Summer 2022 Travel nightmare thread

[Anonymous]

It's not just flights. Reserved rental car through Hertz. 10 minutes before we were supposed to pick up the car, they called to tell me they didn't have any cars, due to ongoing supply issues. They'd known all along that they probably wouldn't have a car for me. But they could put me on a wait list, and I might get a car later that day or the next day. Then they gave me a hard time for canceling the reservation. I asked why I'd been able to reserve a car online if there were no cars (online showed quite a bit of availability). They said they have no control over the reservation website, and it doesn't reflect reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm definitely nervous for my flight to Portugal in less than 2 weeks. Going it is non-stop and we have ONLY carry-on's which was always the plan. Returning we have a layover in Montreal and I am nervous about that. I'm trying to prepare in the event that our return flight especially is delayed, prepping work for the possibility.

Covid is rising and monkeypox is spreading so that's not good either. I have good travel insurance so hopefully that will cover if there are any issues.

Most travel insurance doesn't cover issues related to pandemics; ours flat out said it wouldn't cover anything Covid related, even with expensive "cover everything" coverage.

[Anonymous]

Just got off a 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Dallas, TX and am traumatized by the disgusting food. Fine, no one expects gourmet meals, especially in coach, but the food was inedible, and the granola bar and almonds I packed as snacks won't get you through a 12 hour flight. Here is the "menu":

Dinner: Deep fried pork cutlets (not sure it was actually pork, some processed grey substance breaded and fried), covered in slimy scrambled eggs and brown gelatinous gravy over rice.

Snack: White bread sandwich with wasabi mayonnaise. They did include 3 grapes and a kit kat, so I ate that.

Breakfast: Soggy noodles in a sweet sticky tomato-ish sauce, with deep fried dough containing fish bits.

Thanks American Airlines!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just flew home from Paris yesterday and Charles de
Gaulle was an absolute mess. It took 1.5 hours for us to get through customs/security and we got to the gate 1 minute before departure. Thankfully, they held the plane for us. I strongly advise getting to the airport 3 hours early.

Dulles customs was also a slog. They had a monitor that showed all of the international arrivals and it said 12 flights landed within a 30 minute period so all of those people were in the customs line too. A mess.

In Paris' slight defense, CDG is like this on a good day pre-COVID.

It is the seventh circle of travel hell and the worst airport in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got off a 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Dallas, TX and am traumatized by the disgusting food. Fine, no one expects gourmet meals, especially in coach, but the food was inedible, and the granola bar and almonds I packed as snacks won't get you through a 12 hour flight. Here is the "menu":

Dinner: Deep fried pork cutlets (not sure it was actually pork, some processed grey substance breaded and fried), covered in slimy scrambled eggs and brown gelatinous gravy over rice.

Snack: White bread sandwich with wasabi mayonnaise. They did include 3 grapes and a kit kat, so I ate that.

Breakfast: Soggy noodles in a sweet sticky tomato-ish sauce, with deep fried dough containing fish bits.

Thanks American Airlines!

That sounds absolutely awful. What was the white bread sandwich supposed to be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My weds am flight to dc was cancelled last night. Wonder why it would be cancelled days in advance? Crew shortage?

Yes that's the most likely reason.

And the flight they rebooked me on was also cancelled. Unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

We had to cancel a trip to Europe planned for 2 years due to COVID hitting two family members within 10 days of travel departure. SO DISAPPOINTING. COVID SUCKS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an interesting thread.

Traveling by air is certainly difficult right now. It's largely due to the fact that the airlines (primarily because of staffing shortages) have almost no redundancy in place to absorb typical shocks to the system like severe weather.

I don't think the current chaos is entirely the airlines' fault. While I do think they deserve some blame for overscheduling flights and/or announcing new routes without having adequate infrastructure (i.e. planes and people) in place, nobody could have predicted how quickly demand for travel would explode this Spring and how many millions of people decided the pandemic was over and it was time to travel again. I'm sure things will slowly improve over the coming months.

And to all of the entitled complainers out there who are stomping their feet over missing their meetings, vacations, and weddings, etc: Grow up. Read the fine print. Know what you're entitled to and what you're not entitled to when you book a flight. The FAA makes that quite easy to review.

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights#Delayed-and-Cancelled-Flights

Do you work for an airline? Given current prices of airfare, it's difficult to imagine calling someone "entitled" who pays $$$ and then misses a wedding due to airline mismanagement.

The point is travelers have a responsibility to read the fine print - $$$ aside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got off a 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Dallas, TX and am traumatized by the disgusting food. Fine, no one expects gourmet meals, especially in coach, but the food was inedible, and the granola bar and almonds I packed as snacks won't get you through a 12 hour flight. Here is the "menu":

Dinner: Deep fried pork cutlets (not sure it was actually pork, some processed grey substance breaded and fried), covered in slimy scrambled eggs and brown gelatinous gravy over rice.

Snack: White bread sandwich with wasabi mayonnaise. They did include 3 grapes and a kit kat, so I ate that.

Breakfast: Soggy noodles in a sweet sticky tomato-ish sauce, with deep fried dough containing fish bits.

Thanks American Airlines!

Honestly airline food has been a disaster for a few years now. Surprisingly the two exceptions (food relatively edible) were Turkish Airlines and before that, Aeroflot. But not enough food is a common problem. I always pack at least a sandwich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got off a 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Dallas, TX and am traumatized by the disgusting food. Fine, no one expects gourmet meals, especially in coach, but the food was inedible, and the granola bar and almonds I packed as snacks won't get you through a 12 hour flight. Here is the "menu":

Dinner: Deep fried pork cutlets (not sure it was actually pork, some processed grey substance breaded and fried), covered in slimy scrambled eggs and brown gelatinous gravy over rice.

Snack: White bread sandwich with wasabi mayonnaise. They did include 3 grapes and a kit kat, so I ate that.

Breakfast: Soggy noodles in a sweet sticky tomato-ish sauce, with deep fried dough containing fish bits.

Thanks American Airlines!

Honestly airline food has been a disaster for a few years now. Surprisingly the two exceptions (food relatively edible) were Turkish Airlines and before that, Aeroflot. But not enough food is a common problem. I always pack at least a sandwich.

Forgot to add that European and American airlines are usually the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel nightmare would be flying to France with the OP of the other thread whose DD has a fever and cold symptoms.

Let’s be real, there is at least one person like this on every plane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had realized how bad things were before flying to Europe - I saw news of the heathrow baggage issue but it said it was specific to a few terminals so figured we were safe….. ended up taking 4 days to get our luggage, it was terrible. And buying replacement items in a foreign country is not always as easy as you think it may be! My poor child basically had a diaper duct taped to her because we couldn’t find the right size when we ran out! I pray our flights get us home safely next week without too much trouble!

Experienced travelers know to take at least one change of clothes and all critical items on board. This includes a hefty pile of diapers! My baggage was once delayed on a direct flight…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just flew home from Paris yesterday and Charles de
Gaulle was an absolute mess. It took 1.5 hours for us to get through customs/security and we got to the gate 1 minute before departure. Thankfully, they held the plane for us. I strongly advise getting to the airport 3 hours early.

Dulles customs was also a slog. They had a monitor that showed all of the international arrivals and it said 12 flights landed within a 30 minute period so all of those people were in the customs line too. A mess.

CDG is the worst airport I have ever encountered. Including small ones in backward countries. Must be the French, lol
Also I strongly advise to get Global Entry for returning home without delay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm definitely nervous for my flight to Portugal in less than 2 weeks. Going it is non-stop and we have ONLY carry-on's which was always the plan. Returning we have a layover in Montreal and I am nervous about that. I'm trying to prepare in the event that our return flight especially is delayed, prepping work for the possibility.

Covid is rising and monkeypox is spreading so that's not good either. I have good travel insurance so hopefully that will cover if there are any issues.

You should be ok unless you are flying TAP airlines which I heard was bad.
What can go wrong with a layover in Montreal? Canada is a civilized country so it shouldn’t be too bad worst case scenario you can even drive home
Don’t worry too much about covid as luckily the US has cancelled the testing requirement so you won’t get stuck at some quarantine dump. Happy travels!

[Anonymous]

My toxic trait is believing even though I have six flights this summer, none of mine will be affected in any way