Have You Ever Missed A Flight?

[Venilla]

I have never missed a flight (I had 2 times that I almost missed...) but I don't fly so much. I believe that in the DDF community where many sometimes fly multiple flights per week there are for sure some good stories... Please post yours!

[Dan]

If you've never missed a flight then you've wasted too much time at the airport.
I've cut things to the bone many times. Missed one flight that I can recall.

[Chapshnell]

Missed 1 flight, i'm not the one to come late especially with lounge passes etc.
but with BQE traffic you never know. Ive been lucky in this regard.

Ive been lucky.. Now delays? Oh man.. Thats happening too often. 

I will add this. TSA pre has helped quite a few times

[Chapshnell]

If you've never missed a flight then you've wasted too much time at the airport.
I've cut things to the bone many times. Missed one flight that I can recall.

You like to push the limits though
Not for me lol

[Dan]

If I've only missed 1 flight out of thousands I'd argue that I don't push them enough.

[Something Fishy]

Missed one flight, LIH-HNL on erev shabbos after getting a flat on the way.

"Flat tire rule" indeed.

[Hershelsdeals]

I missed one flight, Turkish Airlines Barcelona to Istanbul, and oh did they pay for it dearly.

I arrived 60 minutes before the flight, and they refused to issue a boarding pass.

I had a lot of close calls, mostly due to underestimating the security line wait.

[skyguy918]

Missed one flight, LIH-HNL on erev shabbos after getting a flat on the way.

"Flat tire rule" indeed.

I missed my flight HNL-JFK. We came in OGG-HNL that Thursday morning and spent the day at Pearl Harbor, with our flight home at 3 or 4PM in order to avoid Shabbos issues. We didn't think there was any major rush, and returning the rental took a little longer than we expected. The airport was empty, but when we tried to check in our luggage, they said it's 40 minutes to departure and you can't check luggage closer than 45 minutes prior.

This was the Delta mistake fare, which made it much more complicated to get placed on a new flight. They gave us a few options, some of which had change fees and/or fare charges and some which didn't - and none of which got us out of HA before Thursday evening. We ended up with HNL-SLC-JFK because it was free, despite it being one of the later options and being on separate standbys for each leg. They put us on HNL-SLC just before closing the doors. SLC-JFK was less nerve-wracking, as once they opened up the gate counter we got our seats pretty quickly.

Of course that wasn't the end of it. Around 10-15 minutes after take-off, there's some commotion several rows up, and eventually the pilot gets on to say that they're turning back to SLC for a sick passenger who had passed out. Oh boy. We land, they take the passenger off, and thankfully we get back in the air only having lost around a little more than an hour. We ended up at my parents in the 5T around a half hour before Shabbos.

I don't remember being super anxious/nervous, though that's more likely because I was forcing myself to counterbalance my wife's anxiety . Let's just say this was the only part of our Hawaiian adventure I hope not to ever repeat.

[Dan]

Once it's Thursday evening why didn't you just stay?

[Freddie]

I have missed two flights out of hundreds. Both were when I was needed in my destination city that evening and both were due to relying on a friendly volunteer to get me to the airport. Both were pretty stressful but both ended fine with me arriving where I needed to arrive just in time. B"H.

[@Yehuda]

Missed one: DEN-NYC on SW due to incorrectly remembering what time the flight was. Got to the gate 10 minutes before takeoff to be told they gave our seats away.

[MeirS]

I missed one 6am flight from ORF-LGA. I knew the next flight was at 12:10 but I made sure to get to the airport before 8 to get to the airport on time for the flat tire rule. I rescheduled for the next flight and went back to town to Mikvah and Daven.

[DMYD]

Well I took LH F from BOS to FRA,  so I booked an AA flight from LGA to BOS unfortunately right before takeoff they announced that there was an oil leak and we will have to switch planes, it took 3hrs till we took off! The time I arrived to the desk in BOS my flight has taken off already, but Bh they were able to book me on LH F to MUC a few hours later. But yeah it was a stressful flight and till they were able to rebook me on my new flight.

[Chapshnell]

Well I took LH F from BOS to FRA,  so I booked an AA flight from LGA to BOS unfortunately right before takeoff they announced that there was an oil leak and we will have to switch planes, it took 3hrs till we took off! The time I arrived to the desk in BOS my flight has taken off already, but Bh they were able to book me on LH F to MUC a few hours later. But yeah it was a stressful flight and till they were able to rebook me on my new flight.

you were probably starving 

[coralsnake]

I missed a CO flight EWR-TLV. I actually arrived  just under an hour before the flight but they wouldn't let me check my bag since 60min was the cutoff. This was pre 9-11 too.

I guess I could've gone if I wanted to wear the same clothes for a few months.

[Venilla]

As I said, I've never missed a flight but here's one close call... ETA: Sorry for the long post, I didn't realize, I started typing and ended off with this . Feel free to skip it.

On a flight JFK-LAX booked in AA F. We arrived at the airport about 1.5 hours before the flight -thinking of checking out more than one lounge- but upon taking out our luggage from the car we realized we're missing one suitcase... Standing there lost and thinking what to do and going over what we had in that suitcase we decided that our vacation will be miserable w/o it... (I later realized that it wouldn't have been more expensive to buy all these stuff in LAX... Oh well, it was a quick decision.)

I first went to check in the luggage we had and get our boarding passes and then I wanted to ask someone to get the suitcase from our house and send it to us with a car service. The only problem is... Our door is locked and I didn't leave a key with anyone (lesson learnt ). After a few phone calls to several locksmiths I got someone who was able to make himself available and and he was really helpful and willing to arrange with a car service to bring it to me.

By the time he got in to my apartment and arrange it all, it was 50 minutes to the flight and I had to wait before security so I can take the suitcase from the driver. His ETA on Waze was 23 minutes before the flight but the check-in agent claimed that the latest we can go through security is 45 before the flight...

I got really anxious and asked the AA agent if she could rebook me I the next flight. Going back and forth blah blah blah she was only willing to rebook in Y so I decided to keep the original tickets and if I'll miss the flight... We'll see then.

The car finally arrived 20 minutes before the flight we ran to security with the big suitcase to find a huge line. I asked everyone to please let us go before as my flight departs in less than 20 minutes and I was amazed that one TSA agent had tried to help us move forward.

We finally got to the gate less than 10 minutes before scheduled departure but thankfully the door was still open and we took off.

PS. I later got a $250 bill from the locksmith + I paid $75 for the car service (for risking a ticket and speeding for me...) so for $325 I could've bought all the important stuff in LAX. Oh well..

[grodnoking]

I missed a CO flight EWR-TLV. I actually arrived  just under an hour before the flight but they wouldn't let me check my bag since 60min was the cutoff. This was pre 9-11 too.

I guess I could've gone if I wanted to wear the same clothes for a few months.

About this 60 minute cut off, is it for international flights or also inter-USA flights?

[Freddie]

I have missed two flights out of hundreds. Both were when I was needed in my destination city that evening and both were due to relying on a friendly volunteer to get me to the airport. Both were pretty stressful but both ended fine with me arriving where I needed to arrive just in time. B"H.

I just remembered two more flights I missed. One was because I thought the flight was at a different time and didn't realize until it was too late. In that case, also, I B"H arrived in time (just barely) where I needed to be that evening (by taking another flight on a different airline.)

The other time was when I was flying home and I was shlepping a box home (I myself never fly with checked bags) and missed the 60 minute cut off for checked bags. I ended up missing the flight, then there was weather and I got stuck in NYC for two more days.

By the way, I am not counting missed connections. That happens much more often. I can't even remember how many times I have spent a whole day in a connecting city trying to get home.

[Ergel]

Had to split up from my wife our last two trips to NY because of arriving too late to the airport.
Also intentionally missed a couple of LGA-YYZ flights and put on the next flight...

[skyguy918]

Once it's Thursday evening why didn't you just stay?

Halachically, my Rov said it was okay to fly back that night - as in, לכתחלה better not to be מכניס yourself into that ספק when planning, but בשעת הדחק I could rely on the שיטות that say Saturday is Shabbos.

Even if not for that, we had nothing set up for ourselves there and I'm not quite as savvy as others here in that respect. I also don't like to be out of my comfort zone for Shabbos, especially away from my kids.