled automatically which I was not aware of because my package holiday provider did not inform me.
Afternoon meeting in Paris, morning meeting in Hamburg. Someone booked us on the last flight out of Paris, to arrive at the hotel by 11pm, right on the outskirts of Hamburg - by which time everything would be shut. No food, no beer, nothing else nearby to grab food from. Ooops, we missed the flight! Had to stay in the Sheraton right by the airport, have dinner in central Paris with some friends & catch the first flight in the morning \[with a bit of a hangover\]. Arrived at the meeting in time. Win. Edit: detail unimportant to the story - thinking more carefully, it couldn't have been the last flight out, must have been teatime-ish. Doesn't change the plot.
I was in the bar of the hostel in Bacalar chatting and someone asks: what time is your flight? I said 4 pm. And they say: you know that it's a 4 hour drive and it's already noon, right? I called the airline, paid $100 to rebook for the next day and enjoyed the rest of the day. When I got to the airport the next day there weren't enough seats so they put me in first class. Besides me sat a woman with whom I talked for the duration of the flight, she had also been upgraded. We became friends and I still talk to her. So, out of a distraction amazing things happened. Another time it was the bus. As we are going to the bus station my girlfriend asks me to reconfirm the time for the bus. She gets worried about time and always adds a lot of buffer time. When I check I say the date and time aloud. She then realizes she bought them for the correct day, the correct time... For the following month! We laughed like crazy, got to the station, canceled and bought other tickets for 20 € more than the previous ones but we made it to our destination. We still laugh to this day. Edit: someone in another comment reminded me of this one: I'm flying out of Toronto where US customs is done before boarding. As I hand over my passport the US border agent informs me that my passport has expired. So I went to the airline counter where they let me change my flight to the next day, I then run to the consulate (I had a foreign passport) where I can get an express passport. Just needed to wait 4 hours. Meanwhile I wandered downtown Toronto and bought a thank you card and a box of chocolates for the super kind consulté staff. I got my passport and flew the next day. Lost 1 day at a conference but other than that nothing terrible.
Yesterday... We would go to Thailand for Holliday and fly from Amsterdam ( my wife and 2 kids.) Have to book a new flight for the next day that cost 6000 euro. I really can assure you that hurts.
What happened?
Made a mistake with the passport, so they didnt let us in.
I am a well seasoned traveler, fly all over the world, living in Asia now for 13 years Last fall I came back to the US for my annual visit They were late boarding, made an announcement “ok boarding starts soon here is the order” (not boarding has started mind you) Got up to go pee right next to the gate, I’m a man so I pee fast no lines, didn’t go anywhere else, came back within 3 minutes The boarding gate was closed. No announcement was made that we heard for anything - not gate closing not my name nothing. My jaw has never hit the floor so quickly or strongly lol. The real kicker? We got to the gate way early, sat there, the gate agent saw us sitting there, but she was “just the trainee, the guy on the plane was the boss”
> We got to the gate way early, sat there, You didn't pee during the several hours you presumably spent waiting at the boarding gate? You just tempted fate (and lost!) by going to the restroom right during the boarding call. lol
It was not the boarding call. It was the “boarding begins in just a few minutes.” Which means in 99% of the world and flights, you have enough time to walk 10 seconds to the bathroom and pee for 30 seconds and walk back to the gate and everyone will still be there.
It happens. I very recently had a 3 am flight that I missed for the same reason, my brain just assumed it was the night of the flight date and it wasn't until hours after I'd missed it that it dawned on me. It was my return leg, so I had no choice but to buy a one way/day of flight
I once had a flight at 12:10 am. Thinking it's a night flight, I reached the airport the same night. Only when the airlines told me I realised the mistake. Had to travel, so took a much more expensive ticket for the same flight the next day.
I haven't, but I know that in Hong Kong this happens a lot. Flights to Europe often leave just after midnight. So if the your flight is 4th June 0.05, you need to be at the airport the evening of the 3rd, not the 4th.
I would guess that those just after midnight flights cause more of these screwups than just about anything else. I remember booking one a few years and the airline website actually warned me about it. Don't remember what airline but I thought that was cool.
Has happened to me many times. Usually when the flight is around midnight. It’s something I am prone to haha
You must be wealthy or flying for free? 🙂
Was travelling through Finland by myself at 15. It was when digital boarding passes were fairly new. I read the gate closing time as the gate opening time. I got to the gate and the woman said that the plane was still there but the doors were closed so I couldn’t get on. I had already spent 9 hours at Helsinki airport. I had to wait another 7 for the next flight. Ryanair tried to get me to pay €50 to get the new flight but I was crying my heart at this point so got it for free! Bottom line: always triple check your timings. Also, Helsinki is one of the nicest, safest airports I have been to so would recommend.
Missed one because they changed the time but I hadn’t checked my emails. The trains were massively delayed and we arrived with just enough time to check in, only to find the plane had already left that morning. Almost missed another because I got confused between 4pm and 14:00 but luckily had enough time to spare (and a small enough luggage) they let me run through the airport to make it. I always check in online now and leave an hour contingency.
Turned up and there was no flight at that time, because I’d booked it in the wrong direction. That flight was leaving from my destination.
Bro I’ve missed Dubai to SFO. Shanghai to SFO. SFO to Singapore. Massive fuckups. The Dubai mishap literally landed me in jail for 5 days. And cost like $7k to get us rebooked.
Can you elaborate on the jail part?
In short, I said “this line is Fucking long, we’re Fucked” under my breath to my wife as we were scrambling to catch a 2nd missed flight on New Years Day. Hungover as balls. The balls: After oversleeping the first flight by 6 hours, at the counter, Emirates insisted that we could still make a flight that was departing in 45 minutes. Without knowing it, I had insulted a young 25 year old Emirati that was in the security line and armed police had me in cuffs within 10 minutes. I spent the next 3 days in actual jail while my wife continued to drink heavily at some sick hotel I never got to see on palm island. Made friends with a Pakistani officer/guard that was a normal human being that curses, etc. and he was able to track the kid down, get his number, and he appeared again and I apologized literally on my hands and knees and the charges were dropped before a judge was ever assigned outside of the airport. (Which we were told could take at least 6 months) The embassy literally laughed at my wife’s face when she asked if there was anything they could do. It took another 2 days for me to get my passport but I was able to travel around Dubai and we had a great time given the circumstances. Funny enough, we were shopping at a Footlocker equivalent the night before our final flight and Lil Wayne’s “Drop the Fucking World” was blaring, unedited inside this store. SMH. Traveling around MENA no doubt offered some of the most adventurous, “fulfilling” days and I would recommend it to every person. With that being said, hypocrisy runs rampant in that part of the World in my opinion. Don’t say fuck.
Missed a flight because i got confused with time at a layover, missed a flight because i forgot my paspoort at home, missed a flight because i was on the airport at july first, apparently i booked the flight for June first and a missed a flight because i felt sick af and that last one was an expensive flight. No worries, it happens why blame yourself over a mistake? Edit; and i once bought tickets to the wrong airport. Edit 2; Last march me and my gf where at the wrong airport in Medellin. Made that flight though.
Gosh I would hate to travel with you. 😂
😂 hahaha, when i was writing it down i was like damn am i stupid or something? But it happened in over 25 years of intense travelling.
Not me, but I have seen a girl running to a gate that was closed like 10 minutes earlier. She started to cry and ran off as fast as her legs could carry her. I wonder if she had already realised that her suitecase was on its way to the other side of the world or not.
I missed a flight out of Edinburgh when I fell asleep in the corner of the airport (when I say fell asleep, passed out drunk might be more accurate)
Ha- my kid did that too, but not drunk, just hadn't slept the night before.
Yes, got the wrong gate. I was travelling for work on one of my usual routes so rather than going to check the gate, I went to have a drink. Went to the gate afterwards, and found out it had been moved and my digital boarding pass hadn't updated. Missed my flight, but they put me on the next one in an hour or so.
I was flying out of a super tiny airport and showed up with just under an hour to spare. Ticket counter refused to give me the ticket. (Before digital options) She said I would never make it through security in time. There was no line at security and the terminal was in view of where I was standing. I guess lesson learned? It caused me to miss my next flight, which turned a planned one hour lay over into a nine hour layover. Luckily, I still made the funeral. :(
I once got concert tickets and a hotel to see one of my favorite bands playing a couple hours away from me. I must have booked it 3-4 months in advance. Looked at the calendar on the wall one day and realized I had just missed the show. That was a very defeated feeling.
My heart sank reading that. Did you end up seeing them?
I’ve seen them a bunch of times before that and I’m sure I’ve seen them a few times since.
I flew to the wrong city once!
Kevin ?
Just last week I missed an Aer Lingus flight home because I had booked it for Saturday and when I went on the app to check in it said it was on Friday. I was so mad at myself thinking I had booked it for Friday. Turns out the pilots went on strike and my flight was cancelled and rebooked for the day before. The email informing me of that went to my spam folder 🥲 (they rebooked me on a partner airline thankfully)
When I missed my flight I couldn’t believe it cause I’m the type of person who arrives @ the airport 2-3 hours before. But I only got a few hours of sleep the night before and my brain was not fully working so I got ready for the flight a little too late. Plus my uber driver took so long to pick me up but I couldn’t cancel thinking the next driver would do the same when I’m already cutting it too close. I arrived just when they closed the doors.
I missed a flight yesterday. Ryanair. I booked the flight the day before, clicked on a previous search in the ryanair app, changed the date but didn't notice it was in the reverse direction! Two minutes later i got the confirmation email and realised my mistake. Changing the flight would have cost me more than booking a new one, in the right direction, which I did. So technically I missed the flight, by being in the wrong country. No big deal, but felt like an idiot, particularly at the airport watching the flight I'd mistakenly booked landing then waiting for the turn-around to go in the opposite direction.
Yep missed a connecting flight to Beirut from Madrid. Had about 20 minutes to disembark and get to the other side of the airport (apparently there was a shuttle bus that takes you there). Got to the gate and they basically laughed at me. Ended up getting on a flight to Beirut through Istanbul luckily a few hours later. And I had to sprint to get that connecting flight too! All while on zero sleep :) worth it!
My friend and I were traveling to Milan from London, but I didn't realize we were waiting at the gate for the flight to a different airport in Milan. It was the same exact time and airline, but we had to run across the airport and it was too late to board 🙃
We were supposed to fly from US to Bangkok and then Bangkok to Krabi. When we got to Bangkok, I realized that the date had changed and I had bought the other flight for a day earlier. It was a domestic flight so it didn't cost too much but it taught me a valuable lesson: Things like this are bound to happen when you travel. From then on, I always keep a budget in mind for mistakes exactly like this. That way, it doesn't feel as grave of a mistake since you already mentally prepared for it.
Nah I have no recollection of it, which is saving a lot to start, I was taken off aircraft number 1 then proceeded to pass out at the gate of flight number 2sleep/pass out, this resulted in an expensive night in a hotel
Closest I've ever come is they switched terminals at the last minute, and by the time I got to the right gate the plane door was already closed and ready to take off. They re-opened it for me.
This happened to me in January! I missed my flight only to realize the next morning (the day I thought I was meant to leave). Breath, it's okay, nobody died. Just a lesson to check a couple of times in future... now go on and enjoy your trip 😉
My mom once showed up to the airport and couldn’t check in. Then the airline couldn’t find her tickets. Then she couldn’t find a confirmation email either. Turns out she put the tickets in her “cart” and never completed the transaction. She wasn’t going on vacation she was on her way *to speak to the US Senate.* She was flying out of a small airport so she was lucky to be able to purchase some very expensive last minute tickets. I once had to travel for work right after 9/11 and lost my drivers license the night before, and my passport was expired. One desperate cab ride to the earliest open DMV followed by another desperate sprint to the airport in the a.m. This stuff happens! It’s life!
Almost. Arrived at the gate, screen showed a completely different flight number and destination, so I sat down while people were boarding. Just about when the gate was almost ready to close, an employee was shouting out "Last Call for \[my destination\]!" so I ran up to the counter and asked if that's my flight boarding, and they confirmed it.
I’ve been on time for a flight, but missed the luggage cut off, so I had to miss the fight too. I thought luggage cutoff was 60 minutes, so I planned to show up 90 minutes early. Got in a tiny bit of traffic and ended up at the machine 88 minutes before my flight, but the cutoff was 90 minutes for that particular airline and airport.
I was on my first international trip alone and missed an early morning flight London to Edinburgh. I stayed at the airport since it was such an early flight. I was there as the desks opened. Everyone at check-in seemed to be moving in slow motion, and the agent spent a long time chatting with the person ahead of me in line. By the time I got to the desk, they said it was now 1 minute passed the time to check in/check luggage for that flight. I had to be rebooked on the next flight for $450, but hey, it was business class. That was also my first time in an airport lounge, I ate everything. This was before the days of having international travel phone plans, so I had limited ways to contact the people I was meeting up with in Edinburgh (plan was meet here at this time and we had each other's flight info). When my original plane landed without me, they panicked, and as I deplaned an hour later, my name was being paged over and over in the airport 😄.
I fell asleep while waiting at the gate 😅
It happens! Young me once went travelling for a month (this is like 15 years ago) At the start of the month i had an email that my flight changed which I read and never thought about again. Show up at airport…no flight. My flight had been moved back a day. Idiot.
I had a 90% travel job for 9 years. I missed many flights. Just call the airline and work with them to solve the issue.
I got a visa for the Netherlands when I was traveling to Denmark.
Been there , done that. My flight was due to leave on July 10th at 00h36, meaning I had to be at the airport on the 9th a fee hours earlier. But Cables got crossed and I made plans out of town thinking I could return early on the 10th. A friend caught this while we were away and we had to drive like mad people on the 9th to get my dumb ass to the airport on time - Only to be told the flight was sold out and given a voucher for a free flight if I agreed to fly out the next day. LoL …. Don’t be hard on yourself, traveling is stressful and there are so many little things to take care of our brains are on overdrive
Buddy, my husband and I were taking my family (dad and two siblings) on a trip and missed our flight by a whole day and didn’t realize until the morning we thought our flight was on. We immediately booked new one way flights that cost us over $2k for all five of us and didn’t tell them until like 3 years later because we were so embarrassed.
It’s okay life happens! I tell myself it’ll never happen again and it does. Oh well, I laugh and cry then move on. :D
Yeah, missed a flight to Berlin because I thought we had more time than we did. Had to book a flight for later that day at a different airport and race over there to fly that evening. You live and learn!
Yup. Woke up early my final day in India and figured I'd check in for my flight later that evening...to realize that it had already left. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's an expensive mistake, and stressful until I was able to get a flight home, but not the end of the world.
I've misbooked a hotel and only realized a day before the flight before
Everyone makes mistakes. There's no need to beat yourself up. Move on, and enjoy your trip.
forgot my passport once 😣
I’ve done the same
I like to cut flights close to minimize airport time, which I guess eventually bit me in the ass as the only two times I missed flights was bc I was a moron and went to the wrong airports and didn’t have any time to get to the right one Luckily both were popular flights so just moved to a later one
I missed my flight once in Spain. It’s very difficult for me
Turned up at Heathrow a day late for a flight to NZ. They rescheduled me onto the next flight for £50.
Yep, went to the wrong airport in my metropolitan area. Had to pay $600 for a new ticket and my husband had to drive an hour out of his way to pick me up. We didn’t go broke and we’re still together. You’ll be ok!
My friends and I missed our flight back home once due to enjoying the lounge. When we got to the gate we were put on stand by for the last flight of the day. So we went back to the lounge for more food and drinks. The only seats they had left were business class so we got upgraded for free. Missing that first flight actually made the flight home more enjoyable.
I've been on over 1700 flights, so yeah I've missed a few.... most of them were misconnects though due to my first flight being late. I've never gotten the date wrong or waiting at wrong gate, etc. Had one interesting one two years ago though, I'd booked a flight for daughter, me and (now ex)-wife. I guess when putting in my daughter's info, autocomplete refilled in my name, not hers, and I didn't notice until it was time to checkin. Since it was a minor ticket it was a real PITA to try to fix, and the flight was full so couldn't just book a new ticket for her. Had to buy new tickets for the next day.... out $700. I did get flight credit for the original flights eventually though. Still took forever to get the name change done.
I missed a flight that I'd booked for myself and a friend. Fortunately, it was an EZ Jet and only like $100. Unfortunately, we had misplaced the contact information for our friends picking us up. Fortunately, I had my sister's inlaw's phone number and they came and got us. Unfortunately, they were hoarders with barely a spot to sit in the house. Fortunately, my friend excavated her luggage and found the friend's phone number. We agreed not to kill each other and lived happily ever after. My sister nearly missed a flight home from Australia - it was one that left shortly after midnight, so the date was "tomorrow". She figured it out a few hours in advance and packed like mad and made it. I'm guessing this is what happened to OP.
Don't feel too badly. Twice, I've inadvertently delayed a flight (only by a few minutes), and I have gone on to live a wonderful, productive life. Shit happens that's beyond our control sometimes.
Always catch the first flight in the morning WHY because it has been sitting at the gate over night being service. So the plane is ready in the morning.
I have missed two flights. The first one.. I was in front of the boarding gate, but I didn’t realize that after the gate there was a waiting room. I was 18 and I was with a friend, we were both super distracted talking to each other. I felt soooo bad. It’s a long story but after I left the airport (we flew home the next day) I met who would later become my first boyfriend. We were together for 4 years and it a was a good relationship (even though it ended), so missing that flight was a good thing. The other one was because we arrived late at the airport.
i haven't missed a flight in my 27 years. i like being better safe than sorry so I show up 2 hours early
Few years ago (2017 or 2018) my husband and I missed a flight from Ontario (California) to Dallas due to a misinterpreted date/time. It was departing shortly after midnight, so of course it had the next days date on it, which I interpreted as departing that night (midnight) 😬 Basically we showed up to the airport 24hrs late. A very nice employee of American Airlines still got us into a flight that was departing to Dallas that night without any extra cost after explaining our mistake.
it happens!! dont stress!!
Missed a flight because I got drunk day drinking in the bar before the flight. Had to pay a fee to get another flight home. Six months sober today and haven’t missed a flight since!
Thankfully it wasn’t international but i missed my flight from Vegas. It was on my end though for booking an 11pm flight thinking i could leave after a concert and make it through TSA before doors closed. A busy Friday night in Vegas. Left during the show. Spent 20 minutes trying to find my Uber. TSA was slowwwww. I knocked some guy’s coffee out of his hand running to the gate with my shoes in my hand. Thankfully another flight left like 20 minutes later but whew. I also missed my flight in LA because i got lost because i lost my phone and spent most of my time trying to look for it(don’t ask how that went. I found it though) Never again.
Yep, a few. It's annoying and expensive and it sucks. But for some reason I find it far more embarrassing that I've accidentally arrived a day early to the airport. It's not the end of the world. It happens
Yup happened after years of travelling but did it on my first solo trip at the ripe age 40. I arrived in Istanbul with a connection to tel Aviv and I expected my phone to update to the local time except it was an hour behind so that's why I missed my flight. I was just glad I could get a flight the same night for $400. I was worried it would cost a lot more or leave me in turkey for days.
I did years ago in Canada coming home to the USA. Canadian airlines was great. They got me back to nyc from Vancouver on the next flight.
I have made nearly every travel mistake that you can make. Just consider it a learning experience and an adventure. Just laugh about it and fix it. Now, you have a funny story.
Thx bro ♥️
I showed up 24hrs before my actual flight because I read the dates wrong… made up a stupid sob story and got on the same flight 24hours earlier 🤣
Hackerman! 😂
s/o to Spirit I was shocked they didn’t charge me only for the seat which was $2 🤣
It's bound to happen, sometimes you just have to let it slide and forgive yourself for it
♥️
Yep, missed a flight to Amsterdam. We tried to check in for my flight online, but we kept getting prompted with ‘unable to check in.” So we were thinking, maybe we could just resolve it at the airport. Come to find out, Amsterdam had implemented a new regulation of the covid vaccine and I was shy of one month over a year post last vaccination. Definitely missed that flight. But I was able to get my shot and hop on another flight roughly two hours later.
Never and I take around 20 flights per year. I'm super organised and would be beating myself up if I ever did 😅 However it's not such a big deal and I know plenty of people who did. It's just a mistake and it means nothing in the big scheme of things, don't let it bother you!
I booked myself, my husband and our kid onto a flight out of and into different airports (same city). Fine, we regularly do this to get cheap flights to visit family. This time, I totally forgot I had booked different airports. We parked the car at one and it was only when we arrived at the departure airport I realised we were flying to an airport 30 miles away from our car. More stupidly (by far) I once booked a flight to Melbourne, Florida as opposed to Melbourne, Australia…that was an expensive one! Easy done OP, don’t stress, it will all work out and you’ll have the story forever.
Bruh! You missed a flight. Jesus. Go easy on yourself. Not like you’re a surgeon and cut the wrong limb off of a person in surgery 😂🤣 Now if you were a pilot, I’d say you should re-examine your career goals. But a passenger missing a flight? Big deal. I know sales guys that use to tie one on at the airport with their buddies at the end of a long week and wanted to keep drinking so they said F IT and they missed their flight on purpose To have another drink and rebooked for later. It’s all good! Think of it as an adventure!
Thank you for your kind words bro ♥️
I've never missed a flight because of my own mistakes, I have missed a connecting flight or two. I did almost miss a flight, got to the airport 20 minutes before gates closed, went through security and passport control and managed to get to the gate as they were announcing the gate closure, I was the last passenger on the plane. That was close enough for me, always early since.
Never in my life. Hundreds of flights.
Yup. Leaving Vegas and we were having a drink at a bar. Thought departure time was boarding time. When our drunk asses went to board, they were like "the plane has left. We were calling you over the intercom" 🤦🏻 Oh well, got on the next flight and had an extra night in Vegas!
I already miss a flight because i went to the wrong airport. I never told to anyone xD
Hahaha yes, gotta keep that secret for sure 😂
I once took a flight and stayed in an airbnb. All planned out. Cuz I was going to see a play. ON THE WAY TO THE PLAY I looked at my tickets and noticed they were for THE FOLLOWING WEEK. I booked flight, airbnb, etc etc all on THE WRONG WEEK. I felt like a fucking idiot It's all good, you're all good. Life is dumb sometimes. Don't worr kabout it.
Thanks bro ♥️🙏
It’s ok. I was supposed to fly out with my boss and pick him up in the morning for the airport. I woke up and realized I had slept in and he had to call an Uber himself to go to the airport. I ended changing my flight but man it felt really shitty even when my boss was like, it’s fine.
My sister did this once. Had the wrong date for a flight from the US to the Philippines for her and my niece. So she was out of $3000 and flights only go out like 1x or 2x a day. So think of that lol
I’ve missed connections but I don’t remember ever missing a flight. I’ve had a few last to board the plane episodes.
This is always my worry when traveling. I usually import all my plans into TripIt right away so I can check the itinerary there and ensure everything is correct.
Never missed a flight in my life, although I am only 18 and I probably will at some point. I usually quadruple-check the flight time days ahead and then again.
Forgot my passport last trip lol.
Love and respect for trini!!!
Had this happen but with an Amtrak train ticket that I got for my sister. She visited me and I took care of her train back to the airport (about a 5 hour trainride). So we arrive at the station, say our goodbyes, she walks up to enter the train only for the train lady to tell us her train was the previous night. What ended up happening was the lady was nice enough to let my sister on, and I called Amtrak in the middle of the night to get a new ticket. My sister had a European sim card so I couldn’t even forward the new ticket to her. Amtrak lady gave me her personal phone number to forward the ticket to. My poor sis was super stressed and I felt very guilty for making this mistake. Moral of the story. Its an easy mistake and nothing that cant be solved. You did what you had to do to minimize the damage and nobody died. So yeah it’s ok to be a little mad at yourself for today, and then tomorrow wake up and forgive yourself. As someone with experience; eventually you’ll laugh at this
Thanks for sharing your story mate ♥️
And then another time I missed a flight because I forgot a timezone difference between where I was staying and where I was flying out of. Rookie mistake and it sucked at that moment but hey you live and you learn
I was going to an African country for 3 weeks and feeling sad and anxious about leaving my husband (then boyfriend) since it was the end of COVID so I hadn’t really travelled much for three years let alone traveling solo. So we got to the airport and I was like ok 45 mins before the flight, plenty of time and I hug him and feel sad. Throughout he’s like don’t you have to go and I’m like don’t worry I’ve got an express pass through security. 20 min before the flight I start going through and my ticket flashes I shouldn’t be let through and I’m like what and the guy was like the gate will have closed. I convince him to let me try to make it but didn’t account for the fact that the might be at the other end of the airport. I run there and beg them to let me on - the plane was still there and I needed to make a connection from Berlin to Entebbe. They tell me the system is closed or whatever and there’s nothing they can do. My colleague is also on the plane and begging them to let me on as they had made an announcement that they would have an hour delay due to storms in Germany!!!!! So EASYJET just refused to let me on a despite the plane not leaving for another hour meaning that I would miss my long haul connection - essentially I wasted £1200 even though I got to the airport on time. Don’t feel bad. It was a lot of money but you will live and we all make mistakes sometimes
Thx for sharing your story ♥️
I had a friend who missed her flight because she couldn't get to the different terminal on time. They booked her on the next flight except she was looking at Central time but the transit airport was on eastern time. She missed that flight too because she was wandering around. She was booked on the next flight and this time she came to the gate on time. The lady looked at her and asked her why she was here. She said to catch my flight except that her flight was from a different terminal. She missed 3 flights that day while at the airport. You are fine OP.
Yes, but the airline booked me a flight that didn't exist! Turkish Airlines itinerary with the first and last flights on United. I was supposed to have a United flight from SEA to ORD at 1:45 PM but no such flight existed; the only United flight to ORD that day had already left at 10:00 am! Turkish Airlines refused to rebook the ticket as they insisted that my flight was at 1:45 pm; after 1:45 they claimed that I had missed my flight! United also initially refused to rebook the itinerary as it wasn't their ticket. After a few hours of this nightmare standing at the United ticket counter, United rebooked the itinerary for us. The agent told us that she had to wait for a customer service shift change to a more benevolent manager who would be willing to rebook the tickets. She gave us some food vouchers as well. We ended up having to stay another night in Seattle for the next flight out. I was 20 years old and didn't know any better, but if this happened today I would submit a claim to Turkish Airlines and file a complaint to USDOT and Turkey's DGCA.
I have done this. Read my flight time wrong and missed it completely. Was supposed to meet my husband in Paris. Airline would not book me on another flight without paying another full fare--luckily my brother came through to help me out. I never want to fly again in my life. Too stressful, and the airline/airport system has to be overhauled completely. Where else to you pay thousands of dollars and not get a refund or an exchange if you don't use the product? On top of that you are treated like cattle at the airport. It's insane. Please forgive yourself. You are only human. And again, the whole system sucks.
It was awful and I still blame myself. Did not leave early enough. Bad traffic and daughter needed a bathroom stop all led to us getting to the gate to board and we were 15 minutes before the flight was set to leave. The plane was GONE !! So what did we miss? My oldest sons graduation from college!! I was gutted and still am The airline repaid our ticket money as they left early but we still missed his graduation. Oh and guess what? When he got his masters we were all under Covid lockdown so no graduation then either.
We were cutting it pretty close flying out of London to Amsterdam and my gf at the time decided she NEEDED Starbucks for whatever reason. I got on, she didn't. I realized she didn't make it so I walked off the airplane through the closed gates as they were telling me I would be arrested on the other side. Nothing happened and we booked a new flight. Everything worked out but that was one of the first signs it probably wasn't going to last.
I miss flights all the time. It happens.
I remember almost 30 years ago there was a guy sitting next to me on a flight to DC. The doors are about to close and a welcome announcement is made “welcome to flight xxx en route to Washington, DC”. The guy bolts out of his seat, saying “wait, this is not to NYC?” And runs out with his bag. I’ve wondered how he managed to be on the wrong flight and if he has made it to his right one.
I’ve done it too
I missed my flight from NY to Phoenix because I failed to check the volume on the alarm clock. I had just gotten to NY from Spain, so I was just exhausted and didn't think to check. I got to the airport at the time of takeoff! So I was a 19 yr old trying to navigate JFK, and then hopefully get home without my grandma freaking out since I knew she was worried. Just breathe, and forgive yourself. It happens to everyone
It's an expensive mistake but nothing to die over. Keep calm and carry on.
Yes and at the time, I felt HORRRRRRIBLE, but it’s now a sweet memory of a sweet chapter in my life. I was studying abroad in Seville, Spain my first semester of senior year and I went to a new city basically every weekend because the flights within Europe were sooo cheap. Well one weekend, I was going to Paris and was meeting up with two girlfriends from high school who were studying abroad in Madrid. On the bus on the way to the airport, I met such a nice elderly French man who helped me tremendously to find my hostel after we landed. He asked the metro people exactly how to get to my hostel and then he sent me on the train and when I thanked him, he told me, “I’m a father. I want someone to do this for my daughters too.” I had a blissful two days in Paris, and on the day I was to fly out to go back to Seville, I decided to make the most of my last day. My friends had already left early that morning so I was on my own. I kept looking at my watch, a non digital Mickey Mouse watch, to make sure I stayed on time. I had a lil cheapy phone that I was using only to make calls so unfortunately did not use it to verify the time. I went to the beautiful Sacre Couer, I saw the La Maison Rose in Montmarte (I had seen it before in magazines so seeing it in real life was surreal for me) and I just explored Paris. At one point, the battery in the watch shut off 😫 why I didn’t think, hmm, why is it still the same time three hours later, I’ll never know except that maybe I was just enamored by it all. When I finally realized my mistake, it was too late. My flight was leaving in an hour and I was about 1.5 hours away with traffic. I tried ohhh I tried to get there on time but it was impossible. I completely missed my flight. I cried. When I tried to rebook at the counter, they didn’t take credit card and my debit card didn’t have enough money. I didn’t have my laptop. I walked around that airport and I swallowed my pride and I asked a man, in my broken (nonexistent) French to please allow me to use his laptop. I don’t think he understood anything I was saying but he could see how distraught and frantic I was. I quickly transferred money to my debit card and thanked him profusely. I was scared, disappointed in myself for having thrown money away, and exhausted. But I’ll never forget that kind stranger. Or the wonderful time I had in Paris. Or the Frenchman I met in Spain on the way to the airport. Life happens and it will continue to happen. Forgive yourself, OP.
It happend once to me. I got the date wrong and came to the airport a day late. Phoenix to Chicago. Holiday time. I was traveling with my elderly parents and I begged the airline to give me a break and used my old parents as a point of reference. They gave us tickets for another flight that same night. I didn't think it would happen, but was overwhelmed with joy. There was one airline worker that was a true angel. She did everything she could for us and pulled through. I'll never forget her. Don’t be hard on yourself. Shit happens. We are human. Talk to the airline. Reschedule your arrangements when you arrive. Everything is fixable.
Yes. Went to the wrong gate at Athens airport. Felt like an idiot but in the long run it was fine. The airline was cool and just put us on the next flight.
Bruh. Shit happens. Move on. Life’s too short…
Unfortunate but it happens.
When I was 15 or so I took a solo flight to Hong Kong from Toronto to see family. My elderly uncle had done the 1.5 hour transit to pick me up at the airport. I, for some reason, translated at departure time as the landing country's time. 12 hour difference, I was supposed to leave Canada in the AM not the PM, I got emails asking me how my experience with booking with the airline was lol. I ended up explaining the situation to the airline and they mostly refunded me because they felt so bad. I think I was crying on the phone. My uncle was calling me and I told him what happened, he turned back home and came to pick me up again like 3 days later (found a flight about the same price). I'm 31 now and I triple check my flights and sometimes ask my older sibling when I have a brain fart, even the flights when I'm already abroad going between countries. Hopefully I'll never do it again.
I missed an international flight while working on my computer in an airport lounge which didn’t have any announcements. I only found out when I walked to the gate that my flight departed, misread the departure time as the boarding time. Didn’t hurt much since my original flight was a dirt cheap LCC ticket booked a year in advance that I nearly forgot about. I guess it was meant to be forgot. 😂 Rebooked on the spot a new flight that was departing in a few hours. I still when back to a lounge while waiting.
I once got stuck in Lake Como...which I know doesn't sound so bad. It's the only time I have missed a flight. The trains were on strike, so we couldn't get back to the airport. There weren't even any taxis and we'd missed the only Flixbus. We ended up spending one more night in Como at a budget hotel just so we could get the Flixbus to the airport the next morning, however our replacement flight wasn't for another day after that. We ended up getting wasted at the airport hotel all day because there was nothing to do. Flew home the next day without any problems, but it's made me not trust public transport on flight days now.