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Original poster

Have you ever turned up much too early to an event or holiday?

29 replies

ShoelacesAndStrings · 15/04/2025 10:21

A very scatter brained friend just showed up at a hotel a year early for a mutual friend’s wedding. She’d booked the hotel for the wedding but the wedding isn’t until next year.

Has anyone else done similar?

OP posts:
Thelondonone · 15/04/2025 10:25

I booked a hotel a year too late. Thankfully it was refundable and they did have a room (a shit room but…).

EarlofShrewsbury · 15/04/2025 10:26

I've turned up to a doctors appointment a week early once.

alcoholnightmare · 15/04/2025 10:27

My mum once took me in fancy dress to a boy from schools birthday party…. That was scheduled for the next day. I think they invited us in for a play date anyway

OatFlatWhiteForMe · 15/04/2025 10:33

I once turned up 3hrs early for a Dr’s appointment. 10.10am instead of 1.10pm.

Pancakeflipper · 15/04/2025 10:38

2 weeks ago I turned up at the hairdressers a week early.

Giggorata · 15/04/2025 10:39

Yes, I do this a lot, sadly. My friends are all used to it. I'm told it's part of my dyscalculia.

I turned up a day early for the Swansea Cork ferry one year and had to sleep in the van. Luckily it wasn't a day late!
I also booked a taxi to go across the country on the wrong day, when returning from the US, so had to get home on the train with loads of luggage, and pay twice. 🙁
I lost count of the number of times I turned up to work on bank holidays, too.

mondaytosunday · 15/04/2025 10:40

I took my DD to a uni open day a day early. Annoying but no big deal - DD almost died of embarrassment though as teenagers are wont to do.

TheNightingalesStarling · 15/04/2025 10:41

Attended Parents Evening a day early! I put it the calender correctly but told DH the wrong day so he finished work early.

BobbyBiscuits · 15/04/2025 10:46

I turned up to my first ever job interview about three hours early. Thought the sensible thing to do would be to ensconce myself into an incredibly rough looking public house, and start hitting the Newkie Brown ale?!

You'll not be surprised to hear I didn't get the job.

OnGoldenPond · 15/04/2025 14:40

Giggorata · 15/04/2025 10:39

Yes, I do this a lot, sadly. My friends are all used to it. I'm told it's part of my dyscalculia.

I turned up a day early for the Swansea Cork ferry one year and had to sleep in the van. Luckily it wasn't a day late!
I also booked a taxi to go across the country on the wrong day, when returning from the US, so had to get home on the train with loads of luggage, and pay twice. 🙁
I lost count of the number of times I turned up to work on bank holidays, too.

Edited

Turned up a day early for the Eurostar on the journey home - had got confused about the dates as we had an overnight in a hotel before reaching the channel and I had added on 2 days rather than one!

Bit of an embarrassing conversation with the check in desk (“oh you’re a bit early”. “Yes about half an hour?”. “Umm no, 24 hours…..”) but they got us on the next train out, just had to pay the difference in the fares.

NetflicksAndSleep · 15/04/2025 14:43

My mother drove 5 hours to a holiday destination to find she was a month early! Had to drive back and do it all over again the following month!

BearSoFair · 15/04/2025 14:47

Went to work on the first day of a week's annual leave...I was sure I'd booked the week after, even checked my diary against the system schedule and nope, they were right.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 15/04/2025 14:49

Dh and I once turned up for a major concert at the Festival Hall - couldn’t find the right auditorium. Eventually asked staff, who asked to see our tickets.
Right day, right month, just a year early! 😂
We had a drink at the bar overlooking the river, a stroll along the river, and went home.

CoastalCalm · 15/04/2025 14:52

PIP tribunal a month early

Iwantamarshmallowman · 15/04/2025 15:14

Pancakeflipper · 15/04/2025 10:38

2 weeks ago I turned up at the hairdressers a week early.

I've done this as well.

madaboutpurple · 15/04/2025 15:18

Before the internet was around I once went to a theatre to see a play. I thought it was odd as the place was closed. I was a week early. Nowadays I check up.

Radiatorvalves · 15/04/2025 15:20

I booked an Appartment, non refundable, through booking.com for a sporting event. When the confirmation email arrived it was for February not March when the sporting event was taking place.i called up the company who said they could move the booking although March was more expensive. Booking.com allowed me to cancel as the company approved it once I’d booked direct with them. Thank god I realized!!

Echobelly · 15/04/2025 15:25

We got to the airport to fly back from Lanzarote a month early, because it turned out DH had booked the return flight on 30 JANUARY not December 😱 No wonder flights seemed so much cheaper than any others he looked at.

No spaces on London flights for 5 days, but luckily Jet2 was leaving for Birmingham with 4 spaces 2 hours after we tried to check in. Then we had to take a taxi to Stansted to pick up our car, which we got to at about 1am

Could have been much worse- I went to drive somewhere next day and the car didn't start - thank God it didn't do that 10 hours earlier!

neonjumper · 15/04/2025 15:30

Someone random dropped off their kid a week early at my child’s birthday party … they stopped the car outside the venue , their 6/7 year old kid hopped out and the car driver drove off ! Took a few minutes before I realised that the random kid, clutching a present had come to the wrong birthday party … luckily the hall premises manager was on hand to work out what was going on!

Jennalong · 15/04/2025 15:34

Not really but the host though we had .
We had holidayed at the cottage before . It was on a farm in rural Cumbria .
The farmer was a lone woman ( around mid 60s ) who was just about managing the holiday let and her flock of sheep.

We had gone for half term October so the nights were drawing in.
Arrived after a long drive late afternoon , to find no farmer about , door to cottage locked.

We hung about for an hour then decided to go back to local town and get something to eat and our shopping. Got back around 9 ish , all darkness , no farmer .
Sat in car trying to come up with contingency plan , another hour goes by .
Just deciding we need to go back to civilisation when she arrived back . She had been invited out for a meal at another farm and had stopped for a chat ! Thought we were arriving the following day .

Cottage was stone cold , and not ready for us bedding / towels wise so it was about midnight by the time we had got sorted .

AnraithAgusCeapaireLeDoThoil · 15/04/2025 15:35

A very disorganised, (and tbh, silly), woman I know got her dd ready for her first ever day of school and rocked up to be told it wasn't first day for YR kids at all! Felt sorry for the dd tbh who was all ready for her first day. How hard is it to check an email for something like that really?

spiderlight · 15/04/2025 15:52

We very nearly turned up to see Chris McCausland a year early this January. We booked the tickets a week or so in advance and got all excited, thinking it was something nice to look forward to in the horrible dark days of early January, but also surprised that there were still tickets available. I went to put it on the calendar and discovered that it wasn't on a Saturday as we'd thought. Looked at the tickets again - 2026!

CloudPop · 15/04/2025 15:54

ShoelacesAndStrings · 15/04/2025 10:21

A very scatter brained friend just showed up at a hotel a year early for a mutual friend’s wedding. She’d booked the hotel for the wedding but the wedding isn’t until next year.

Has anyone else done similar?

OK that is absolutely hilarious 😂

Radiatorvalves · 15/04/2025 15:56

Not quite the same but we were on holiday a few years ago and needed to check in for our return flights. I thought DH had booked them. He thought I had….

No flights booked, but we had to get back for school/work so we booked some last minute expensive flights. But of a cock up that one!

HolidayHattie · 15/04/2025 16:35

I turned up a week early for a funeral once. Obviously none of the other funeral attendees knew but it was very embarrassing going back to work and saying "oops - actually I need NEXT Wednesday afternoon off for a funeral and I'll make up the time from today."

A friend put a bet on the Grand National. Went to collect his winnings and somehow he had bet on the next year's race not the current one. Luckily for him, the horse was Tiger Roll and it won again the next year.