Have you ever missed a flight or train?

[wanderingback]

My partner and I were randomly talking yesterday and I mentioned that I’ve never missed a scheduled flight or train. He was incredulous that I was weird for that to never happen to me lol. He was like you’ve never been stuck in traffic or anything?! And I was like uhh yeah that has happened but I still leave plenty of time to still make scheduled departures.

He’s missed the train since we’ve been together plenty of times, eye roll. He literally shows up 1 minute before scheduled to leave and wonders why he misses the train. 1 time on a train that he takes all the time he got on the train going in the opposite direction! He’s definitely missed 1 or 2 flights that I can remember as well.

Since (pre-Covid) I took the train so much, it’s not like I’d show up 30 minutes in advance, but I’d def give myself a good 15-20 minutes cushion. At the airport I like to give myself an hour cushion. Apparently that’s a radical idea to my partner that (pre-Covid) took flights and trains multiple times per month, ha

So what about you?
Occasional missed transportation? Regularly? Never?

ETA: I don’t judge anyone or him for missing transportation because I know some people are just late to stuff. I just thought it was funny he was really judging me for never missing transportation!

[rondonalddo]

Yes, but only connecting flights when the flight before was late getting in.

[Deleted]

Yes to the train. But only because I use to take it daily in to the city and even if I missed it, there would be another along in another 20 minutes or so. Never a flight. Like you, I always build in at least an hour cushion, usually 2. I'd rather sit around in the airport for an extra bit of time before my scheduled flight, then have to wait around for hours upon hours until I can get my flight rescheduled.

[wanderingback]

Oh I did think of 1 time...
I was taking a bus from a town in Zimbabwe to a town in S Africa. I was then supposed to get a flight. The bus was waaaay behind even though I left something like a 6 hour cushion (I should’ve known better!), still wasn’t going to make it. So I had to get together money to put minutes on my phone to call the airline to switch my flight. But with several hours to go before the flight was scheduled to leave I switched it. So I guess that’s my only missed flight technically!

[icedcoffee]

I've missed both. Flight due to layovers (so...idk if that really counts?) Train I've missed too, but that's in Europe where train travel is abundant and common so we could just get the next one so idk if that really counts either.

A few years ago my H and I were flying and we were just drinking at a restaurant and all of a sudden I got a phone call from my airline asking where we were as our flight was doing final boarding. We've never run so fast. It was weird though because our departure time was still over 30 minutes out, but for some reason they boarded super early. So...we almost missed it sitting in the airport. LOL

[TR]

I commuted from Delaware to Philly for about 6 months and I think maybe twice missed the train. It was hard to find parking and so sometimes I'd just barely miss it because I couldn't find a parking space. The idea of missing a flight gives me heart palpitations. I think it was 05heel who said it wasn't uncommon for her to miss a flight lol. And it gave me such anxiety.

[Whitecaps]

We missed our train to Germany in Brussels, but only because H left something in our hotel room and thought he'd have enough time to go get it and make it back. He did not.

[egishere]

I've missed a flight before when traveling for work. Security at DIA can be terrible especially on Monday mornings. After that happened I immediately signed up for TSA pre check!

[Aloe Vera]

This has never happened to me. Just the logistics and $$ of rebooking everything gives me nightmares. I give myself plenty of time, especially with flights.

[fivechickens]

My parents have been divorced since I was 2. My dad has always lived out of state from us. He cause my bro and I to miss a flight back home. My mom was LIVID.

Lol

[flex]

Yes I missed a flight while working in Alaska. I was so embarrassed as I was supposed to be joining co-workers, including my boss, for a meeting with members. They were already there and were waiting for me. Ever since then I always make sure to allow for plenty of travel time to get to the airport. I still have bad dreams about missing flights. ::shudder::

[puppyluv]

I just had this same conversations with friends the other night. I have only missed a flight due to missing a connection when the first flight was delayed.

[esdreturns]

I missed a flight once because I got a flat tire on the way to the airport. I had just bought the car and didn't realize there was no spare. I had to wait for AAA to tow it, and get another ride to the airport. Luckily I was able to get on the next flight out.

[yaga]

I've missed plenty of trains. But I typically take NJ transit from NY to Philly, so it's more like I'll miss the earlier train I was maybe hoping to get. Or I had to stay at work a bit longer and cut it too close.

I missed one flight to Copenhagen in 2019. There was a system outage with checking in, which caused super long lines. The employee who I asked if I needed to jump the line (they were calling other passengers for flights at the same time) completely blew me off and then I got a phone call from the gate asking where I was. I wasn't the only one who missed that flight. I was so incredibly angry. It was supposed to be 24 hours in Copenhagen before my next stop, so I missed most the day sitting in the Oslo airport. I asked if they could just fly me to my next destination (Zagreb) rather than deal with that, but no go. I had a nice dinner in Copenhagen, found a hole in the wall bar, then woke up early the next morning for my flight out.

[cosmowife]

I’m a very anxious traveler so I am always very over-prepared. I’ve never missed a flight or train. However, once my ex and I went to the wrong airport - there are two DC airports and we went to the wrong one. We didn’t realize until we tried to check our bags. We practically ran out and still managed to make our flight at the other airport lol.

[yaga]

Oh and I had left myself enough time to check my bag (I had checked in online and had precheck) and get dinner in the airport. But instead I stood in line for like 2 hours before checking my bag while Norwegian was like, oh yeah your flight won't leave without you, just wait your turn.

I really should have spoken up or talked to someone else, but I guess lesson learned?

[Patsy Baloney]

No, I am clenched much too tightly to throw a wrench in the works by missing a flight/train. I'm guessing I probably don't travel enough via plane to have ever had the opportunity to miss a flight, but I travel by train quite frequently during "normal" times and I'm white-knuckled at the thought of missing it.

[wanderingback]

Mar 30, 2021 11:20:40 GMT -5 cosmowife said:

I’m a very anxious traveler so I am always very over-prepared. I’ve never missed a flight or train. However, once my ex and I went to the wrong airport - there are two DC airports and we went to the wrong one. We didn’t realize until we tried to check our bags. We practically ran out and still managed to make our flight at the other airport lol.

The interesting thing is that I’m not even anxious and if I did miss a flight or train I’d be like oh well, no biggie. But I thought it was common for at least most people to plan a little ahead to not miss stuff, but apparently my partner thinks that’s weird lol.

Knock on wood that I don’t come upon a streak of bad luck soon!

[mrssandro]

I missed a flight to Florida. The Airline forgot to print me a boarding pass so I could not get through security. I was able to get a boarding pass and make it the gate but DH and I had miscommunication and went to the back of the line for the security so the flight was missed. I have never been so stressed out. It was memorial day weekend and we under estimated how many people would be there. Never again. I get to the airport 3 hours early no matter what.

[bittybomb]

I've literally ran to catch the train too many times to count.  In pre Covid times when I would use the trains with some frequency, there was always another one within a half hour so not too huge a deal.  I've also tried to catch so many trains heading back home but missed them by a millisecond and had to hang around Penn Station waiting for the next one.  

Never missed a flight but almost did and had to run through the airport as they were calling our names overhead. Mortifying and that was 100% my husband's fault.

[shauni27]

I have only missed flights that were connections due to original flight being delayed. I do not count that though, as they got me on another flight and it had nothing to do with me running late or anything.

[Pilsy]

I missed a flight once, and I'm not sure it will never happen again. lol

[sillygoosegirl]

I miss the train all the time, but the train I normally takes runs every 15 minutes, so no, I do not show up early. I don't think I've ever missed a train I had a reserved seat on.

Most of the flights I've missed were connections due to the first flight being late. I did miss one while I was a weekly business traveler. It wasn't a big deal, as it was a commute flight that ran every 2 hours. It would have been a much bigger waste of my time to arrive earlier at the airport every week.

[sofamonkey]

I missed a flight once because I looked at the trailer mr I landed at my destination as my departure time. I sobbed. I am usually super early to the airport. Lol I got home and they didn’t even make fun of me for breaking down!

[yentl]

Yes, I've missed a flight in college when I got too drunk the night before. I was on standby with a dude in the exact same situation as me so that helped my shame a bit.

The train I'm usually on time because the train is so easy to be on time for. The airport is more stressful to me. If we're talking subway, I just get on whatever train is coming. I shoot for the best time but doesn't always work out that way.

I have ADHD so it's pretty surprising to me that this hasn't happened more often honestly! Oh, actually I forgot about the time I booked a flight home for the wrong day. I ended up on a bus instead.

[al dente]

My dad is very meticulous and super on top of plans, but one time growing up we missed our flight by a whole day. Like he thought we flew out Saturday, and we got all packed up that morning and while checking the tickets realized our flight was really on Friday. I thought it was great though it was our flight to go home which I didn't want to.

One time my H and I were flying out and neither of our million alarms went off. We woke up one hour before the flight left. Idk how we managed but we still were able to get there on time but it was real close.

[Deleted]

Never, however I don't live around public train transportation.

But I give.. Plenty of time for flights cause he'll no to money and re booking etc

[savan]

No. Being late to anything is a huge anxiety trigger for me. I blame it on the fact that my mom was always late when I was growing up. I was always the last one to be picked up from any event and I HATED it.

[rikki]

I traveled weekly for several years. I’ve probably missed at least 40
flights — sometimes because a meeting ran late, sometimes missed connections, sometimes traffic, and sometimes honestly because I like to push the limit with time.

[cjcouple]

Both!
When I commuted into Boston on the commuter rail, once in a while I miss my usual train due to traffic or shuttle not being on time. I jump on the next one but it would cause between 45-1.5 hours depending on which one I missed.

I also missed a connecting flight once due to a delay on my first leg. I had to wait in Kansas airport for 8 hours! ugh