18 People Whose Travel Plans Didn't Quite Work Out

Kasia Mikolajczak
Zipper
Reddit | u/Cardans1328

I don't know about you, but I find traveling stressful. No matter what, I always anticipate something going wrong. And when it does, I really try hard not to freak out. However, sometimes you can't control it. Am I right?

Well, judging from the pictures below, I'm not the only one. These folks had good intentions, but somehow their travel plans didn't go as planned, and I wonder how they handled it.

1. This Needle In A Haystack Scenerio

Airport luggage pick up area
Reddit | u/TriggerHippie77

"My wife went to pick up her lost bag from the airport and sent me this picture of lost bags from all over the country!"

Yeah, good luck finding that luggage, ha, ha. I don't envy this gentleman's wife at all.

2. This Line-Up

Airport bag check-in line up
Reddit | Reddit

"Seattle Airport this morning. This was just the line to check bags."

Airport line-ups are the bane of my existence. It's pretty much what I loathe about flying somewhere. If only I could skip the whole ordeal and just get beamed up to the destination.

3. This Annoying Behavior

Person's foot sticking out from behind somebody's airplane seat
Reddit | u/mr_hargao

"Never thought it’ll happen to me. 6 hour flight, touched me 3 times."

First of all, if this had occurred to me, I would have turned around and politely asked this annoying person to please move their feet. And if they kept doing it, I would have told a flight attendant. If they still kept at it, I wouldn't be that nice.

4. This Unfortunate Accident

broken luggage chain
Reddit | u/IdleTreadmill

"Carrying my luggage will be fun now!"

Oh, no! That's not cool at all. I have no idea how that happened, but I don't envy this person. I guess the only thing left to do is to MacGyver your way out of this mess. I wish them good luck.

5. This Poor Luggage

Luggage on tarmac in rain
Reddit | u/SULTANSOUNDS

"Luggage in the rain for over an hour."

Wow! That's not nice. At least they could have grabbed it and put it under some kind of shelter. Am I right? Perhaps, it's a good idea to start making the bags rainproof. Hmm, I wonder if they exist already.

6. This Airport Line-Up

airport line-up
Reddit | u/simfire

"Apparently, two hours early wasn’t early enough."

Ha, ha, try three hours next time. No, but seriously, I guess that's why these days they tell you to give yourself lots of buffer room.

7. This Lovely Meal

smushed McDonald's wrap
Reddit | u/TrueKaras

"I waited in line for almost 40 minutes in an Atlanta Airport McDonald's for this, and it was cold! I tossed it..."

No, that's not happening. I can tell you this right now. If I got something like this, I would have marched back, thrown it on the counter, and said, "You try eating that!" and demanded a brand new wrap.

8. This Waiting Game

Delayed flight messages
Reddit | u/Deathspawner

One of my biggest pet peeves when traveling happens to be delayed flights. It's so irritating when you have to keep checking on the flight status. But what's more infuriating is when they do this to you at the last minute, eh? Ugh! I can't stand that.

9. This Cancellation Ordeal

Phone screen screenshot
Reddit | u/c4key

"Wedding was canceled due to COVID-19. I’ve been on hold with Capital One Travel for 7 hours trying to cancel honeymoon hotel."

Oh, my! I totally sympathize with this person. Our wedding date got postponed twice. I hope they got their money back.

10. When Somebody Forgets To Check The Latch

plane luggage latch openend with luggage inside while in the air
Reddit | u/random_guy_somewhere

OMG, seriously? If this were my luggage I was watching through the window, I would have had a very unpleasant flight. Can they just pull over and close that latch? Can you imagine the stress of looking at this the entire flight?

11. This Sad Birthday

Airport tarmac
Reddit | u/bae_guevara_

"I'm spending my birthday at a Montana airport after an unruly passenger caused my cross-country flight to make an emergency landing."

Oh man, that sucks! I would have been pretty annoyed by that. I hope this person at least got a treat or something like that.

12. This Pleasant Flight

Water on the floor of aircraft with passengers in their seats
Reddit | u/Euromistake90

"The toilet waste did not get removed from the previous flight. As a result of this, it flooded the aisle."

Holy, moly. How does that even happen? Aren't they supposed to clean the plane between flights? Seriously, if I were on that plane, I would be one unhappy camper. And what happens if you need to use the facilities? I don't want to know.

14. This Scary Incident

Plane engine on fire
Reddit | u/americanthaigu

Okay, here's what happened: Apparently, this airplane engine caught fire right after take-off at Denver International Airport. OMG, that must've been quite a scary ordeal for everyone on board that plane, right?

15. This Forgetful Moment

Passport in an airport bathroom
Reddit | u/czmax

Oh, no! What do we have here? Somebody found a passport and all the travel documents of a passenger whose flight left two hours ago. I bet they're still looking for it all over the airport. That's is literally my worst nightmare scenario.

16. This Lonely Suitcase

suitcase left on the tarmac
Reddit | u/becca_becs_bec-kaw

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the job of the baggage handlers to ensure all luggage gets put on the plane? Aha! So what is this lonely bag doing here at the tarmac? Oh my goodness, that's not right. I feel so bad for the person waiting for that.

13. This Unfortunate Mishap

FedEx delivery man delivering lost luggage
Reddit | u/radioow

"Airline lost my luggage. They said they will get it to my hotel in the next day or two. Instead, they sent it back home, 4,745 miles away. No luggage for my trip, as I'm spending two weeks out of the country."

What a facepalm! I would have been so mad.

17. This Consolation Prize

Toiletries in a bag
Reddit | u/jimirev

"When you get this... instead of your luggage."

This ladies and gentlemen is what I fear when I fly. I'm always on pins and needles until I arrive at my destination and pick up my bag. It's nice of them to offer something, but as far as I'm concerned, this doesn't suffice.

18. This Not-So-Nice Surprise

Suitcase that was tampered with
Reddit | u/Cardans1328

"Came from an eight-hour flight just to find that the people of the airport broke into my luggage."

Word to the wise, if you don't want this to happen to your luggage, get a lock that comes with a code the TSA can open easily. It's worth the extra money, trust me.

If you ever had a bad travel experience I bet you feel a little better now, right?

plane in the air
Unsplash | alexey starki

I hope you didn't encounter what these folks had to endure. This is exactly when I don't look forward to flying anywhere. Just get me there already, and let's skip all of this, please. Have you ever had a travel mishap like this?