34
votes
What are your memorable airport stories?
Moments in your travels that took place during layovers, while waiting for your flights, checking in your baggage, etc.
The stories can be funny, sad, unexpected, interesting, etc.
Tell us what happened and what made it so memorable.
I don’t normally immediately answer my own question, but this one has stuck with me for years.
If you’ve never had the privilege of having Nanaimo bars, then you should absolutely seek them/a recipe out. My mom makes some absolutely amazing ones. They’re a coconut-custard-chocolate DREAM.
I had visited her, and she’d made me a whole batch to take back home with me, which I’d put in my carryon.
I’m in the security line, and my bag gets flagged for additional screening (possibly on account of the absurdly large number of Nanaimo bars I was carrying).
There was a woman directly in front of me, flying by herself with two kids, one who was probably 3 and the other who was definitely less than a year old.
Her baby bag also got flagged for screening as well. So I’m standing next to her in line, waiting for my bag, but the TSA agent has to get through hers first. This required a lot, because she had to pull a variety of items out and test the water and formula and whatnot, which took a while.
All while this is going on, the kids are squirming impatiently and I’m watching this poor woman trying her best to comfort them, all by herself, on what was going to be an undoubtedly very long and trying day for all of them.
The TSA agent was going as fast as she could, sensing the palpable discomfort of the situation but also obligated to swab and check all the different baby items as her job demanded.
She finally finished up after what feels like an eternity, hands the woman her baby bag, then picks up mine.
She opens my bag and is greeted with a gallon plastic bag full of homemade chocolate treats.
She doesn’t swab anything or check anything further. She just hands the bag to me, says “good job, pops,” and winks at me.
It became clear to me that she assumed that the woman and I were together, and that I was carrying a gratuitous amount of emotional support chocolate for my harried wife.
This, of course, was absolutely NOT the case. That poor woman was all on her own and I’d earmarked the bars for myself and my husband.
The density of Nanaimo bars, arranged in neat little rectangular rows, can be mistaken for plastic explosives. Being thought of as a family probably worked to your advantage :)
When we fly to get to Disneyland, I always get stopped by the screening because I always come with stickers. Not just like a few stickers, but maybe a few thousand in rolls/packs. The density of those also looks suspicious, so they get pulled to look at. I always leave them at the top of my bag for easy access now to pull them out when I get stopped because they always tell me to just leave my items in my bags at my local airport.
What do you do with all those stickers?
I bring them to Disneyland with me and hand them out as little trinkets to the cast members! Like a thank you for being here and making my day happy.
Awesome!
Stickers! I wouldn't have guessed.... One time I had a ton of coins rolled up and that definitely triggered.
Nanaimo bars remain my favourite treat, even beating out butter tarts. Sadly, most places around me have lost the ability to make a good Nanaimo bar and my wife could careless so I am on an endless journey to find a place that can make them. That said, a "bad" Nanaimo is like bad bacon, they don't really exist.
OK, this bar sounds amazing. I’ve never heard of it, do you have a favorite recipe you can share? I’ll be making this soon!
My mom’s recipe (as is the custom) isn’t really written down somewhere and is mostly in her head and therefore not exactly shareable unfortunately.
This is the “official” one from Nanaimo’s own website. I haven’t made it myself, but I figure the namesake probably knows what they’re talking about.
Let us know how it goes and what you think!
Mine is the first time I got to travel first class.
By today's standards/tech some of you youngsters would consider this ye olden days and how this plays out will tell you why.
Was on a work trip in a previous job where I often drove out to somewhere and had to fly back. Being that driving somewhere can mean you don't know when you'll get there (this is pre-widespread-consumer-level-GPS navigation), when you'll get done doing what you need to do, when you'll get to the airport, etc. I don't know when I'm flying back so often just had to go to the airport and buy a ticket at the ticket counter.
Standing in line at the ticket counter with two people working it. One lady is occupied by a guy (Rude Dude) that is insisting that he has a first class ticket, that his travel agent set it up, he has customer service on the line, blah blah blah. System says otherwise. Payment amount in their system says otherwise. etc. etc.
This goes on and on for awhile, the second lady at the counter has already run through two other people while Rude Dude is arguing louder and louder, while on his cell phone with his alleged travel agent/customer service, insisting he gets first class, when it becomes my turn to speak with second lady.
She does the usual corporate apology for the wait line, I make a comment about how it's not her fault that some people are belligerent and we exchange knowing eye glances at Rude Dude, ask how her day has been in usual be-nice-to-the-person-helping-you way. Tell her I need to book a flight back home, blah, blah, blah...
Rude dude next to me is now loud enough that I'd have to raise my voice to speak to the lady helping me.
Rude dude is damn near shoving his phone in the face of the other lady while she keeps telling him she cannot talk on his phone to whoever is on the other line about his ticket issues, that they'll have to call the primary customer service line if they have an issue, or customer service can call her counter as is the correct procedure, that he is booked for economy class and can upgrade him to first class for $XXX, etc.
I dislike people being rude to customer service, but also try not to get in other people's business as it is none of mine and generally don't know the full story, but I have been standing here long enough to know that this guy simply will not take no for an answer.
I am a large man. I don't intend to be, but I have been described multiple times over the years as unintentionally intimidating just purely from existing. I am aware that this aspect of my appearance that I have no control over has, at times, advantages (it also has a myriad of disadvantages).
I, in almost comically slow fashion, reach out toward Rude Dude, slow enough that he stops talking, slow enough that the lady helping him stops talking, and both are staring at my arm slowing entering their sphere.
Rude Dude is holding a slider phone not unlike this style that were popular at the time.
I put one finger on top of the phone and push down, closing the slider and ending the call.
For what is probably the first time in his life Rude Dude is speechless and just stares up at me.
The lady helping him puts his economy ticket on the counter, smiles, and walks away.
I turn to the lady helping me and ask "Sorry, didn't hear you the first time. How much did you say my ticket was again?"
She tells me, types a few things into the computer while I'm getting my credit card out, runs it, and then says "It looks like you were eligible for a free upgrade to first class, so I went ahead and applied that for you. Enjoy your flight."
Did you know they give you alcohol for free in first class? Like, as soon as you sit down they'll ask if you want something.
It's lovely after a long day to sit back and enjoy a whiskey while waiting for the plane to take off.
！！！ That's why! Be nice to flight staff, folks!
That's a pretty satisfying event !! :) good job using your assets for the power of good. I wonder if there's a system where passengers get flagged for being horrible, or in your case, for being extra good. As a tiny Asian woman, that's the kind of power fantasy I can only dream about :D
One time, on the flight someone sitting next to me had a cold or something, either just slept loudly or else kept super moistly blowing her nose ..... Which I felt badly for her about, until it was time to land, she packed her things, got up to line up to leave. Incredulous, I said, "you're picking those up right?" Wet wontons everywhere now that she's stood up. Nearly a dozen in her seat (I was window & mid, she was asile) and now on the path as well. She scowled at me and pretended not to have heard. Then I said it again louder, and she starred screaming about how they're not hers and mind my own business etc. then a big guy in the row behind us got up, and said, please pick them up. And she did. >:E it was so gross and I almost had to touch them to pass..... So thankful someone else spoke up.
Edit: wonder if ground crew would appreciate snacks too.... Probably
I just try to be nice as much as possible. You never know what battles someone else is fighting and they're just trying to do their job and get through the day, but yeah they also have the power to make your life easier or a living hell if they want.
Similar thing, and since we're also communicating about your Japan trip, happened in Japan and was the only time I saw rude behavior by a Japanese person while I was there.
As mentioned before, am a large man. My goal in Japan was to do my very best to not be in the way or the annoying large human in a land of mostly smaller than me peoples. I stood as much as possible even if a seat was available to not make others uncomfortable. I stepped out of the way instead of standing in the sidewalk if I needed to check my phone for directions (standard behavior if you ask me, but something very few tourists seem to do). If a place was too crowded, I'd often come back later or go somewhere else, etc.
On the buses, public transit in Japan is amazing, there are seats specifically for the elderly, disabled/injured, and/or pregnant. They're near the front, have no stairs, easier to get in/out of with extra handles, etc. I got on a bus that was semi-crowded already, there were open seats, some in the above mentioned area that are fine to sit in if you are none of those parties and if the bus isn't full, but I just stood as I am fully able to do so and didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable sitting next to them.
One or two stops later, I see a young, seemingly very able bodied man take a seat in one of the, for lack of a better word, "special" seats. No issue, bus isn't full, someone that needs the seat hasn't gotten on the bus yet, bus is now pretty full with very few other seats available and more people standing.
Another stop and a little old lady, with a bag in one hand and a crutch under the other arm (with a cute little crocheted cover over the pad at the top), hobbles onto the bus. All of the special seats are taken now, all taken by people more obviously in need of them (primarily other elderly people), and so she gets as far as standing next to the seat occupied by the young man before she needs to brace herself as the bus takes off.
She's standing there because he should get up, but is too timid to say anything.
He ignores her, but I am willing to act like he just hasn't seen her as he stares at his phone.
Bus comes to the next stop. Little old lady barely catches herself to keep from falling forward while dropping her bag in the process, no one in that seat would not see this happen. He is now actively ignoring her, a woman that perfectly reflects two of the three logos right next to him on the wall for who should be in that seat. He knows this.
People help her pick up her bag just in time for the bus to take off, again quite abruptly, for her to fall backwards. Between the bus being pretty packed and other people just being nice, she's caught from completely falling over again.
I am no longer willing to allow this to continue and giant gaijin mode kicks in; he's being rude and she's going to get injured at this rate. I take two steps forward to be next to him. Snap my fingers between his face and his phone (is anyone else unable to consistently snap loudly when they want to, but randomly cause a thundercrack when they're not trying?) loud enough that I see out of the corner of my eye that most of the bus has snapped to attention in my direction, he looks up at me shocked and I point upward to signal he is going to stand up and move. He does so, then I sweep my arm toward the elderly lady that had since moved to stand in the corner I vacated when I took my steps forward, to motion that this seat is now available.
She sits down, says arigatou gozaimasu, an old man in the next seat smiles at me, and I get off the bus at the next stop on my way to some wonderful unagi.
With how non-confrontational people tend to be, especially in Japan where manners are often paramount, size probably isn't a requirement here though and just needed anyone to take action to get it done.
:) I can neither hover over any guy nor snap my fingers (nor whistle). But man, one can dream. That's got to have been a satisfying meal of unagi. The other transit patrons probably can't wait to get home and tell all their loved ones what happened with the giant gaijin on the bus today!
Unagi being a favorite food of mine, you're darn right it was!
I made it a point that day that all the meals I had were going to have unagi. Breakfast was my normal protein shake, lunch was a high end reservation, afternoon snack was unagi onigiri, dinner was a more casual walk-in unagi place. I was fat and happy that day for sure!
Unrelated but do you also buy those frozen packs of all ready grilled unagi from Asian grocers? Sometimes when I don't feel like cooking I just throw one in with the rice cooker and add additional unagi sauce at the end. Bonus miso soup. Heaven.
:-) thanks for the complete image of your heroic adventures followed by eel meals as reward
I haven't yet, but will now.
Partially because I didn't know those were a thing as I don't typically go looking for protein in the Asian grocery. So you know, thanks for letting me know that existed!
Partially because since I've been back from Japan, I haven't touched unagi since. I knew I loved the stuff from what I have had here in the states, but after having it in Japan it's just incomparable. That said, the craving for it will beat out my ability to drop everything and fly to Japan for more.
Simply amazing.
I normally advocate for staying out of other people’s business, but when someone is making their business EVERYONE’S business then the calculus changes.
Your story actually reminded me of another one I have:
I was waiting to board a Southwest flight, back when they had first-come-first-serve seating.
There was a woman who had paid to upgrade her boarding number to the front of the line. The gate agent announces that they are going to start pre-boarding people with disabilities, and there are like, five elderly people in wheelchairs lined up ready to go.
The woman watches in shock as she realizes she’s going to have to wait until after those people get to board and immediately gets incensed. She starts arguing with the gate agent saying that she paid to upgrade her boarding number and, as someone with “A1” on her ticket, that means she gets to board first. She paid for it, after all.
The gate agent politely yet firmly attempts to explain that she is at the beginning of the A boarding group and she will be the first to board then. The woman is having none of this and is getting increasingly loud and heated. She keeps arguing, the gate agent stands her ground. Pre-boarding has completely stopped now. It gets legitimately tense.
Everyone else waiting to board is all just sort of quietly watching this trainwreck as it happens, but then the woman says “and everyone here agrees with me” and gestures to all of us.
Almost in unison, most of us vigorously shook our heads no, and two people called out “no” and “no we don’t!”
This took the wind out of her sails and she finally stood down. Pre-boarding resumed, the woman finally got on as the first member of the regular boarding group, and nearly every passenger after that, as the gate agent was scanning their tickets, complimented the gate agent, told the gate agent she was in the right, said she deserved a raise, etc. It was genuinely heartwarming to see how many people chose to comfort her after the altercation.
Also, I think it was a particularly bold choice for the angry woman to piss off nearly everyone that she was then going to be stuck in a plane with for the next four hours.
Oof... that's some gall to think you can pay your way ahead of people in wheelchairs.
Funny story about pre-boarding, without any of the bad actors.
When I went to Japan earlier this year, the flight out was delayed by a couple of hours. When it finally did start to board they did the usual pre-boarding for elderly/disabled and I found it funny that they kept changing the departing time while they were still pre-boarding.
Japan has an elderly population problem.
The flight perfectly reflected this.
When the pre-boarding line stretches down the room and around the corner it's not going to be done in the usual 5-10 minute timeframe. Took solid 35 minutes for pre-boarding alone. I, of course, wanted to be in Japan as soon as possible, but wasn't in a rush to sit in a plane for double digit hours either. Just found it funny that they still had the typical 30 minute boarding time built into their schedule on a flight to Japan where they'd generally know that a good percentage of the passengers are going to need more time to board.
"Rules are rules" :) I'll try to remember that when it's my turn and not to be nervous about the times keep on changing. Glad to see the elderly still flying to see the world: that brings me good hope. Wondering if they've had to stretch metro platform wait times because of the elderly as well..
Nothing I've heard and like buses, there are dedicated elderly sections that are clearly marked on the cars and platforms, so they tend to line up there and fill in just as quick as any other car. A note for you, there are also dedicated women-only cars (during certain times) that you may want to keep an eye out for. I only accidentally walked onto one and then immediately hopped to the next car before it actually left the station to not be that guy.
I've not tried the women only cars yet but it's on a "would" list for sure
I don't fly very often, so every little thing feels like a big deal to me because it's all still very novel. But last year I flew home from DFW to IAD and our flight's landing was delayed. Then we landed and our gate was delayed. So we sat there and waited and waited. I think we spent an extra 2 hours on the plane in total? People were agitated, tired (it was after midnight), and just ready to not be in a plane.
None of this is particularly rare in air travel, but the way I departed the plane was. And anyone who flew in/out of IAD probably knows where this is going.
They never got the damn gate sorted so they had to "rescue" us off the plane via one of IAD's mobile lounges. Which are unique to only a few airports worldwide, but I very much associate them with IAD because you can always seem out and about, ferrying people between terminals. And they used to be used to take people to/from their planes directly. Well used to and still do in a pinch, apparently.
It was so late and I was exhausted...just physically and mentally exhausted from the day's travels and to my tired nerdy eyes I felt like I was boarding an AT-AT from Star Wars and that just made it all worth it for some reason? The interior of the thing isn't anything special. It's like a big bus on scissor lifts with more standing room. But it so cool because I'd never experienced it before. And they dropped us off right by the exit and I was finally freee....
to take the wrong parking lot shuttle, wander the wrong parking lot, have to ride the wrong bus back to the airport, then board the right bus back to my parking lot, then drive nearly 2 hours home, not getting back until like 4am. But still I got to ride an AT-AT!
The engineers who designed it probably had AT-ATs I mind :)
Don't fly out of Dulles, but I do semi-frequent Montreal and keep hoping to be in one.... Hopefully this year :)
I've heard rumblings that they're going to be phased out at Dulles soon, so hopefully Montreal doesn't do the same and you get to ride the AT-AT. Just don't forget to target the shield generator so Lord Vader can start his landing.
Dang, all I got for my delay at DFW was a chance to sit on the hard ground up against the wall while I charged my phone and slept. This is close to a decade ago. In the last 30 years I've flown twice, because I would much rather try to drive it than try to fly it. To be honest if it didn't mean that I had to take off days of work, I would much rather take a train almost anywhere. But that form of travel in the western part of the country (the US) has basically become untenable.
Trains are definitely the civilised way to travel. It's too bad I can't afford to take the time off required / afford that many more meals to travel via trains. :'(
Short and simple, another Japan trip tale but with a fun twist - and many lessons learned along the way.
I was flying to Tokyo but since I was in my early 20s and not particularly financially stable, I wanted to save some money. So instead of booking direct flights to Japan, I booked a flight with a layover in Shanghai - it added two hours but saved me $200! I'd traveled internationally before but direct flights only - this is important later. I was flying with United initially so my itinerary was ATL->ORD->PVG->NRT.
The mishaps (on my part) started in ATL. The check in counter agent asked if I had a visa for China. I was very confident that I didn't need one since it was just a three hour layover and I wouldn't go out of the airport. They let me on the plane and I was on my way to Chicago and then Shanghai. After a 16 hour flight and maybe 2 hours of napping, I set foot into the airport and was immediately ushered into the arrival visas lane. "No problem" I thought to myself - "probably just a stamp in the passport from customs". I had three hours to the next flight, plenty of time.
Well, turns out all travelers need a 24 hour transit visa to even be in the airport. So after about an hour, I finally get to the counter, they fingerprint me and take a bunch of photographs and finally print out a 24 hour visa and staple it to my passport. Great! I can explore the airport now.
For someone only used to North American airports, Atlanta probably being the largest I've been in, Shanghai was massive. It took awhile of me asking in very very poor Chinese how to get to departures until I finally found the very small security section between arrivals and departures. At this point, I still have about 90 minutes until my flight leaves. I get through security and finally in departures, I start searching for my gate and finally find it. They had customer service desks there checking everybody's boarding passes before you're even let into the gate area, slightly different but ok - it's all good. I'm almost there!
This was where my fuckup hit me. Although it appeared to me that my flight was operated by United all the way through to Tokyo and that my bags would be automatically transferred to the next plane, I was in fact completely changing airlines in a codeshare. This never really dawned on me until the customer service/gate agent asked where my checked bags were. I was flummoxed - I had no idea I had to retrieve them? And bring them where? Back here? Sigh ok I have an hour still.
Back into the airport to baggage claim I go. Of course, it had now been two hours since my bag was flopping around the conveyor belt and of course, my flight wasn't even listed in baggage claim anymore. I'm starting to panic at this point and inching closer to accepting the loss when an airport staff member comes running up to me, wheeling my suitcase, asking if it was mine. Chinese surveillance for the win maybe? Or I was the only one looking very lost and confused lol. Anyway after profusely thanking her, I again go back through security, back to the check in, and there I drop off my bags. Great! 15 minutes to go now but I should just be able to make it.
Then my heart sinks as a Chinese airport security officer appears and motions for me to follow him. I was half expecting to get arrested for something I didn't even know I did - maybe I accidentally breached security at some point or something. He points to my newly arrived suitcase, asks if it's mine, and requests that I open it. I comply and he points to an object - so I lift it out. He then points to the prohibited items sign and says "no batteries". I had completely forgotten I had a spare GoPro battery that I had placed in my checked luggage. I nervously chuckled and put it in my carry on and zipped up the bag. He smiled, the customer agent smiled, told me to hurry - gate is closing in ten minutes.
I pretty much half ran all the way to the boarding ramp, show my pass and finally get on board. At this point I'm drenched in sweat and I would feel terrible for my seat neighbours, but they're wearing suits and equally as sweaty so I think we all quietly agree we'll deal with it. Surprisingly, I still wasn't even the last person on the plane. There was amazing food on board (compared to United) and I watched a detective movie that I only understood about 10% of but it looked like the main character was having fun.
Finally, I land in Narita and gather everything, then board the Skyliner express to Ueno. Well, I get out at Ueno station and realize somehow I lost my ticket which I need to exit. I look longingly at the train as it leaves, hoping I didn't leave my ticket on the seat or anything. I try explaining the situation to the station master in slightly less broken Japanese and he was going to try and call someone. To arrest me or to help me, I was uncertain. Anyway I finally happened to look in the one spot of my bag that I never put anything in and of course, it was there. I proudly revealed it and was let out into the streets of Japan finally!
Thankfully that was really the last of my mishaps on that trip. I learned a lot and these days I'm a much more seasoned traveller. But boy was that a stressful 24 hours!
Nail-biting adventure! What if they demanded more time for international .... Or a forced 2 day layover in China?! =|
my travel party had experienced making it to the gate 10 minutes left to take off and denied boarding (because they already gave away our seats to stand by I guess) not fun
Chinese airports provide you with a free airport hotel and a free ride to and from when you have a 24 hour or longer layover. It's actually quite nice. I went and saw Beijing for a couple of hours, twice, while having a decent place to sleep to boot.
That's ..... a genuinely great feature more airports should have.
It's jarring the first time, not going to lie. Someone is waiting for you and calls for you at the gate when you get off the plane, something I didn't expect. This of course set my alarm bells ringing but it turns out it's legit.
It made the 24h layover not just bearable, but fun. I was able to get a glimpse of the city which I otherwise wouldn't have. Definitely something I'd like to see elsewhere.
I have two stories that spring to mind:
During the mid 2010's I was flying to a conference and had a layover somewhere or other. I plugged my phone into one of those centralized wall sockets and then pulled out a book to read while I waited. I had an older gentleman come up to me and strike up a conversation with me as he felt like he almost never sees people reading physical books these days. While we were chatting he mentioned he worked at Thomas Bros Maps the company that makes Thomas Guides which are physical maps used by emergency responders in certain cities in the US in case something were to happen to their electrical systems/the power grid.
Once it was time for my flight he handed me his business card and said to connect with him on LinkedIn and he would see if he could find an internship for me in his company that following summer as he had a great time chatting and they were often bringing on interns with my major. Sadly I lost his business card. I'm not sure how it fell it out but after the conference I wanted to connect with him and couldn't find it after I thought I put it in my bag.
To preface this second airport story: when we moved to Malaysia my wife was pregnant at the time and was also still nursing my oldest son. My sister-in-law had come over to the US to help us with the move back which ended up being a huge help. We also flew with my dog in cabin as we had registered her as an emotional support animal, which I do admit was a bit of a sham, but the cost of registering her was ~500-600 USD compared to the cheapest reliable pet transmit company charging ~4-5k USD and we didn't have that much money to spare to bring her with us. We also ran in to an issue with getting her approval paperwork from the vet which was a whole other story.
After a long ~16 hour flight to Singapore, we needed to transit in Changi Airport which is absolutely huge. My wife had been motion sick during the flight and hadn't been able to keep anything down and was feeling very weak, so my sister in law was helping her through the airport while I had our son in a baby chest carrier and carried 4 bags and pulled 2 suitcases while walking a medium sized muzzled dog with a bright pink diaper through the airport. Which was quite a site and I saw several people talking photos or recording me.
After we finally got to our gate the crew had no idea what to do with our dog as they had never seen someone try to fly with a dog in cabin before. They eventually let us on the plane, which led to some very angry confrontations with some of the Malay Muslims as dogs are viewed as a haram to many of the Muslims in the country, and they were incensed that a dog was allowed in the cabin. The cabin crew after ~10 minutes asked if we could put our dog in her crate, but I told them our crate was oversized luggage and since that is loaded first they'd need to unload almost all the luggage, put her in and then reload everything. They eventually switched all the Malays sitting near us with non Muslims and let us know that once we go to our destination we would need to wait in the plane until everyone else departed, and they brought our dog's crate to the plane so she could be placed in there as the country requires dogs entering to be in their crate. You would have thought they would have checked that before letting me on the plane. All of this ended up delaying the flight by almost 30 minutes which we felt bad about as this was a commuter airline that is known for its regular on time flights, but it was outside our control.
Thankfully after ~24 hours of travel we all arrived safely, and my wife was able to find some soothing food to settler her stomach. I am also fairly sure that was the first and last time my dog will fly, since we don't plan to move out of the country any time soon and after that headache I wouldn't want to bring her on another flight.
Well, there was the infamous Delta Crowdstrike incident in 2024. Which I mentioned on Tildes when it was happening. That was "fun." At least got all my money back.
Actually, a decent trip disruption was when I was flying home from an overnight trip that I took for a job interview back in like 2016. RDU to MCI via MDW. When I got to my layover in Chicago, I found out that all flights were cancelled due to bad storms coming in. My flight to MCI was auto rebooked for like 7am the next morning.
Since it was weather-related, the airline wasn't going to put people up in hotels. Given that it was like 6pm in Chicago, I didn't exactly feel like spending the next 12ish hrs at Midway. But, since I had lived in Chicago previously, I knew my way around. So I made a little overnight trip of it. Booked a decent, but cheap hotel off North Michigan Avenue. Took the CTA "L" into the city and checked-in.
Unfortunately, the airline didn't release checked bags. So all I had was my backpack and laptop. All I was wearing was jeans and a t-shirt and a light jacket. And it was a little chilly in Chicago that evening, due to the storms that came through. So went to Marshall's to find a cheap long-sleeve button-up. Then went to CVS for a few toiletries and snacks. Then I think I hit up Portillo's for some Italian Beefs and otherwise just walked around town a bit sightseeing, before heading back to the hotel.
I did have to check out super early at like 4-5am to get back to Midway for my morning flight. But I think it was worth paying like $90 to get an actual bed and the ability to shower, and have privacy. And I got to get out into the city. Impromptu Chicago trip, essentially.
The other fun experience was in HKG. It was 2017 and I was flying back to the US from the Philippines. I got to HKG around 11pm and I had like a 12hr overnight layover. Initially, my plan was to try to leave the airport, but given that it was so late, there probably wasn't much I could've done in Hong Kong. So I just stayed in the airport. Most shops and restaurants were closing when I landed, which kinda sucked. But it was also super empty. So I just walked around, exploring the place, while playing PokemonGO for a few hours. Eventually I found a nice, comfy place to sleep. Pretty sure I was the only person in that entire wing. Which was weird to think about. But at least it was quiet. I think around 6am, things started opening up, so was able to get a coffee and re-up on snacks.
I will never forget flying from SFO to JFK and back from JKF to SFO in September 2001.
A few weeks after 9/11, my grandfather passed away. We flew to JFK to handle his funeral and be there with my grandma. Flying back home after a week, we went through the new security measures. In SFO, they checked our things, but it wasn't as traumatizing for me as going home: at JFK, they unpacked my entire bag (mind you, I was 10 and had just had my first period ever on 9/11/2001 and didn't know what to expect). When I say unpacked my entire bag, I mean literally everything; they took out every single training bra and dirty pair of underwear, all of my period products that I brought with me, everything. Not only did they unpack it, they held it all up, one by one, for everyone to see, and made comments on all of it as they were doing it. It was two men, my mom, and me. My mom didn't say a thing and just let them do it. When they were done, they literally left all of my clothes, clean, dirty, my period products, my books, my school stuff, everything—all in one messy combined pile and told me I was clear and could move on. I had to stand there and quickly repack everything while all three yelled at me to hurry up and get out of the way.
'>:{
I'm super unhappy with these TSA agents from quarter century ago and if I had spacetime travelling powers I would go back in time and give them a hard stare and offer a young Habituallytired a friendly older aunty understanding look. It doesn't matter that everyone had their own things on their mind at the time and if anyone was carefully scrutinizing a child's undergarments then they're gross perverts. That still sounds like a terrible experience and I wish you didn't have to go through that.
Hugs. Thanks. It was a really sad time for me, and it was made so much worse by everything else. Yeah, those guys were perverts, and my own parent didn't help me. I think if I weren't as stubborn as I am and have always been, I would hate to travel or fly now thanks to that experience, but no, i'm stubborn and refuse to let those freaks halt my love of air travel.
Yeah don't let the creepy jerkwads win. Travel lots. Stuff your suitcase full of giant silicone um... Forget where I was going with this. But yeah I'm glad you were resilient and you didn't let bad people limit your movement range and fun experiences.
A lot of the older generation pretend if they don't talk about it or acknowledge it or make a fuss during, then an experience won't "stick"...when in reality it's the opposite. Much of the hurt is from the loneliness of having no one acknowledge harm or made to feel we are the responsible parties for these ick feelings no one else sees/ cares about. As I keep growing older the more I come to believe that our elders don't know how to do anything different to protect us because when they experienced abuse / harrassment, it was so prevalent it was a near certainty they did, they were likewise not protected.
Thank you for sharing your story, it helps to break the cycle for everyone. We're generationally moving upwards because of women deciding to live bravely, braver than our ancestors have done, and I'm so thrilled for our young people.
Tangential example. At a recent pap, the obgyn told me that's likely the last time I'd ever have to do it. That the next one will be take home shallow swab kit, and that most of our younger folks with cervixes would never ever have to be near a speculum. This is partially because lots of folks with cervix spoke out against the procedure/equipment and spreading news about HPV vaccines, instead of pretending it's not happening and not talking about it.
Oh man, I would love to never have to see a speculum again! Those things are actually traumatizing. Thank you young people!
Tokyo Narita 2016 :
they had a cultural experience booth where some ladies will dress you up with traditional kimono with ALL the layers and ALL the accessories. All of them. I was crazy surprised by how many layers there are. I had a great time being prettied up. But the ladies had an even better time dressing up my then very young daughter. I thought she was already massively adorable by the second and third layer but it just kept going. Matching socks, sandles, purse, umbrella etc just extra icing on the experience mochi cake.
Amsterdam Schiphol, mid 2000s :
a short Ryanair layover turned into three day visit due to volcanic eruption (or was it ice storm?) . Because we were stranded, we had to line up for every single flight going to our destination on stand by, which sucked. By the third line I said to the counter staff, hey rather than us badgering like this, can you just schedule us for a sure ticket whenever that might be? The two staff looked at each other, shrugged and said sure that makes more sense, and booked us two days later. Our hotels and breakfasts were paid for in the meantime. My travel companion insisted we stay close to the airport, so we did not go to the Miffy Dick Bruna house (now Miffy museum) in Utrecht, sadly. The Rijksmuseum airport was a delightful find with rotation of masterpieces from the much bigger one in town, by the way, definitely worth the visit. This is also where I discovered stroopwafels.
Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport, circa mid 90s :
childhood memories of sharp banks into what looks to be way too close to apartment buildings before landing. Check out this cool photo from CNN
Wikipedia addendum
The Kai Tak checkerboard approach is so iconic, that's awesome that you got to fly on it. This cockpit video of a 747-200 flying it in rain is crazy to watch.
:D 💕 what a great video. Apparently there's fan made aviation sim levels of the approach and they're considered very difficult. That rain in the video....phew! I've refused to drive at 0ft altitude at only 100Km/hr.
Two, one happy, one sad:
Sometime in the late 80's or early 90's, we were on a flight with a layover through Chicago O'Hare. It was one of my first times to fly. I vividly remember going down the pedestrian tunnel with the neon light art installation. I still have a small slice of the sense of wonder, that feeling of a magical experience, even all these years later.
I was just there a few weeks ago, and sad to see some of the tubes are burned out. But the little first-must-burn inside still loved seeing it again.
In 2001, my younger sister was in an early college program at Simon's Rock in Massachusetts. Their schedule was set up so that students come home two weeks after every six weeks, and there was no summer break. That meant she had flown home before the 9/11 attacks, and would fly back afterward.
I remember taking her to the airport with my parents. There were national guard soldiers with automatic rifles everywhere. For the first time, we could not accompany her to the gate. Ticketed passenger sonny past security. I'll always remember the helpless feeling of watching her go through that line alone, and wondering why we had to send her off.
Now that I have a daughter of my own, I am more accustomed to it: knowing you have to send them out into the big bad world, and you can't protect them. But I never forgot my first time.
It's 2000. I'm in my late 20ties and flying from Buenos Aires to San Francisco, with a stop in Miami.
For some reason I can't remember I had to carry my backpack to the next plane.
On the way there I ask someone who works at the airport for a smoking area. She points to a door, and I find myself in a parking lot. With all my belongings, not having gone through customs or emigration. If I had started walking no one would have missed me for a long time.
Story 1
When I was a child - say 11 or 12 - I needed to take a plane to go to a math contest not so far away from my country. I was technically an unaccompanied minor but several other parents were there and I was kind of liking the independence of chilling in an airport alone. One of the parents asked me to buy food for the group and I was in line at Popeye's. The guy in front of me offered to buy my order. I smiled and thanked him but refused since I was technically ordering for like four people and perhaps he assumed it was for just one. As an adult, I don't know what to make of that situation. Was he a genuinely nice guy or was it for something else?
Story 2
I just flew into a city without an apartment, just an AirBnB booked for a month so that I could get the time to find one. Before I left, my parents added a box of biscuits to my luggage (that I knew of) to share with people (or not), because why not? When I arrived in the new city after the almost 24-hour journey, I contacted the AirBnB and panicked a bit since they were not replying immediately and I had nowhere to sleep. They eventually replied and I got directions. While on my way there, I realize that I was missing luggage. I usually count the number of bags I have before leaving a place but with the AirBnB anxiety and the fact that the biscuits were a last minute addition, I realized I left it just outside security but still within airport premises.
I was already on the bus to go to the AirBnB when I realized this. Since I flew into a city that freaks out about unattended luggage, I thought I should call them. They told me everything was fine and to just get my luggage back. I hesitated because who cares about losing biscuits right? But I went back anyway since they told me to. I was brought to the police office in the airport. I didn't even know that was a thing. I was scared shitless. The officer gave me a speech about how they had to assume the worst for the box and that the flow of people at the airport needed to be stopped for some time. And that thankfully it was not a busy day since stopping the flow of people would have delayed many flights and they would have charged it to me. I don't know how true that would be in retrospect but my sleepless self just said sorry and they said they would take my number and call me if I needed to pay for delays caused. I never got a call. Thankfully.
Story 3
I realized a bit late in the year that I was going to be in between jobs during the Christmas holidays. So I took a flight back to the country I grew up in since I've since moved to the other side of the world. Realizing the cheapest day to fly around those dates were Christmas day itself, I took a ticket that leaves that day. I didn't care enough about the celebrations if I'm being honest. I arrived to my starting city's airport and it was empty. Breezed through security. Great!
During the layover, the agents in the airport said it was overbooked. I was feeling groggy and sickly and they were offering a hotel stay and for me to fly the next day. I hemmed and hawed since my family already organized to take me next day and taking the hotel would be one day less of my visit home so I hesitated and evnetually a different group took the offer. I went through the boarding queue and my boarding pass beeped red. I was a bit scared. The agent gave my boarding pass to what I assume is someone higher up. I was scared that I'd be forced to stay in a hotel and stay in this layover city. I was then handed a new boarding pass. I looked at the ticket and the seat number changed. Like the lowest seat number I ever saw. I was upgraded to business class for the first time. It was a 10 hour flight and I missed almost half of it since I slept like a baby since the seat reclined horizontally and I didn't even know that was possible. Now I'm always hoping to be upgraded again.
I love surprise upgrades to business :3 it's so much roomier and it feels like the FAs are having a better time too....
Pretty sure the biscuit guy was just giving you a hard time being mean. Surely you can't be the only person to have left an item outside of security. * Eye roll*
And Popeye's guy was probably just being friendly :) as an adult now everyone look like practically babies to me, and one meal costs nothing to me now compared to when I was very young everything cost dearly. If you look somewhat nerdy as well then a grown up might have wanted to show support for what was probably a hard time for some :)
I remember being an unaccompanied minor in the ATL airport for a layover, being really hungry, and the line at the pulled pork sandwich shop was really tiny (designed for people not luggage) and it was already crowded full of people.
I guess my parents were too cheap to pay for checked luggage because I had a big suitcase that was almost as big as me that I was using as a carry-on. So I asked a security lady if she could watch my suitcase while I ordered food, and of course she said no.
I was surprised by this because I didn't know yet about the dangers of unattended luggage so I thought she was just being mean. I thought security people were supposed to look after bags and prevent thieves, right? But instead they exist for a more abstract purpose. And so I somehow ordered food but because I had a big suitcase taking up the whole entrance I moved out and waited to the side of the restaurant but I was too far away to hear them call my order number.
So I waited to the side of the restaurant awkwardly for 20 minutes and it seemed like everyone was getting their food fast so I was surprised that my order was taking so long and when I went back to ask about my order number I guess it was already completed about 20 minutes ago because it was already kinda cold.
Awww that's not a fun experience :(
Can I post a bus station/Greyhound story? Cause I'm going to.
Back in college I dated a girl in a city about 3 hours from where I lived. For the first year of college I did not have a car on campus, so I would take the Greyhound bus to her city. For those that aren't in the US, Greyhound is/was about the cheapest way you could travel and it's notoriously "bad." For the record, I never had what I could consider a terrible experience. Mostly you're just traveling with people that can't afford to travel any other way. Most of them just want to get where they're going like you do.
Anyways, I rode the bus from my city to hers without incident. I got off the bus and went to wait for my girlfriend to come pick me up in the bus station lobby. As I'm standing there minding my own business, a very large woman comes out of the women's restroom and proceeds to pull her dress off over her head. She's wearing nothing underneath. She then squatted right there in the middle of the lobby in front of I don't know how many people and starts pissing all over the floor. After she's finished, she sprinted out of the building (rather quickly for a woman her size).
Near me there are two security guards standing there, all of us with the same OMFG jaw dropped face. One of them looks at the other and says "Well, are you chasing her or am I?" The other guy started running and said over his shoulder "I guess you have to get the mop out, sucker!" I followed the guard outside to see what would happen and I saw the woman sprinting down the street, buck naked. Everyone she passed just stopping in their tracks and making the same "OMFG" face. The guard gave up after 20 or so yards and just turned around and walked back into the station.
My girlfriend came up just then and said "What the hell was that?" and all I could say was "A piss and run incident."
As far as airport experiences, the worst was a return flight from Oslo to NYC in early January. We were stuck in Oslo and left late due to snowstorms there. Then when we landed in JFK airport a few hours later, they had also had a snowstorm over night. Our plane was the first one to land in something like 24 hours. The airport did not have any baggage handlers available due to the storm, and since it was an international flight that we had to go through customs after, we could not leave the baggage claim area.
We stayed in that baggage claim for 6 or 7 hours as more and more flights landed and people got off but couldn't get their bags. Baggage claim is one of those classic liminal spaces - there aren't really places to comfortable wait. You're meant to move through "quickly." Anyway, people were posting up everywhere they could. Sitting on the baggage carousels. People were lining up at every available outlet to plug in their phones. The bathrooms were disgusting after a few hours.
We did finally get our bags but by then we had missed our connecting flight. We were put on a new flight the next day at like 6am. By the time we made it to the hotel (which the airline provided, thankfully) we had enough time to shower and nap for like an hour then we had to go back to the airport. Probably the worst travel experience of my life.
Drugs? It's drugs right? Mental illness ? Something perfectly innocent like.....maybe a spider/gecko/scorpion fell into her dress before she had a chance to use the toilet.
I always think of that poor young man, Tim (may his memory be eternal and for him to be at rest), who was murdered on a Greyhound by an insane person.
I've been on long haul busses before a number of times, it's really the least happy way to travel.
This story is memorable for me since it really taught me that I should take the advice of "get to the airport 2 hours before a domestic flight" seriously, along with teaching me how crowded they can get during Thanksgiving. My first year of university, I went to Arizona State University, which is located ~5 miles away from Phoenix's airport. There's a light rail line which connects the university to the airport and only takes ~15 minutes which was super convenient. I remember that year, I was going home for Thanksgiving and my friend, who had flown out that Tuesday, told me the airport was completely empty when he flew. Heeding this, on Wednesday I decided that I could get there an hour before my flight. This was a huge mistake since the entire metro area basically piled into the airport to make similar journeys to mine. As a result, I got massively delayed in security. Phoenix airport is a rectangle and I was on the opposite corner of the concourse I needed to be in. Never in my life have I sprinted through an airport with my suitcase and backpack, my name being called over and over again on the PA. I managed to make it to my gate just as the gate attendant put their hand on the door handle to close the gate. I was out of breath but they let me on the flight thankfully.
Any American who has flown during Thanksgiving knows that airports get hectic the day before and the day of Thanksgiving but as a dumb 18-year-old, I didn't know better. My flight was packed too and since it was Southwest, I had to make do with a crappy middle seat. Luckily though, before pushback from the gate, there was a mom and her young kid seated in an exit row and flight attendants told them they needed to swap. The moment flight attendants asked who wanted their seats, I put my hand up and managed to snag one.
Besides this though, I've been fortunate to not really have any bad experiences at airports, only really with airlines with lost baggage, delays, and random reroutes. For example, once I had a Southwest flight direct from Oakland, CA to Chicago (Midway) changed to Oakland to Minneapolis to Houston to Midway. Southwest had changed our booking the night before our flight and didn't tell us. I was flying with family that time too so once we arrived in Chicago my dad chewed out Southwest and made them give us a direct flight back. We couldn't even get off the plane during those stops so by the time we landed in Chicago we were all famished.
I have some but I'll share my favourite.
When I emigrated 3 years ago I obviously had like two suitcases full of all my crap. One had as much medication for my prescription drugs as I could get from the pharmacy, so I had loads of buffer while I setup a GP.
To no-one's surprise, I got stopped by customs as I tried to leave the airport (I missed my train too which sucked). The guy spend ages itemizing all my drugs, asking me questions about what they were and what I took them for, blah blah.
I got the vibe he was not happy, and I was getting a bit nervous.
Then he pulled out a small pink bag out the case and asked "what's this?"
I'm like "sex toys and condoms, I brought them with me"
Dude froze. Didn't even look, then just started putting stuff back in the case. He muttered "you're not allowed to bring in more than 60 days of any one drug, but I'll let you off this time"
I thought they'd be battle hardened to stuff like sex toys, but apparently not! Maybe he was new lol.
I think I have two.
The first happened at Tokyo Haneda a few years ago. I had a work trip in Fukuoka, and my office is in Austin, so a bunch of us had to fly AUS->DFW->HND->FUK. Our DFW->HND flight ended up being nearly an hour late because of extremely strong (~110kt) headwinds over the Pacific and our layover there was fairly short. We made it through customs relatively fast-ish, but then we had to pick up our bags and re-check them on the other side. They have a little desk specifically for that, but when the agents saw our (mine and my girlfriend's) tickets and such a short layover, she hurriedly gave us tickets to the monorail to get to the other terminal saying it was faster than the free bus. We were exhausted, jet lagged, and had never been to Japan before, so we were super out of our element, but we managed to find the monorail, use our tickets, get back through security at the other terminal, and then make it to our flight in time. Turns out, the bus would've been fine, that's what all my coworkers took, but it's just something I remember.
The other story happened at Winnipeg when I was 13 or so (~2012). We were flying back from visiting family and had to go YWG->MSP->DFW because there are (obviously) no direct flights between Winnipeg and DFW. Our flight was scheduled for something like 7:30 am. We boarded the plane on time... but after about 15 minutes they told us there was an issue with the plane and we'd all have to deplane and wait for it to be fixed. Around an hour later, they'd fixed it, but the crosswind had picked up too much for our tiny CRJ or E175 or whatever to take off, so we had to sit... and wait... and wait... and wait... and wait...
I don't think a single flight left from the post-US-pre-clearance section of the airport for the entire rest of the day. Eventually, around 7 pm, after sitting in the airport for the past 12 hours, they finally rescheduled our flight for the next morning at 6. That one ended up leaving on time, but because of pre-departure customs, we had to go back through Canadian customs when we left the airport for the night, and then back through American customs again in the morning... and then had a 7 hour layover at MSP.
On top of all that, the American section of YWG is like 4 gates with a tiny duty-free shop, a Tim Horton's, and a TGI Friday's, so we didn't even really have anything fun to do the whole day while we waited.
I guess thankfully my flying experiences have been mostly uneventful.
At some point when we were flying back from somewhere I don't remember, we had a layover in Chicago and arrived late so we missed our connecting plane if I remember correctly. We were just flying to Buffalo, as we lived right across the border. The flight they eventually got us on was a free upgrade to first class. So the only time in my life that I have flown first class, it was a free upgrade but only for like an hour.
Amusingly I am currently at the Toronto airport waiting to fly to Chicago for work. It's really only significant in that it's my first time ever taking advantage of an airport lounge thanks to my credit card.
You got O'Hared. I don't think I've ever been there without sitting on the tarmac for half an hour after landing, getting changed to another gate, and having my intentionally spacious layover become a rush across the facility.
I have a connection there later this month, and I opted for the flight with a four hour layover over a 50 minute one. Because the short one's an invitation for disaster.
I have a ~2 hour layover there tomorrow... o no :)
Sounds wise. I guess we were lucky. We were apparently the last plane to take off that O'Hare accepted due to weather and we were able to land on a closer runway. The flight was crazy fast and I got off the plane super fast.
Small world! I’m also in YYZ at the moment. Just about to board my next flight.
If only I read this 10 hours ago! I hope your travels were smooth. We had a bumpy landing.
@kfwyre @Wafik ha tomorrow I'm flying to Toronto via a layover at ORD :)
Unofficial Tildes meetup at the Toronto airport, everyone! Get your tickets now! 😂
I guess there are worse places for a meet up... Barely.
Small world. Safe travels!
What's it like in First? Do they have champagne service for an hour long ride?
I was a child but I think they gave my parents the option? It was 30+ years ago. I think maybe I got a chocolate chip cookie and I was excited about that but I basically fell asleep immediately and woke up in Buffalo so I "enjoyed" first class for even less conscious time.
I used to fly a lot of short distances for work. It got to the point where I was regularly upgraded. Champagne isn't too common (though I have seen it around dinnertime flights), but they absolutley offer you something upon boarding and take your in flight order before take off.
Honestly, premium coach options are what I'm willing to pay for. To me 1st is the convenience of getting off the plane first and if there is any hiccups you are actually taken care of.
I flew yesterday and today in a coach class. Both flights had us at the departure gate for an extra hour (this is the beat place to be in a delay, btw, bathrooms stay open). 1st was happily drinking sodas and waters while the rest of us were just glad the APU was powering the A/C.
1st class seats are also much more comfortable in my experience.
Hmmm interesting, considering they're way way more money than even business class. But like you said if something unexpected happens that's when a lot of other nice things kick in for premium seats.
Having said that I'm eyeing those lay flat Transpacific seats right now.... I'm okay with bringing my own snacks and drinks and flew coach my whole life, and I figure even if I order a few drinks it's still much cheaper. But the appeal of getting good sleep sounds pretty good to me.
Domestic/shorthaul first/business class often are just front seats plus extra legroom (sometimes…. Lufthansa sort haul business class is the same seats as economy). The fancy and expensive first class is mostly a long haul thing.
My 1st class experience is entirely short distance and 90% of flights I take are on airlines with no business class. Think 5 hours or less, usually 2 or less. But, food and drinks have always been included and nothing ever required me taking out my wallet other than WiFi if I could reasonably expense it.
I will say this. If you can afford the more premium offerings on a longer trip, go for it. They are a relative luxury on your body compared to other offerings.
After having experienced it, I regularly think about paying the obscene upgrade fees. The older I get, the more I think about it. My personal cheapness always wins though, haha.
Edit: I just reread what you said. Yes, you could never drink enough to make up the cost difference! Especially when premium coach can often come with free drinks too.
Oh I definitely hear you on the getting old ---> consider paying more for my body ----> but cheapness route for sure....
My second time on a plane-based trip, and my first time buying my own ticket and being alone at the airport, I was flying from LAX to PDX. I got to the airport three hours early because I didn't know what to expect for the lines, I got through security, I went to my gate (I always go to my gate first, I'm that guy), then bopped around as far as I could get in the terminals. I believe I was in 5, and it was connected to a couple others.
My flight got delayed half an hour. No biggie, we're chillin', I'll get there.
Delayed an hour.
And another hour.
Some time goes by.
Another hour.
I will have been at the airport for six hours before my flight takes off.
Yet another hour.
At the end of the day, my flight got delayed 5 hours. For a 2.5 hour flight. I was supposed to arrive at 1:30PM in Portland. I didn't land til about 6:30PM that evening.
Every flight I've had since then, except the one that was cancelled and re-scheduled five days later because the PNW was covered in an ice sheet in 2023, has been on-time with no issue. I saw so much of LAX that day just walking trying not to be an anxious wreck.
Yeah trickle delays are the worst. :< be so much better if they say right away okay we can't make it, go relax and we'll take off in 5 hours.