share your flight delay stories here...

[Ltlabner]

Got to the airport at 6:00am for a morning flight to Las Vagas. Flight canciled due to mechanical issues. Ended up not getting to Vagas until 11:00pm Vagas time after having flown to O'Hare and having long waits to leave Cincy and O'Hare.

[Heath]

I have a story that I would like to have HAD a flight delay.

January 4, 2003. Sunday. I had a flight that would have taken me from Dayton to Ft. Lauderdale. The flight left at 5:45am and would have been in Ft. Lauderdale at 9:55....which would have been plenty of time to have my wife pick me up and take me to the beach and then back to the rental house to watch the Browns play the Steelers in an Wild-Card playoff game.

I got on the plane fine. Waited an hour to de-ice. Waited another hour to take off to Atlanta. So much for the beach.

Anyway, there are about 200 people who HAVE to get to Lauderdale. Seems they all need to be at the Port by 12 Noon to get on the cruise ship. Delta rolls out a 757 to the tarmac and there are 203 seats available. There are 210 people who need to get on this plane. I patiently wait my turn in line and realize that I could just hang out at the Hartsfield Airport, go to the bar in Concorse C and watch the game.

About 4 ladies in front of me are going ballistic at this one guy. He's a CS Manager and he's getting an earful. So, I thought I'd take the high road. I get to this guy, and I explain - Hey - I can wait all day here, no problem - the whole story - football and all. He looks at my itineary - and has a flight leaving at 4:55 to FLL. He books me ---- with one caveat. Every seat HAS to be full and as a single flyer, it's a pretty good bet my number will be called.

There was one seat left on the 9:40 flight to FLL...and it had my name on it. I was the last single passenger left.

Then, when I land, my wife informs me that Sunday's the only nice day in the forecast. We're going to the beach. However, she's thinking of me. She bought a 10" Battery powered TV.

Worked great..but the Browns still lost.

[15fan]

5 years ago, my wife and I took her mother with us to Italy for a week. My mother-in-law hadn't been on a plane for 30+ years, and was absolutely terrified. (Thank you prescription drugs!)

After we boarded the plane, they kept making announcements that they needed a (singular) volunteer to give up a seat. $200 voucher was on the table, but no takers. $300 voucher was on the table, but no takers.

I looked at my wife, but got the "don't even think about leaving me alone with my mother on an 8 hour flight" look.

After $400, the offer went to $1,000 and first class on the next flight. A guy jumped up and literally ran down the aisle to the stewardess to make the deal. After he got off, a lady got on, and we pushed back.

One of the flight attendants was the wife of one of my wife's co-workers. The story is that the pilot was making his last flight, and as such, got to take anyone with him. He was taking his wife, but there wasn't any room on the plane for her. Pilot basically said that he wasn't budging until his wife got on the plane and the airline needed to do whatever it took to get her on there.

[Highlifeman21]

Thanksgiving of 2000 comes to mind for me.

I was supposed to fly from Cincinnati to Detroit to Syracuse, being an undergrad @ SU at the time. Given that Detroit's in the equation, those of you guessing this has something to do with Northwest Airlines would be correct.

At the time, Northwest was going through one of their many baggage handlers/grounds crew strikes, so I knew going in that there was a damn good chance I wouldn't see my luggage, so my parents shipped my luggage via UPS. No problem.

The problems started when I called to check on the status of my flight to Detroit and found out the flight had been cancelled, due to no workers being on the ground at CVG at the gate. Hmmm. Northwest gives me 3 flight options to get to SYR that night: Louisville to Detroit to Syracuse, Indianapolis to Charlotte to Syracuse or Columbus to Detroit to Syracuse. I chose Columbus.

I get to Columbus, and that flight is delayed leaving to Detroit b/c they also have limited grounds crew, due to the strike. Northwest promises me they can get me to Detroit, but they can't promise me that I can get to Syracuse. I remember having something of importance the Monday following Thanksgiving, and absolutely needed to get into Syracuse Sunday night.

I arrive in Detroit, and every outgoing flight with Northwest has been cancelled that night. Zero chance to get to Syracuse that night. Northwest refunds my money for my flight on that Sunday, and gives me a free flight at 6:15 the next morning to Syracuse, and gave me a free round trip on top of that.

After I used my free round trip with Northwest, I haven't flown them since.