What is the worst experience you've ever had with an airline?
Posted by CornerInsect@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 44 comments
I would say that Lufthansa are officially on my no-fly list.
Went from Heathrow to Frankfurt. Both flights an hour late. Almost no communication. Staff were moody as anything as if I should be thankful they even let me fly with them. Luggage was treated as if it were being delivered by Evri. Trying to get through to anybody regarding this is like pulling teeth.
Yeah... think I'd rather fly Ryanair.
Psychological-Bag272@reddit
Ryanair. A crew member was really rude to us. I arrived at the gate before the scheduled boarding time, but they had apparently decided to start boarding early and spoke to me as if we were late. My mother was about 20 metres behind me, and a crew member was shouting, “We can’t wait for her, ma’am!”
I stood my ground and waited anyway, since it was still 5 minutes before boarding time on the ticket, and I was still confused about how we could possibly be considered late. As we boarded, around 30 - 40 other passengers were just arriving at the gate, and it turned out that only about half the plane had boarded before us.
After all that, the flight was delayed because even more passengers were still making their way through the gate. So in reality, we were early. I honestly don’t understand what the staff were going on about. I just didn't appreciate being yelled at.
DarthScabies@reddit
Ryanair boarding gate staff work for Swissport in the UK usually. And almost every single one of them I've interacted with have been dickheads
OddSign2828@reddit
Was at the train station on the way to the airport. Me and my wife both get a text saying our flight has been cancelled so we should rebook.
We both managed to rebook on a flight for later that day, so all good. Get to the airport, I check in fine, get my boarding pass. My wife’s throws up an error.
Go to check in service desk, wait for 20 mins. Get sent to another queue. Go to another desk, wait 50 mins. Get told they overbooked the flight and my wife will just have to go airside and see if any flights that day have a no show.
Go through, wait for 2 flights to see if any room, nothing. Go wait at a desk airside for 70 minutes to get told all they can do is book another one for 2 days time.
We decide to cancel and claim compensation later. My wife books another flight for the next day, so had to wait for an hour for security to come pick her up and escort her through security. I’m long onto my flight and have taken off. My wife goes back to our flat, orders a pizza and cries (we went out for a lovely dinner the next day to make up for it).
British Airways, by the way.
CunningOctopus@reddit
Small Asian carrier. Stuck on an airport runway on an island in the Philippines and the pilot left seat belt signs on despite saying we'd be there for a while. My 5 year old son wasn't well and desperately needed the toilet, no sick bags available. I got up and explained but the fllight attendant blocked our way and was rude. My son tried to get past, holding his mouth, she caught his arm. He threw up all over her feet....
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
Oooh what happened next?
CunningOctopus@reddit
Nothing exciting LOL. She was speechless and just froze. I said "very sorry but he did say" then gently lifted him past her to go to the toilet. Plane moved about half an hour later.
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
🤣🤣🤣
garlicmayosquad@reddit
Every airline in the Philippines. They penny pinch in a way that makes Ryanair look luxury.
evenstevens280@reddit
Wizzair. Any flight I've ever taken with them
They're cheap, and they make sure they remind you every step of the way.
eggs_and_ham_i_am@reddit
Having just returned from a short stay in Portugal, it's easy to see how flights get delayed so much.
The amount of faffing people do with their bags and the overhead lockers.
During boarding it shouldn't take you 5 minutes of blocking the aisle whilst you try to find your tablet/phone/sweets/book.
Have your stuff you want ready before boarding, put your bag up in the locker or under your seat and sit the fuck down.
PennyBunPudding@reddit
Vietjet air 15 hour delay due to windows falling out of the plane. And then the worse turbulence ever.
Jezbod@reddit
I turned up at Humberside International Airport (it is just a feeder for Schiphol) to check in for a flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. This was a Star alliance flight, mainly KLM.
They initially refused to check us in and said we did not have the required transit visas for going through Sydney.
After 30 mins they re-booked us going via Singapore instead of Sydney.
...this had been the good bit...
When we turned up at Christchurch airport at the end of the month long holiday, we found out that they had cancelled the return legs and not rebooked them, meaning we had to wait 24 hours for the next flight.
We ended up getting compensation for the extra night in a hotel - the same one we had been using, they had not even had time to clean the room. Luckily we were getting picked up at the airport, so no parking overstay charges.
They also paid some "please don't sue us" compensation after I explained I had lost a days work and had been travelling with my elderly mother, with the "unecessary stress" having quite a severe impact on her.
PigneySnoo@reddit
10 hour flight.
Zero rubbish collection throughout the cabin until 20 minutes before landing.
I was eyerolled when I used a carrier bag to collect all the rubbish, including my own, from the surrounding rows and asked for it to be disposed of.
It was like a 10 hour visit to Biffa.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Sounds like my experiences with SAS, would pay significantly more to avoid flying with them again
clrthrn@reddit
I quite liked SAS and Norwegian when flying in Scandi countries. But I haven't flown with them for 7 years so it could have changed a lot.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
I have flown with them to the US and back 4 times, due to flights being booked by other people.
The planes are filthy, paid trolly services, rude staff and if something goes wrong, they are 0 help.
If I had the option to fly SAS or RyanAir long haul, I would take RyanAir, SAS are that bad
clrthrn@reddit
Urgh. I never did the US flights, only within Europe and that was fine. But I can fully believe that they get worse the further they fly.
Real_Palpitation_728@reddit
They are not servants. You’ve paid for the cheapest seat to fly safely over a continent and probably an ocean. Zero rubbish collection is such a minor thing.
PigneySnoo@reddit
Absolutely they're not. That's why I collected the rubbish myself.
However most airlines find it more efficient to send one crew member down the aisle with a trash can than having hundreds of people bring their individual rubbish to the galley.
AmusableThread@reddit
Name and shame the airline
asymmetricears@reddit
Had a 12 hour delay with Monarch once. I think from memory it was technical, then an aircraft swap when the technical wasn't being resolved, then we had to wait so we would arrive after the arrival airport curfew.
clrthrn@reddit
Ryanair and Easy Jet. Staff are underpaid jobsworths of the worst kind. I can't imagine getting that uptight over a case that is 1cm too wide when I can get paid almost the same shelf stacking at Asda, not be that horrible nor have to deal with customers. Plus if you time your booking right, flag carriers can be the same price or cheaper than budgets and flag carriers usually do a beer and a sandwich as their free snack options.
Obvious-Water569@reddit
I guess I've been really lucky because I've never had a truly bad experience with an airline. And I've flown with some cheap and janky airlines.
chiefdave74@reddit
BA cancelled my flight home from Denmark the night before I was due to fly. Only communication I had was a text to say it was cancelled and I'd be booked on a flight days later.
No offer of any assistance, hotel or anything like that. After hours of trying I finally managed to get hold of someone and explained that staying overseas for a further week was not possible I was advised to book any alternative flight I could, with any airline, and then claim the cost back.
I spent £600 booking a flight, BA refused to cover the cost, or any other costs. They paid the legal minimum required for a delayed / cancelled flight and that was it. When looking into this I discovered this is their standard method of operation. Can only assume they know nobody will take them to court so do the absolute minimum they can get away with.
Jack1998blue@reddit
Should be easy enough to get the money back from BA through CAA dispute process right?
CuteChampionship6350@reddit
Lufthansa also on my no fly list appalling airline
hdhxuxufxufufiffif@reddit
I looked into flying to Asia with Lufthansa last year (no direct flights from Manchester so I had to change somewhere) and I was disappointed to see that their longhaul economy tickets no longer include checked luggage. I flew with a different European airline for roughly the same price with a checked suitcase instead.
sharkkallis@reddit
Landing in a storm at Liverpool. Aircraft is crabbing (I think that's what they call it) and I could see down the runway from out of my window!
Plane lands, lurches to the left. Guy in row in front of me vomits in the air and scatterguns his row from right to left with sick.
Then we had to wait for a gate as well.
Fun!
doc1442@reddit
To be fair, not really the airlines fault!
Low_Stress_9180@reddit
British Airways. Rude ignorant cabin crew. Never again!
bambatigerlilly@reddit
BA - every flight, ever, every time….
Difficult-Lion618@reddit
9/11
daddywookie@reddit
BA flying Vancouver to Heathrow. We booked the extra legroom seats but that just meant we had the queue for the toilet milling around in front of us. The seat was too narrow on a 777 so I was constantly being bumped in the shoulder by the generous backside of our cabin crew. Zero sleep, awful flight.
The only worse flight was having to cradle a fractious toddler and walk around for 4 hours so everyone else could sleep. That was entirely my own problem though, can’t blame the airline for that.
Sltre101@reddit
Had a couple of unpleasant exchanges with easyjet crew. Once I was asked if I could swap seats to allow a kid next to their parents. Not a problem. But I’d paid for my seat, so I mentioned it, I got told very abruptly to sit down and forget about it. The crew spent the flight glaring at me whenever they passed. On another flight I’d been waiting 45 minutes for my toastie, so I had called the crew to find out what was happening, and they didn’t acknowledge the bell. The woman on the aisle also tried to get their attention and they just walked past. She eventually tapped one on the arm, and she got a very harsh dressing down from her because she had touched her arm. Eventually got my toastie about an hour after ordering.
Not so much the airline but flew into Stansted on Ryanair in 2022, when airports were still struggling for staff after Covid. Flight was about 2 hours late meaning we got back about 2am, parked at a remote stand and the poor captain had to come out and tell us there was nobody immediately available to drive the busses back to the terminal. After about half an hour one of the ground crew came into the aircraft, turns to us all and says “honestly, you’d rather be in here than out there”. No. It’s 2:30am, we want to be, and should have been, in bed already. I thought he was about to get lynched by some passengers.
Krakshotz@reddit
Virgin Atlantic.
Exactly 3 weeks before my return leg from Miami to Heathrow I received an email saying my return flight was cancelled. Website said nothing, checked with support team and they confirmed it was cancelled. Rebooked with a change in Atlanta. Was told my upgrade to Premium Economy would still be valid.
Got to gate at Atlanta and was told I had been downgraded. Stuck in a narrow bulkhead seat for 8 hours. Complained to Virgin once I got home and they took ages to compensate me, but only for the upgrade to Premium economy
CoffeeandaTwix@reddit
Yeah, star alliance are the worst.
My best with Lufthansa was when I had a planned Mon - Thur trip going from Manchester to somewhere in Scandinavia (can't remember where now) connecting in Munich.
The Mcr-Munich leg was delayed so I missed the connection. Went to the desk and was told I had been transferred to a flight on the Friday! No refund or alternate for the return which I would miss by default and no hotel or anything (they never do that and take up to 18 months to reimburse anyway). I laughed and said ok, whatever but clearly I am going to book another flight, can I get my bag. They told me it was impossible and that my hold luggage would be held in the airport until the Friday flight.
I queued up three times to speak to different people. In the meantime in the queue, I organised a separate Lufthansa flight to my destination the same day via Frankfurt. Could never get a straight answer on why that wasn't considered an option... I think their system simply wouldn't allow a connecting flight to replace a direct one.
wardyms@reddit
BA but to be fair I got all my money back it was just a pain at the time.
Had flown to Nice from London City. Arrived at Nice airport for the flight back, in plenty of time. Got told I couldn’t go on the flight and we had to go on a flight to Heathrow 30 mins later. Were assured they’d get us back to airport.
Land in Heathrow and nobody from BA knows anything about this. I have to complain quite a lot for them to sort a car out for us. All the delays mean our airport parking has lapsed and because I’d used a certain company we couldn’t get the car back and now need to pay another night in a hotel.
It was stressful and shit, but I put a claim in for everything - extra night hotel, airport parking, food we’d bought etc. got everything back, fair enough.
Brilliant-Figure-149@reddit
Yep, Lufthansa for me as well. We flew to Orlando with them a few years ago via their hub airport in Frankfurt. The return flight was a disaster with a VERY long delay in Hamburg to get the final bit of the flight back to the UK. It's the only time I have claimed compensation for flight delays. Would have preferred to just get home roughly on time.
Due-Presentation4344@reddit
Jet2. Flight from Majorca to Birmingham, diverted to Leeds at 5AM with two young children.
We were told to wait in luggage collections, with every passenger on the flight and left there until we all left an hour later. One jet2 staff member at the airport who had no idea what to do, no communication, no transfer, no food or drink.
We ended up getting a taxi back at 9AM (as did most other passengers) and they refused to pay for it as they hadn’t organised the transfer.
Exact_Gazelle_7662@reddit
I have flown Ryanair once - on a business trip - from Brussels South to Zaragoza. Return flight was cancelled and the best that they could offer was a flight 3 days later 😡.
I have flown Vueling once and they spent 4 hours, on the gate, with a fully loaded plane trying to sort out their own incompetence as they had over booked the flight.
Flew back from Toronto to Heathrow on BA business class - left Toronto with a serious snow storm going on. Landed in Heathrow and it took them 6 hours to get us off the plane - because of 6 jnches of snow the night before ….
zackjbryson@reddit
Air Canada - my luggage turning up in Mexico very wet. It had been snowing heavily and I get the feeling someone dropped my bag in a puddle of water, or left it out in the snow.
l0stlabyrinth@reddit
Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I always seem to have issues with easyJet and Gatwick.
Flight from Belfast: delayed 5 hours. Then when I finally boarded we were stuck at the gate for another 45 minutes. Then circled around on the approach to Gatwick for another hour. Couldn't give a reason. At least I managed to get £220 out of them that was approved immediately after I submitted it.
Flight from Amsterdam: 9 hours delayed. What fun that was being stuck at Schiphol Airport. No ground crew in sight. They did give me a refreshment voucher... that works hardly anywhere. It was only a 45 minute flight back. Not eligible for any compensation because "it weren't our problem, soz, toodles!"
I do try and go BA as a first choice unless there's a substantial cost difference, or if easyJet are flying from Southend (which has actually been a very positive experience all around in comparison). I'm flying to Berlin next month and actually got a better deal with BA when factoring in flights and hotel, plus they upgraded me to take on a 20kg hold bag, which I don't actually need for a short trip but it would be rude not to.
D1789@reddit
Flown with various airlines over the years, short and long haul, and never had a bad experience tbh.
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