To wonder how people miss their flights?

[FleetMacWood]

I had a domestic flight today, at check in they repeatedly called out 6 names for final call. About 3 showed.

I get missing the flight in general, but how do you miss it when you’ve checked in? Or not even being at the gate?

I also couldn’t be bothered with the hassle/stress of having to get luggage back from another city/country.

yes, thats why they give you the tag at the check in.

Someone may have missed read the departure time as the check-in time. I may have experience of this.

They might not have got through customs if they are joining from an international flight.

They might have fallen asleep in a cofffee shop!

Yes. It was the Lockerbie disaster and then 9/11.

@ZaZathecat

Thats just lovely 🥰

regretfully , I’ve missed quite a few flights for many reasons including the many listed on this thread . I am a frequent flyer so I suppose statistically it’s bound to happen !

Airlines are generally good at helping to resolve… especially when it’s business travel and they are making a fair few ££££ !

DH used to regularly fly with his former business partner. Partner used to often miss the flight because he was hopelessly disorganised. He’d either oversleep or get the time wrong or the gate wrong or the date wrong. It used to infuriate DH as they were a small start up and it cost them a fortune in rescheduling flights.

It's easily done I was 19 going on my first holiday without family with a friend to Benidorm. We were at the airport to check in 4 hours before our flight so had plenty of time. We waited in the departure lounge for our flight to be announced and kept checking the board to see if it came up. But we never saw it.

Then we heard can the last two passengers for flight number xxxx please go to gate xx. Needless to say we absolutely legged it. We were just two young lasses traveling alone for the first time. We had never even travelled alone on a train we got a lift to the airport with a friend of my friends partner. Just gave them some petrol money and brought them some duty free back as a thank you. We were a lot more observant coming back.

I do watch these airline programmes though and laugh at people who can't understand why they have missed they're flight. The American one's are the most dramatic. Making out it's the airports fault not their's.😂😂😂Even though they arrive after check in time they don't understand why when the plane is on the tarmac. Why should a whole plane be held up for a few grown ass adults.

It was stopped after the Lockerbie incident.
..the terrorists luggage was detonated with a bomb in it .....if I remember right.....since then....your luggage is always removed if for any reason you don't board

Clock changes too. DH works with an international team and there’s a fairly routine set of connecting flights that they use between the USA and U.K.

every year someone is caught out by the fact the clock change is out by a week so the ‘usual’ booking gets you in 30 minutes late for the connecting flight.

I’ve done this once in my life and very recently when I turned up at the gate nice & early, waited until my seat rows were called (I was in the last group) and then tried to board. My boarding pass didn’t work so the airline staff searched for me, couldn’t find me and we had a long discussion about what could have gone wrong etc. Then I realised I was at the wrong gate! Was trying to board a flight to another city in that country with the same airline but leaving 10 minutes before my actual flight.

I had to run as fast as I could to the other side of the airport - about 20 mins away - found out I couldn’t run for more than a few minutes without gasping for air. Luckily they phoned ahead and they were waiting for me at my actual gate - I boarded the plane hot, sweating and red faced and had to walk down the aisle to my seat with I’m sure many passengers thinking the same as you OP. So it can just be a genuine mistake, never to be repeated!

We flew the other week and someone didn’t get on the plane. We waited for ages as they had 7 bags checked in!!

Imagine checking in 7 bags and then missing your flight. What a waste of money

We had to wait until all 7 bags were unloaded before we could go. I was impressed how quickly they located them all really (the plane was full and long-haul so I imagine most of us had hold luggage).

Maybe in the U.K. but in America your luggage still goes whether you are on the plane or not

We were sitting waiting for a delayed flight this summer, the screen said gate would be announced at say 19.30 so we were pottering round duty free etc when about 19.00 it suddenly changed to gate closed- we only just made it (but so did about half the flight who were doing exactly the same).

I almost missed my flight as I went to Gatwick and my flight was from Heathrow - my friend who had booked the flight didn't realise until we'd got to Gatwick and the flight number wasn't showing up. Thankfully my (now ex) H drove us around the M25 and we made the flight.
I also almost missed a connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Australia as I was too fascinated by the shops and the ceiling! I was 18 then though.

Oh this is me. I've had a few times where I've been called and legged it to the gate with just a few seconds to spare (in one case begged them to open the gate back up).

I'm just awful with time. I genuinely really struggle with it. I can get to the airport in time. And keep an eye on gates etc. I dont really know where the time goes or what happens. I have loads of time, and then suddenly I check again and its last call or gate closed.

Twice its been because the flight was delayed quite a lot and then it's been announced it is earlier than anticipated and I hadn't realised

Maybe in the U.K. but in America your luggage still goes whether you are on the plane or not

I find the various confirmations of this on this thread absolutely wild given how fanatical and obsessive to the point of aggression passionate about US airline security TSA agents generally are.

I'm a seasoned traveller and not much phases me but TSA in JFK and Miami have both reduced me to tears. In fact I'll never fly through MIA again, I'd rather fly to Orlando or Tampa and drive if I had to be in that area.

I almost missed a flight once after checking in in plenty of time.

We were in a special lounge waiting and we're told that we'd be able to hear announcements and flights being called.

Unfortunately the speaker had been accidentally switched off. It was very embarrassing walking last onto the aeroplane.

DM once decided she absolutely had to go to the loo AFTER BOARDING HAD STARTED.

She did make it...

Do you have children?

We nearly missed a flight out of some chaotic tourist airport once, I think it was in Bulgaria. We arrived at the gate to find it absolutely mobbed, no discernable queue and we joined in as the flight said boarding. It was all Scottish people so we thought we must be in the right place. It was only when I heard someone say they were going to drop into IKEA on their way out of the airport and into the city that I thought "eh?" IKEA isn't on the way into Edinburgh from the airport....

Turned out the throng that we were now nearly at the front of was for Glasgow, our Edinburgh flight was only about 1/4 full and was leaving around the same time from the next gate which was now closing! It was one of those upstairs/downstairs gates where the people checking the passports were at booths right next to each other. They did let us on just as it said gate closed but it was close.

I don't think OP is referring to connecting flights, mostly just your 2-3hr flight to European holidays that dipshits miss!

I know a couple of people who regularly miss their flights and they are the exact type of people I always assume would miss a flight - entitled "I go at my own pace and don't care who I inconvenience" types!

Ah I see. That’s frustrating!

@FettleOfKish

have you actually been crying in these airports?

I’ve been to both. Not pleasant but not worth tears!

Just had a flashback to flying as an Unaccompanied Minor when the airline lost us... They did hold the flight while finding us!! 😂TThey nearly sent us to Dublin instead of Edinburgh. Never told my parents that one....

I dpon't know if it's still the case but many years ago we volunteered to be bumped off an American Airlines flight, it was an amazing deal, and we travelled the next day but our luggage made the original journey and was waiting for us at our destination.

I've only ever missed one flight and that's because the airline closed the gate early and wouldn't let me board.