People Share Their Worst Airline Travel Stories

Have you ever boarded a flight brimming with excitement for a long-awaited vacation, only to find yourself navigating through a turbulence of unexpected chaos? Air travel, envisioned as the gateway to cherished destinations, can sometimes spiral into an experience far from what we anticipate.

Imagine being strapped into your seat on a flight to your dream vacation, where you plan to unwind from months of working hard, only to find yourself in an unexpected situation. Air travel can sometimes become a nightmare when the circumstances aren't right.

Some Redditors bravely shared tales of flights gone awry. From enduring the trials of annoying seatmates to navigating unforeseen incidents 30,000 feet above ground, people have seen the worst during their flights. Scroll down to read their awful first-hand experiences.

Comments have been edited for clarity and grammar.

1. The Scary Experience

u/baltimoron21211: I was flying from Nassau to Havana. The turbulence was so bad that the flight attendant was kneeling, crying, and praying.

White smoke came out of the vents. Besides, all the writing on the plane was in Russian, and I couldn't understand the buttons and other things.

2. The Runway

u/Livia85: I experienced a go-around. The plane was about to touch down when suddenly we were pressed into our seats while the aircraft rose again at a 45° angle. It turned out the plane that landed previously hadn't cleared the runway. It was pretty scary.

3. The Worst Case of Food Poisoning

u/Raaaaaaaaaandy: We were coming home from Thailand to Seattle. It is a 16-hour flight. I had the worst case of food poisoning in history.

I spent the majority of that flight stuck in the airline bathroom. When I wasn't in the bathroom, I was in my seat, curled up in a ball, shaking and sweating. I was so sick, almost at the point of hallucinating.

4. My Grandmother Had Strange Things in Her Bag

u/Brewnonono: I was at the airport, in another country, with my grandparents, who were moving to the US.

We got to security, and the person there pulled a long BBQ fork out of my grandmother's suitcase. I thought, "That could be used as a weapon."

Then, the agent returns to Grandma's bag and pulls out a meat cleaver. I'm thinking we're going to be imprisoned in this foreign land (which is NOT known for its human rights and does NOT have an American embassy).

My unrepentant granny is explaining, "It's a quality cleaver! They don't make it like this anymore. Why would I leave it behind?!"

Surprisingly, the friendly agent kindly explained to Granny that she would have to leave both objects behind, then sent us on our merry way. Granny was pissed.

5. Our Daughters Went Missing

u/AtlantaBunch: Our worst airline experience was when the airline lost our two daughters for hours, even though we had paid extra for stewardess escorts. We were freaking out, and they didn't even bother to apologize.

6. Ice Chips Helped Me

u/[deleted]: About six years ago, I was sitting on the plane and suddenly felt a tickle in my throat. It just wouldn't go away. I'd cough and cough and cough, nothing.

The only thing that helped was ice chips, but I couldn't stop it even then. It was miserable. I woke up in the middle of the night with two swollen eyes, swollen lips, hives all over my body, hot joints, and a tight chest.

I was having some severe allergic reaction to something. This means that my throat was closing on the plane, and I just didn't know it.

Of course, the ice chips helped because they kept the swelling down. What's weird is that it has never happened before or since then, and I'm not allergic to anything I know of.

7. I Was the Kid Who Wanted Ice Cream

u/phoniz: I was flying from Australia on a Malaysian airline. They were serving ice cream, so I (as a 12-year-old) naturally wanted one.

It was so cold my lips got stuck to it. I had to wait for 10 minutes for it to warm up, and I still lost some skin on my lips.

8. We Met Our Neighbor on the Flight

u/QuigandJas: We ran into one of our neighbors on a flight home. His seat was next to an old lady who used him as a pillow, ordered a Coke, spilled it on him, then got coffee and spilled it again!

The lady ordered another coffee and spilled it on him again! He flipped out and was moved into our seat row.

9. The 'Nice' Flight Attendant

u/PandaObsession: I was 15 or 16, flying across the country for the first time by myself. My mom had wanted to treat me, so she splurged and bought me a ticket with extra legroom.

Because of that, I got on the front seats with no storage room, so the "nice" fight attendant put my backpack in the overhead compartment and said she would get it for me when we reached altitude.

When we hit the needed height, I asked for my backpack. I had brought my computer, some books, and some snacks with me.

She opened the overhead compartment, and another passenger tried to ask her a question while she was fumbling around to find my bag.

She ended up dropping my bag. It bounced off the shoulder of another passenger and then slammed into the floor. Then she picked it up and tossed it in my general direction.

I didn't know it until I got home some six hours later, but that fall had smashed the internal components of my computer. My computer's disk drive and fan had stopped working. Eventually, I had to buy a new computer because of the flight attendant.

10. The Captain's Unexpected Announcement

u/XelaNiba: I was on a nighttime flight 15 years ago. Suddenly, the cabin lights turn on to full blast, and the captain makes an announcement.

"You may be smelling a noxious odor. We have an electrical fire on board and are unsure how quickly it might spread. We are being diverted to the nearest airport and will be executing an emergency landing in 15 minutes. Please pay attention to your flight attendants as they instruct you in the proper crash-landing procedure."

I would have thought there would be hysteria, but everyone became dead quiet. I had my 11-month-old and was advised to hold him in my arms. They asked me to assume the crash-landing procedure as best as possible to shield his body.

Everyone on that plane thought we were dead. I whispered to my baby, pointing out the window at the earth below and telling him how beautiful it was. I didn't want him to die scared.

After 10 minutes and no catastrophic failure, we all began to relax, thinking the fire was contained or spreading very slowly.

We all positioned ourselves for a crash landing—the tarmac was ablaze with the flashing lights of fire trucks, ambulances, and police vehicles, all in preparation for a worst-case scenario.

We landed smoothly & without incident, thank God. That was a really, really bad 15 minutes.

11. The Long Flight

u/scarletmanuka: We flew to Scotland from Australia, and the airline left our luggage behind at the stopover because they were running late.

We had no communication from the airline when we arrived, and they did not reimburse us at all. They then delivered our luggage to another passenger, and we finally got it delivered six days into a 15-day trip.

Then we flew home and discovered they did the same thing. It took three days to get it back the second time.

That debacle, plus delays, waiting on the tarmac for hours, and the complete lack of customer service, has led me to vow never to fly with them again.

12. The Monotonous Announcement

u/Hellothere6545: This is not my story but one from my father. He was flying in Russia, and there was a terrible storm during the flight, which caused extreme turbulence.

Then the captain turned on the PA system and told everyone, "This is Captain Bezsmertniy speaking. We are passing through some light turbulence, so please fasten your seat belts" in the most monotonous voice possible.

Just to note, the name Bezsmertniy translates to "undying" in Russian. Also, a lightning strike hit the wing, which was pretty scary.

13. No Place to Land

u/Thrownaway_4_2_day: We flew from Ohio to Charlotte, NC. During the flight, a hurricane unexpectedly turned hard inland and made landfall.

As a result, all air traffic was not permitted to land, was backed up to the maximum, and flights were forced to circle the airport until they could get on the ground.

Unfortunately, we arrived late, and the air traffic at 30,000 feet was completely clogged. Instead of landing, we were forced to circle the airport below those flights, which was in the heart of the hurricane.

We flew in circles for an hour and ten minutes, with nonstop lightning on both sides of the plane and turbulence that would make a 70-year-old sailor feel scared.

The turbulence threw everything all over the plane. People were crying, and there was terror. When we finally landed, no one would exit the aircraft.

The applause lasted until the captain came out and spontaneously began weeping. He told us he was so sorry that we all had to experience that.

He said he was happy that he had the privilege of getting us safely back on solid ground and then hugged an older black lady who kissed him until we forgot about the hurricane and started to feel uncomfortable for him. This happened in 1994, but the trauma remains with me.

14. The Horrible Perfume

u/DudeAbides29: This was when I was 10-11 years old. I went on a nine-hour flight and had the middle seat.

Besides me, on the window seat, was an older woman wearing a horrendous-smelling perfume. It was the kind that gave you a headache in the first 10 minutes.

She went to the restroom and reapplied her perfume every couple of hours. The smell plus turbulence was enough for me to throw up during the flight.

The experience left me so scarred that I took motion sickness pills every flight for years, only to realize that I did not have motion sickness. It was just that older woman's horrible perfume.

15. The Missing Passenger

u/SkippingMango7: Sitting in a hot and fully boarded plane somewhere in sunny Spain, the flight attendants are pacing up and down the aisle, counting and talking to each other.

After a few minutes, they announced they were one passenger short, and, as a result, there was an extra checked bag.

The solution is to take all the checked baggage out of the plane, lay it on the runway, and have everyone find their bag. The engines are off, so there is no AC in a jam-packed plane in sunny Spain.

The guys unloading the plane are so slow it is hard to fathom, and people are getting edgy. Two hours later, the plane is still not empty but almost.

One of the flight attendants walks through the cabin, double-checking some numbers. With a slightly worried face, she talks to a colleague.

It turned out they counted wrong. They decided to load the plane again—two more hours in a hot, no-AC, jam-packed plane. The company went out of business shortly after.

16. The wrong seat

Deleted user: When we're already up in the air and this lady walks up to me. She smirks and says, "I made a mistake and sat in the wrong seat. Give me yours." Me: "Sorry, I'm already settled here."

But she snaps back, "I said I made a mistake! Move it!" I stood my ground and refused to move. That's when she lost it. She grabbed my shoulder and started shouting, causing a scene that caught everyone's attention. Her voice was loud enough to prompt the flight crew to rush over.

They tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't listen and kept claiming the seat was hers.then, to my relief, several other passengers intervened. They stood up for me, firmly telling the woman that I was in my assigned seat and she needed to return to hers.

17. They Said Nothing

u/kheltar: I flew to France for a snow week. The airline offloaded our bags (and about 50 others) due to aircraft weight AND SAID NOTHING!

We waited ages at the other end, missed our transfer, and it took three days into a seven-day trip to get our bags.

18. Free Potato Chips

u/26pointMax: It was a 12+ hour flight, and I was in the middle aisle on a 747. The seat recliner was broken, the guy next to me took his shoes off, and his feet stank.

Meanwhile, the woman to my left spilled orange juice on me, and the headphone plug for the in-flight entertainment was broken. I did get extra potato chips as compensation for the seat problem, though.

19. He Brought His Own Meal

u/Adrienne27: I took a flight back to JFK from Costa Rica, which had done a prior pick-up in Ecuador. I got seated next to a bulky guy who had been on the flight since the beginning.

When mealtime came, he refused the airline food and instead pulled out an aluminum foil package that contained a roasted guinea pig. I nearly lost my airline lunch when he pulled off the tiny drumsticks and chewed on them.

20. The Worst Turbulence

u/humanitymonster: I was on a small commuter plane (think about 20 seats, single file the length of the cabin), and we hit a wind rotor (I guess that's what it's called) off the mountains.

It felt like a giant baby grabbed the plane and shook it like a rattle. Hands down, it was the worst turbulence I've ever felt. Other than that, my trips have been relatively uneventful.

21. Rich dude

Deleted user: I only have a year to live, and my son made my big dream come true – flying business class. But right when I step on the plane, this rich dude comes at me.

He: 'Who let HER in business class? I'm shelling out big bucks to avoid flying with people like her!'I burst into tears. My dream was shattered. Then the police with handcuffs approach me.

Me: 'Officers, you don't need those for me, I'll just go.' Officer: 'No, ma'am, we're not here for you, we're for him," nodding towards the rude man. "He's been causing trouble on multiple flights."

As they escort him off the plane, the pilot's voice comes over the intercom, announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen, in honor of our special guest [calls my name], we're upgrading her flight experience even further."

As I settled back into my seat, feeling a mix of relief and joy, I couldn't help but smile at the unexpected turn of events. It was a moment of sweet karma and the beginning of a journey I would never forget.

The candid stories shared by Redditors remind us of the unpredictability woven into the fabric of our journeys. Despite the mishaps, these accounts serve as a testament to resilience and the shared camaraderie among travelers navigating the skies.

So, as you book your next flight and fasten the seatbelt before flying to your next destination, remember the stories of these people who had the worst air travel experience.

Things might go wrong on your flight, but these stories prove that every turbulence eventually finds its calm horizon. We would love to know if you have experienced something similar during your air travel.