This article was originally published on WHerMoments
Ask the internet a question — and don't be shocked when they give you the answer. Yet when redditor "CommanderDinosaur" posted his question on the platform, he surely couldn't have expected the responses to be this wild. After all, he simply wrote, "Bored waiting at the airport. reddit, what’s your worst airport story?" Well, make sure your seat and folding trays are in their full upright positions because this one is about to lift off.
Bathroom war zone
"I was at O'Hare and decided to use the men's room. While washing my hands, all I could hear were these horrible sounds coming from some guy in one of the stalls, who was in intestinal distress. It would be a humongous, thunderous fart, followed by a splash that can only be described as a bowling ball hitting a pool of water.
This went for about three or four rounds. This old guy washing his hands next to me said it didn't sound altogether different than combat in the Korean War." — startinearly
Bad hair day
"One time when I was boarding a plane, I was denied entry. Why? Because apparently, the guys who check people's passports before they board the plane thought I had stolen someone else's passport and committed identity fraud."
The thing was that the photo in my passport was me when I had short hair and when I was boarding the plane, I had an afro. I literally had to explain for ten whole minutes that I'm the same guy and I just grew out my hair." — RectumConscription
Dog days are over
"I’m next to go through security and [U.S. Department of Homeland Security] stops the line to run a [check], and it took so long I missed my flight, which caused me to miss my connecting flight. An 8-hour trip turned into 24 hours. Also, we had an emergency landing at an abandoned airfield in the middle of nowhere Louisiana one time.
Those were my last two flying experiences and I hated flying before but now I just refuse. Not worth the hassle. My friends and family still wonder why I just drive everywhere somehow." — Schulze_II26
Chicago no-go
"I was scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Chicago. Philadelphia weather was completely clear, but Chicago apparently had snowy weather all day. During boarding, the pilot said there was a short window of time that we could take off because Chicago was limiting their arrivals."Since airlines have awful boarding systems, it took too much time to board and we missed the window. We deboarded. For the next eight or nine hours, the airline delayed the flight a half-hour every half-hour until they just canceled it around 10:00 p.m.
Since they didn't cancel any flights to Chicago, all of the passengers for the next flights to Chicago also showed up at the airport. By the end of the evening, there were four or five planes full of passengers for the day's flights to Chicago all in one general seating area. It was super crowded and miserable." — elevenghosts
Great balls of fire
"Most recently, my plane got moved to another gate because they spilled fuel all over the tarmac. There were fire engines everywhere and multiple trucks with bags of grit being swept all over the ground to soak it up.
Hardly the worst story, but I found it hilarious that such a mistake could be made and how dangerous it could have been." — anonymous
Ticket to nowhere
"I had a flight out of Denver that was canceled for reasons never explained, and no other flights to my destination on that airline (American) were scheduled that day.
I had to run from terminal to terminal, coordinating a voucher exchange with a United Airlines gate agent for a flight that took off eight hours later." — Temporary-Product928
Paris, je t'aime
"Landed in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. I had a 2.5-hour layover but got stuck on the plane because the gate was occupied. When I got out, I had about an hour. I walk out and ask an employee where I should go. He points me in the direction. On my way there, another worker asks me what my terminal and gate are and tells me to go in a different direction, so I listen to him. It felt like I was going in the wrong direction, but I walk through security, get my passport stamped, and ask the guy if this is where I need to be. He tells me I’m in the terminal all the way across the airport. I sprint in the general direction. I was running at full speed for about 20 minutes.
I had no clue where I had to go for sure as the airport is huge and the numbering and lettering are not the most logical. Some other employee explains where I have to go exactly. I baaarely made it. After running in a mask for so long, I was dripping in sweat and completely out of breath. Now I do everything possible to avoid that airport." — Hot_Instruction_5318
L'aéroport est fermé
"I was checking in at Charles de Gaulle for a flight to L.A. and a security guard came running through the terminal yelling “fermé!” at the staff working the customer service counter. Turns out someone left a bag unattended and they treated it like a bomb threat.
Thousands of people evacuated the crowded terminal and it was chaos the rest of the day since most of us missed our flights." — absurdthoughts
Catch and release
"So a few years back, I was on a trip abroad to Canada and NYC, but the plane we were catching was then delayed at NYC due to bad weather.
Because 90 percent of the people on the trip were minors without our legal guardians, they delayed the plane at the Canadian airport and we had to literally run through customs to the plane..."Looking back, I was more annoyed than anything as we had to deal with the jet lag and they expected us in the following morning for school. But it was a total nightmare, especially explaining to my mom I was one of the youngest, being like 13 at the time." — Mewtual
Salty security guard
"Heading back home from Europe through Amsterdam, which for those who don’t know, is one of the most secure airports in the world. I had a container of salt from when I was at the Salzburg Salt Mine.
The security person was searching my stuff and found this and accidentally pops the top off of this container and the salt spills out. It’s crystals and white colored. So you can expect what the security person thought it was." — Videogamer69420
Standing room only
"After a cruise, there were thousands of people trying to get on their flights. Smaller airport. My airline didn't open the ticket counter until two hours before my flight so I couldn't check in for hours. No place to sit, one Starbucks with 100 people in line, and no place else to eat or even get a bottle of water. Screaming children everywhere, laying down taking up multiple seats.
The ticket counter finally opens, we get checked in and go through security only to find most of the airport under construction so again, hardly any place to sit and only one restaurant open with a 1.5-hour wait for a table but couldn't wait since our flight left in 1.5 hours." — maler27
Picture imperfect
"I study abroad and was coming back to the United States from Israel for the Passover holidays. When I landed in Newark, I was pulled aside at passport control. Why? My passport picture was taken before I hit puberty around five-six years ago so the TSA agents thought I was being trafficked over the border or I was in possession of a fake passport.
Anyway, after 20 minutes of asking basic details about my life (where I live, study, parents, etc.) I was allowed to go pick up my luggage. I still have that passport and flew three more times with it after this case and I haven’t had any problems." — MyNameFits123
Why did you do that, Karen?
"My dad and I were on a later flight to California because we couldn’t make the earlier flight with the rest of my family."We were sitting at the gate waiting for this late flight when this person came out of their flight and began yelling at one of the workers. They were swearing and jumping around, throwing stuff. I felt the ground shake. And this was an adult.
An adult was throwing a temper tantrum about God knows what and accusing this poor girl of ruining their vacation."This was my first time witnessing a Karen (besides my uncle) having a fit about something. I won’t lie, I was amused." — Theshycousin
Never eat the fish
"I ate a plate of catfish gumbo in departures at Cleveland airport."Vomited it up all over my seat, lap, and kindle shortly after takeoff. No other seats were free, so had to clean up myself and the seat as best I could, then sit in it again for landing in Atlanta."
I had a 3-hour layover in Atlanta but was sadly informed that there was no possible way for my checked bag to be pulled and still make my connecting flight to London Heathrow, so had to do that leg still wearing my vomit-infused jeans." — uncertain_expert
Baggage claim
"Flight over the big pond was overbooked. I waited for the next plane to leave for Europe about an hour later for Rome. The onboard entertainment system in my seat was broken 🙄. I had changed the seat with a random person, so he could sit with his GF. Landing in Rome, I had only 20 minutes to get from terminal E gate 34 to terminal A gate 2... just so managed. Airline forgot to tell the other airline I'm boarding too. After some talking, they let me board. Landed in Frankfurt. Total time of traveling so far: 25 h. My dad picked picked me up at the airport, dumped my bags and his coat with the key fob in the trunk. The trunk locked itself... 26h total traveling without sleeping (I can't sleep on planes).
So we tried to call someone from family to get the replacement key... It was a 3.5h ride from our place to the airport. 33.5h without sleep. Once we were able to access the car again, I got in and fell asleep 10 minutes after we hit the Autobahn. Arrived home another 3.5h later. My luggage took three more days, because of the change of flights." — Dapper_Dan1
Bad taste
"My niece and I were flying back to Florida with my dad (89), who was in a wheelchair, and my niece carrying his walker. They waved us toward the handicapped area, and the TSA agent told my dad that he had to remove his shoes and WALK THROUGH the handicapped gate. I know better than to protest with TSA, so I asked (nicely) for a supervisor.
He was also not helpful and insisted my dad use the walker, in his socks. We couldn't help him walk, he couldn't go in the wheelchair, and thank God he didn't fall. TSA in Atlanta, you suck." — fanofpolkadotts
The hangover
"Had a rough bachelor party, going on about three hours of sleep over a course of four days. The Airbnb kicked us out early so I decided to try my luck and fly stand-by — that didn't work. I spent ten hours in Denver on a shaky hangover about to puke, only to find out an hour before I was supposed to leave that it was delayed and I'd miss my connecting flight. So I told the gate agent, who said I'd get compensated if I booked another flight, but they also refused to get me a hotel room.
So I had to march all the way to another airline, book another ticket, then come back and show her only for her to be gone, so I had to explain my situation to another agent who didn't know the deal. It was miserable, think I spent 14 hours altogether trying to go from CO to OR." — Woah_man34
Liquid nightmare
"I spent an hour in line to check baggage only to find that I had to check both bags in my possession after my carry-on got flagged at the security checkpoint. The liquid inside that caused the issue was irreplaceable and cost me a great deal beyond just time and money so I refused to part with it.
So I talked my way into using the first class baggage check-in and fortunately, I'm pretty memorable so TSA remembered me and let me bypass the line for the second time." — nomoreadminspls
Spring broke
"LAX over spring break. Never again... Mainly just the sheer amount of people. My entire group got separated, which made everything worse.
Then, a friend went to the bathroom, and I was holding her bag when a TSA agent moved us to a whole other side of the airport to a new security line, which meant I had to take my friend's bag through security. Thank god she didn’t have anything questionable lol" — expired__radish
Night of the living dead
"Landed in Chicago O'Hare from Houston, having to get to the next concourse within an hour on foot only to have the concourse changed and flight delayed by five hours. I got sent to concourse D, and I'm not joking when I say that I'm sure of the six or seven people milling around, only myself and maybe one other were living souls.
The concourse was empty and everything was closed at 5:00 p.m. It was super creepy, and I was so relieved when that plane arrived."Maybe not horrible but not recommended." — CZJayG
Go no-go
"Drove two hours to the airport. The kiosk that prints your plane ticket was being funky. We waited at least half an hour in an empty line for a staff member from the airline we booked with to arrive and help us. Apparently, the flight was moved to be three hours earlier than originally planned and the airline didn’t call or email to let us know.
We drove the two hours back home that night and had to make another two-hour drive back to the airport the next day to catch our replacement flight." — My_God_Is_A_Snail
Hurry up and wait
"Me and my brother had a flight to visit our father. Most flights were getting delayed, and ours was no exception. After a few hours of delays, we’re told our flight is rescheduled for tomorrow. My brother was on the fence about going in the first place and was incredibly frustrated. We go home, sleep, and come back the next day. There are some short delays, but eventually, they load us onto the plane. Our flight sits on the tarmac for two hours waiting for our turn to be de-iced. We finally get de-iced. Then the pilot lets us know that because everyone was stuck on the plane for the long waiting time, the bathrooms had ended up filling up and they needed to restock some items for the plane.
Thus, they de-boarded everyone and told us to come back an hour later. My brother was beyond pissed at this point and left. I stayed, had a normal flight after boarding for the second time that day, and had a lovely time. My flight got rescheduled the day I was meant to fly back home, too, but we had been told before we left for the airport, so no biggie." — My_God_Is_A_Snail
Non-active duty
"In the navy, on leave visiting friends in Chicago. While I was in, I didn't really dress like it or carry myself in the stereotypical fashion. There was a giant line waiting to check in at United at O'Hare. Employee was going down the line and pulling people for quicker processing — the people they announce, families with children, elderly, and active duty. Guy in front of me looked the "typical" military but absolutely wasn't — nothing would be regulation. Employee asks him, "Are you military?" Guy says, "No" but quickly changes when he realizes it gets him to cut the line. Employee walks past me, but I stop him and note I'm active duty. He looks me over in my corduroy suit, longer hair, and bag covered in geeky pins. "No, you ain't."
I show him my ID, and he says I don't look like it. I explain I am, but that dude he just let up wasn't. He says, "He doesn't matter, but if you give me any more lip I'm calling security." Screw that guy. I did write United, and they gave me a voucher so that's something." — AGeekNamedBob
Terminal velocity
"I was going on a family vacation, my father's passport wouldn't scan: missed checkout time. Couldn't fly that day. The lady at the help center was rude and wouldn't call the gate. My sister lost her luggage right after. She was having a panic attack on top of all being stressed. Following day, we were all supposed to fly, my father was on stand-by, didn't get onto the plane until last minute.
Stressful two days. On top of that, my father's luggage didn't arrive and we were staying like two-three hours away from the airport. We were told to come back the next day..." — Cosmicwonder333
Up in the air
"First time flying, I went alone, 19. Was on my way to see my ex graduating from Boot Camp or whatever. It was winter so there were a lot of delays but ultimately made it to all my flights. The last flight was to Fort Lenard Wood on this tiny plane I had to walk out to. I was the only passenger. It was supposed to be a 30-minute flight. There wasn’t even a flight crew, just the Pilots. Well, we were flying in circles attempting to land, the weather was terrible. The flight was awful and choppy. Two hours later, we land in St Louis. Tell me to get off the plane and head inside so they could help me out there to get to where I need to go. Place was empty, there wasn’t anyone at the gate. Finally see someone, and I got ushered to the entrance of the airport which was super busy, and no one to help me. I think by this point I had been traveling for 12 hours. My ex's mom had my suitcase so I had no clothes.
I had to find a corner somewhere to charge my phone. I was a broke college student calling my sister trying to figure out if there were any flights home. Finally got a hold of my ex and his mom. His stepdad didn’t want to drive over to pick me up because it was somehow my fault I was stranded at a random airport. They finally convinced him and came and picked me up. Worst experience traveling for me so far." — SnooBunny
Delay, delay, delay
"This started off in Corpus Christi where they said we could go on standby for an earlier flight. Sounds like a great deal, right? It was a great deal until our flight back home got delayed repeatedly until 12:00 a.m. By the time we fly back to our home state, it's around 2:30-3:00 a.m.
in the morning. On top of this, we have to drive nearly an hour and a half back home. Not a fun night/morning." — ReleaseRich
Lost in translation
"Got to the gate extra early. I was super tired and took a nap on the floor with my bag as a pillow. I woke up a little disoriented. Plane still wasn't boarding. I didn't have a watch and my phone was dead, but I wanted to know the time. Rather than dig my laptop out or wander around for a display, there was a big family next to me and it sounded like they were speaking Spanish.
Not my first language, but I can speak it decently."I waved and asked for the time in Spanish, and they looked at me weird. Seemed confused. Asked what? So I pointed at my wrist and asked for the time again in Spanish."They said, in English, 'We're Italian.'"Felt pretty embarrassed." — Dangercakes13
Trains and planes
"On my way into Poland, I had flown direct from Scotland, but I had taken the train from London to Glasgow, so I didn't have a stamp on my passport from Glasgow. Going through customs, the security guys couldn't figure out how I had flown there from Scotland without a stamp. It probably took them about five minutes flipping through my passport and me trying to explain that I had flown into London and then taken the train up.
They finally called another guy in to check, and he figured it out in two seconds. Obviously not terrible, but I was super anxious and had no idea what they were going to do if they couldn't figure it out." — violent_delights_9
Water world
"Flying out of Poland on my way to Switzerland. Went through the security line and had forgotten to empty my water bottle. Fair enough, that was my bad. The problem was, they wanted me to get rid of the water right then and there, but didn't tell me how... [I] decided the obvious solution was to just empty the thing into a nearby trashcan.
They looked at me like I was an idiot (rightfully so, to be fair), and one of the guys brought me over an empty plastic bottle to dump it in instead..."Interestingly enough, every interaction I had with security guys in Poland resulted in them looking at me like I was an idiot. Didn't have that issue in other countries..." — violent_delights_9
Once upon a line
"Landed in Toronto on my way home for Christmas one year... After getting through customs, I stood in line to see an agent to get my flight rebooked. Maybe two-three hours. Then go through security, which didn't really take long. Get to the gate, new flight obviously delayed again. Stand in line to see an agent to rebook for two-three hours. This rebooking cycle went on for about 20 hours until I got booked on a flight more than 24 hours away. Then I got to stand in line to get a hotel room. Then another line to get a taxi voucher.
Then finally another line to get a taxi. By that time, all the close hotels were booked so the taxi ride itself was over an hour. Get about 12 hours sleep, then back to the airport for another 16 hours before finally getting on a plane." — kdub0
The change-up
"Got to the airport cutting it super close to catch my flight. Kiosk wouldn't check me in, so had to wait in line to see an agent. Agent said there was no way I'd make my flight, so he rebooked me and charged me $75 change fee.
I get through security in record time and end up making my original flight, but they wouldn't refund the change fee obviously." — kdub0
Bad connection
"2017, was going to Disneyland for Christmas, we had a mid-day flight to our connection in Denver before flying out to LA. Our initial plane had mechanical issues, and we were delayed for six-seven hours while they flew a new part and mechanic out from Denver (to Minneapolis) to make the repair. We get into Denver seven hrs late, missed our original connection.
We have two flight options to LA, we are told we could get on the early one, but our luggage most likely won't make it until the later flight, so in order to save an extra taxi ride from the hotel back to the airport, we choose the later flight. It's delayed by a few hours also. We get into LA and our luggage was already waiting there, having been put on the early flight without telling us. Accounting for timezones, it had been 20 hours since we left for the airport, back home in Minneapolis." — Ultrase7en
Cat calling
"In Italy, our flight got canceled so we stayed our first extra night. Then the next day, we were on one of those huge planes, a guy decided he was too sick to fly when we were right about to take off. They had to find his luggage and all that through hundreds of people's luggage and de-ice the plane again. This caused us to miss our connecting flight. We stayed another extra night in California. The hotel didn't pay upfront and was going to reimburse later. Many Europeans on the flight only had cash and no cards, the hotel only accepted cards. Many of them went back to the airport to wait it out.
My friends and I were irritated, just trying to get home to Hawaii. I also had to keep calling my cat sitter to say I'm stuck these extra days. It's about a 30-hour flight if everything goes right. It turned into over two days. I just missed my cat." — Squishmitt6
Red eyes
"I was on a flight heading home from Wisconsin. It was a connecting flight, so I ended up getting off somewhere in Oklahoma. So I wait and at this point, it’s 1:00 a.m. I'm beat, just wanna be in bed and my next flight was supposed to leave at 1:30 a.m. At 1:45 a.m., I'm told the flight was canceled. I don’t even have the energy to complain.
So it’s 1:45 a.m., I'm like 700 miles from home and have nowhere to go. I ended up sleeping on the airport floor and got on my flight the next day at around 11:00 a.m. I got home safely but never flew that airline again." — Charming-Spite-5051
Body of evidence
"I was on a flight that had a seniors' tour to Israel. On the return flight, a lady got sick next to me. The passengers started screaming for a doctor. She was helped and got well. A few hours later, I noticed a strange movement. Commissioners crying. A second lady had had a heart attack and died. We had to land the plane immediately. We waited three hours for the police to arrive at the airport to take the body.
The flight was too long, and it was time for breakfast. Everyone was very hungry. But we were forbidden to leave our seats. Then some passengers broke into the kitchen and distributed food around the plane. After hours, the police removed the body." — rcsv1993
Lost and alone
"I had just started university as a 17-year-old and moved abroad for the first time to a different country... We board the plane, everything goes well, eight hours later, the plane is hovering over my city, can clearly see it from the window. But due to something happening, they were not letting any planes touchdown, so we just stayed in the sky waiting for clearance to land.
An hour later, we're still just flying around, and the pilot announces that we have to land in a DIFFERENT COUNTRY to refuel."Since I was still 17, with no bank card and no airplane wifi, and no way to contact my parents, I somehow managed to text my parents from the person's phone that was sitting next to me in order to inform them that I landed in another country, and that I was basically going to be late." — Kurthadron
Plane in a pothole
"One time, our red-eye flight into Newark was delayed because of storms so we landed about an hour late. By this time, we were cutting our connection close, but we probably had time... That is, until the plane got stuck in a pothole just short of the gate. It took them probably 15 minutes to get the tug hooked up and pull it out. By then, our connecting flight had already left."We go to customer service to get booked on a new flight.
The guy working the desk didn't believe us, that is, until another lady walks up with the exact same story. We got booked on the only other flight with seats available, which was at like noon (and also got delayed a few hours because of storms)." — JMS1991
A bad day in Barcelona
"My friends and I went backpacking when we were in our early 20s. Our train from Valencia to Barcelona was late and since our flight was so early the next morning we figured we'd just sleep at the airport. Come to find in the morning my personal bag was stolen and I suggested my friends continue on without me while I figure it all out.
I ended up being stranded in Barcelona for about five days whilst I got an emergency passport made up with some cash my lovely friends let me borrow until I could get some wired. That one was pretty bad. I despise the name Barcelona to this day." — BelleLovesAngus
No-shoe zone
"An airport security lady didn’t believe I was still young enough to keep my shoes on going through security (I was tall and looked a bit older for my age at the time). I remember walking up ready to go through the metal detector with my shoes still on and she goes, “You need to take your shoes off.” I was absolutely confused because my mom had told me I was able to go through w/ my shoes on. I told her I was like 10 or 11.
She did not believe me so my mom got involved and we had to show her my passport. Luckily, she let me through with my shoes on and we all had a good laugh about it later." — UnknownKip_
Broken arrows
"Went out to the West Coast when I was 12 and was really into Native American history at the time. When I was out there... I bought three [obsidian arrow heads] to bring home. Stuck them in my bag and didn't think about them again until I was at the airport heading home... Then the TSA Agents put my bag through and pulled over a supervisor and started pointing all concerned at my bag. By this point, I was panicking thinking I was about to get tossed in Guantanamo Bay for the rest of my middle school career.
They yanked my bag out, opened the pocket with the arrow heads in them, reached in and pulled out the toothpaste I had flown there with and said, "This is way too big you can't take this on a plane." Then threw it away sent my bag back through with no issues and sent me on my way." — Blissfully_Arrogant