Post here when you are stranded while traveling

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Messages 1 - 11 of total 11 in this topic
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 29, 2016 - 01:08am PT
Mine is pretty light, but I'll bet this can unearth some good stories.

I'm sitting in Denver airport at 2am local, sleeping bodies all around me. No hotels to be found. My flight was delayed twice, and the trains in the airport broke by shuttling people back and forth but not going to the exit.

Only lodging I could find prior to considering the airport floor, was an AirBnB crash on a couch! I'm waiting for the dude to come pick me up... Shoulda taken a taxi but I thought he was already here when he was actually 20 mins away.

I have to meet people at 7am before a presentation, wanted to get in the general vicinity to mitigate the risk of traffic and acts of God from stopping me.

At least I've had a good long weekend playing at Shuteye with the taco gang, makes it easier to go with the flow.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jun 29, 2016 - 01:23am PT
Got stranded in Houston on a Continental flight returning home from Cozumel, because of aircraft mechanical issues.

Continental gave us a lodging and meal voucher - good only at a hotel that was closed for renovations.

Spent the whole night at the airport trying to get Continental to pony up for a voucher to a hotel that open.

Continental ended up giving us a travel voucher for a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the USA.

We used the voucher to fly out west, but then when we tried to fly home Continental refused to honor the return trip ticket.

= = = =

Got stranded at LAX, trying to fly to Sydney. The next day the only seat available was in first class, so I got a free 1st class upgrade on a 15-hour flight. (Fully reclining beds in 1st class)

rottingjohnny

Sport climber
Shetville , North of Los Angeles
Jun 29, 2016 - 05:10am PT
Waiting to hear from LeBron...
Escopeta

Trad climber
Idaho
Jun 29, 2016 - 07:18am PT
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Yeah but at least you've got wifi and a short walk to the Latte shop.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jun 29, 2016 - 07:34am PT
Sperm whales stranded on a New Zealand beach.
"Monstro to the white courtesy telephone, please."

Both these and several others died while just one was rescued by a fishing boat which hauled its nets around the leviathan, dragging it into deeper water.
sheepdog

Trad climber
just over the hill
Jun 29, 2016 - 07:49am PT
Flying from Denver to Vancouver one night, going to check out the UBC Geophysics department as I was accepted into the PhD program there. Snowfall in Denver delayed the flight (this was 1986 on Frontier). Airline announced flight delay of 1 hour, ..., 2 hours, ... After 4 hours I'm sleeping at the gate. They wake us up at 1:30am and hustle everyone on a plane. Plane flies to Calgary. I ask the attendant what happens in Calgary? We'll be met and onward flight arranged, etc. etc. We get to Calgary and there's nobody there. I scramble and find a flight to Vancouver. It was a mostly empty 747 flying bank receipts in the cargo hold. I get an hour's sleep, we land in Vancouver at 6:30am. I get picked up at 8am and tour the department, sans shower. Can't say I made a great impression. On my return I pursue Frontier for a refund for my Calgary-Vancouver ticket, they went bankrupt and closed up later that week.
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
Jun 29, 2016 - 08:17am PT
In 1977 or 78 I was on one of the first educational envoys into the newly opened China.
One of our (highly escorted) trips was to be to an outlying area. Outside of "Peking" as it was still known by Westerners. Anyway, we were on a large prop plane that looked like something from the 30s. Probably was. We taxied down the runway, sounding like a bucket of bolts. We came to a screeching halt. I thought for sure we were going to be taken prisoners and sent to a re education camp. Little Red Book here I come.
There was never any explanation for the delay (or if there was I couldn't understand it). We spent over 4 hours in blistering 100+ degree heat with limited water. No Evian bottles in those days just the little Dixie cups handed out by our "escorts". Ground support did bring us out ice cream twice, which in that heat was, well, a slop fest.

Even as westernized as China has gotten, no interest in returning.

Susan
overwatch

climber
Arizona
Jun 29, 2016 - 08:27am PT
When I clicked on this thread I thought this was going to be a place where you could get someone to pick you up if you were stranded


I am getting stay away from continental and United, thanks
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 29, 2016 - 08:58am PT
Cragman wins and anyone who flies in S America is asking for it, especially if they're dumb
enough to book on Aerolineas Argentinas, like me. Oy vey! They could only be schmutzes
if they had half a brain, between them all! I knew we were in trouble when we walked past
the cockpit and the pilots were both working on a coloring book. What, you think I'm kidding?
The airplane they were coloring had three wings!

So, after sitting at the little airport by the river (BA) for hours they tell us we're NOT going to
Iguazu and that we should go downstairs to get our luggage and hotel vouchers for the night.
OMG! What they meant was it would take all night to GET the vouchers. It was a good thing
I ran with the bulls in Spain although that was orderly compared to this. Eventually we get a
cab and give him the note with the hotel and address. After driving around for a while it
becomes clear he used to be a AA pilot as he has no idea where he's going. I discreetly
suggested he use his radio to ask the dispatcher for directions. It got worse...
dikhed

climber
State of fugue and disbelief
Jun 29, 2016 - 09:07am PT
you said AeriolaAnus
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
Jun 29, 2016 - 09:42am PT
Moose, with a cat that looks like that I'm surprised you even have eyes left!

Is that a Polish cat? It looks Euro.

Susan
Messages 1 - 11 of total 11 in this topic
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