It’s not a fun story. I was going to Germany. I left from Denver and went to Newark. We circled the airport for three hours and it was to the point that our plane was going to run out of fuel and had to land. We land. I have a connecting flight on the other side of the airport and I am booking it to get there in time.
I get there and they’re like, “Oh, your plane is pulling out.” And it was RIGHT THERE! They said, “We can give you a travel voucher. You can get a hotel. We’ll book you on an early flight tomorrow.”
I woke up and it was dumping snow. In Newark, it isn’t light and fluffy like it is here where you can just plow it out of the way. It was sleety and icy everywhere.
At the airport, they tell me my plane is delayed and try to get me on another flight. The new flight is going to leave super late that night. Everything seemed like it was going to work up until the last minute. Then they were like, “No, sorry …” again. Because of snow and the people who lost flights were stacking up. They said, “You can stay in the airport or try and get a hotel,” and, at this point, I had already missed two days of my vacation and I was like, “I just want to go home.”
I slept in the airport. In the morning, I had to claim my luggage outside of security then go back through security and then was on standby FOREVER to come back to Denver. I get a plane and then – they were having problems with the plane. [Laughs] I was like, “Am I even supposed to be on a plane? Should I rent a car and drive home?” But I do get on the plane and it sits on the tarmac and this woman starts yelling, “How dare you keep me here! My time is worth more than any of you make!” Super, top-notch, high-level energy at the flight attendants.
I finally got back, got my flight refunded, and I wrote a letter about my experience to the company of having to stand in the line for hours to get everything rearranged multiple times. I tried to have a polite attitude but then counter staff were total jackasses to me. I got even more travel vouchers because of it, and that was the good that came out of all of it. I ended using the vouchers to go to Germany for a whole month, eventually.
— Kim WigginsGot a crazy travel story? Write it in about 400 words and send it to [email protected]. If you’d rather tell your story, send a brief synopsis along with your name and phone number to the same address. Either way, your story should be true. Also, be sure to include your full name and town.
