Made any travel mistakes lately?

[Stealthflyer]

My mistake was visiting Brisbane in the heat of December. 36 degrees was way too much for me. It was funny though - when our BNE-HBA flight landed last night, the FA announced it was 13 degrees outside and the plane erupted in cheers. I suspect the passengers were mostly Hobartians heading home.

 

[drron]

Indeed Taswegians don’t do heat very well. I remember one year working in Latrobe when the Advocate had a headline 3 day heatwave predicted. It was going to be 26. 27 and 28C. Not even a hot spring day.
The first day I worked in Tassie I arrived at the hospital with my jumper on to be greeted by people complaining how hot and humid it was.
At the time it was 13C with a predicted maximum of 18 with 40% humidity. I pronounced it neither hot nor humid.

 

[Stealthflyer]

Indeed Taswegians don’t do heat very well. I remember one year working in Latrobe when the Advocate had a headline 3 day heatwave predicted. It was going to be 26. 27 and 28C. Not even a hot spring day.
The first day I worked in Tassie I arrived at the hospital with my jumper on to be greeted by people complaining how hot and humid it was.
At the time it was 13C with a predicted maximum of 18 with 40% humidity. I pronounced it neither hot nor humid.

Haha I can believe it. We had one of those high 20s “heatwaves” in Tassie just a few weeks ago. I was visiting the West Coast for a few days and the good people of Queenstown were having a meltdown. The council pool doesn’t open until December and the Queen River is a bit poisonous, so the only place to go was the pub or wine bar (yes, Queenstown now has a wine bar).

 

[QF_Flyer]

Doesn't the Tasmanian heritage give you cold immunity?

British Heritage doesn’t give me any cold immunity, I’ve just been in NI for a wedding and I thought I was going to shatter all my teeth shivering, despite a thousand layers and a jacket over the top. Meanwhile there’s people wearing next to nothing on the usual UK Saturday night piss up.

Bermuda was a constant 18C when I was there last week, not cold, not hot, but I could’ve done with a few extra °C personally, it was enough to need a sweater, and shorts (Bermuda or otherwise) were out of the question.

 

[Lost Redditor]

Landed in HEL from Bangkok. Frozen wasteland. Catching connection to Düsseldorf.

Oh oh. Bus gate and in and I’m in my shirtsleeves alone from all the other passengers in the gate lounge most who are not only jacketed but most of them have beanies etc. Some in furs.

Onto the bus standing by the door to make sure I could be one of the first up the airplane stairs and not have to stand on the stairs in my shirt sleeves.

Freeze for about 10 minutes while everyone boarded the bus with me standing by the open door.

Travel mistake of course was not to bring my jumper on the flight from Bangkok anticipating what was at the other end.

I almost replied to your Trip Report to say "bring a jacket on board" but didn't want to offend such a seasoned traveller as yourself.

Being from Norway, this is a travel mistake I'll never make.... I think

 

[Hvr]

I booked unrefundable IHG hotels during the black Friday sale for myself and a mate accompanying me on his first overseas trip. They're in Bangkok, he's in Soi 11, I'm in Soi 22. I genuinely thought I'd booked Soi 11 for myself.

He'll cope. I'm not telling him until we actually arrive.

 

[SYD]

I booked unrefundable IHG hotels during the black Friday sale for myself and a mate accompanying me on his first overseas trip. They're in Bangkok, he's in Soi 11, I'm in Soi 22. I genuinely thought I'd booked Soi 11 for myself.

He'll cope. I'm not telling him until we actually arrive.

Did you try contacting IHG? They might be able to move you if you not doing full refund?

 

[RSD]

Purchased a travel power adaptor for Hong Kong the night before flying out - casually tossed it in the bag. Arrived in Hong Kong and do you think I could get the damn thing out of the package? By the time I finally got to access it the packaging looked like it had had sex with an elephant!

 

[marki]

Purchased a travel power adaptor for Hong Kong the night before flying out - casually tossed it in the bag. Arrived in Hong Kong and do you think I could get the damn thing out of the package? By the time I finally got to access it the packaging looked like it had had sex with an elephant!

Any pictures would be appreciated hard to imagine the “sex with an elephant” bit.

 

[RooFlyer]

I almost replied to your Trip Report to say "bring a jacket on board" but didn't want to offend such a seasoned traveller as yourself.

Being from Norway, this is a travel mistake I'll never make.... I think

Well, to be fair to my good self, I thought all the locals inside Helsinki terminal dressed as if they were about to face a blizzard, a bunch of wimps. It was a mistake, but it’s not as if standing in one’s shirt sleeves for10 minutes in the freezing cold was tough - I’m from Tasmania, remember

 

[Flashback]

Well, to be fair to my good self, I thought all the locals inside Helsinki terminal dressed as if they were about to face a blizzard, a bunch of wimps. It was a mistake, but it’s not as if standing in one’s shirt sleeves for10 minutes in the freezing cold was tough - I’m from Tasmania, remember

Joining me for the polar plunge in Greenland then?

 

[RooFlyer]

Joining me for the polar plunge in Greenland then?

Of course! except that as I noted in my recent Antarctica trip, I don’t see the point of jumping off a perfectly good vessel when there’s a nice gin and tonic to be had on board.

Oh, and I’m bringing a note from my cardiologist.

 

[marki]

Joining me for the polar plunge in Greenland then?

Heart Start or stop depends

 

[markis10]

Purchased a travel power adaptor for Hong Kong the night before flying out - casually tossed it in the bag. Arrived in Hong Kong and do you think I could get the damn thing out of the package? By the time I finally got to access it the packaging looked like it had had sex with an elephant!

I forgot to pack my normal HKG adaptor last trip, coming off a week in Japan and then back to back week in China was still in China mode. Staying at Chai Wan I went wandering to find an adaptor, Fortress was $45, no thanks. An hour or so later, nothing better.

As part of the recent Qantas hotels promo I strayed from my normal IHG/Accor preference and booked the Yloft property which was a bit quirky, after all who puts portable dehumidifiers in a corridor of a hotel which is open to the elements and expects them to be efficient! Anyway I had to wait a few hours for checkin coming off the CX red eye from BNE, and when I did, I asked about adaptors, sure enough out comes a brand new box of them and $2 later, problem solved.

Later in the week I was at the Ibis Northpoint, my favorite shoebox with a view. Was upgraded to a top floor room and noted the new water boiler purifier machine they used instead of a jug, it had Wifi and everything. At 4AM next morning do you think I could get it to work. Asked reception to help and they sent a staff member who insisted it wasn’t theirs. I did some research, downloaded an app and found myself connecting to similar devices on the same floor, with full access, imagine your in your room and suddenly hot water is being dispensed! I eventually worked out my unit need descaling, hence no hot water for me, got an old fashioned jug around three hours later.



High tech water boiler saying “no water for you”

 

[jordyp123]

I booked first class on Singapore Airlines website from SYD-SIN and wanted to add a stopover to Penang since they don't do mixed class bookings(redemption). I also had to manually call up to add the 2 infants and pay the 10% of the adult fare which wasn't a problem. I left it a few days to add the stopover because I am busy with 2 infants and the Mrs decided to choose Penang instead of Bangkok. Getting the stopover flight added on was a pain. I had to pay a change fee and the taxes which was fine. No one knew how to process the infants but to their credit they called back in 24 hours and rectified.

Lesson learnt and that is to book it all in one go.

 

[leadman]

I just arrived home after a horrid 96 hours of mistakes, delays, lost baggage, accidents, flying firsts, etc. From the start, the last leg of a business trip was always a problem. Had get to Chennai from Kathmandu, got a great J fare with Sri Lankan, almost a status run KTM > CMB > MAA. There was plenty of time for each leg, but it fell apart when they cancelled the CMB > MAA leg. They rescheduled me on Air India KTM > DEL > MAA, but the times were much tighter to meet the MH flight MAA > KUL. The AI agent assured me (Major Mistake 1) that the times were OK, my luggage would be sent through to MAA, and that I didn't have to collect it in DEL (Major Mistake 2). It was tagged to MAA. I had a rethink in Nepal and decided to change my MH flight from the 00:20 to the 11:45 as I just did not believe the agent I could get from MAA T4 to T2 in 1h 30m. It cost me an extra $400, but in the end, it was the right move. Booked the Courtyard Chennai as it was going to be a short stay.

KTM > DEL was late out by one hour, then spent doing donuts over Delhi for another 45 minutes. By the time we touched down, there was the faintest hope of getting the DEL > MAA flight as we pulled up to the aerobridge. But it didn't move, and nothing moved for 15 minutes! Stairs pulled up, and we deboarded from the starboard side of the plane!!!!! I have a feeling I did it once many, many years ago, but certainly not in modern flying times.

DEL > MAA was gone by the time luggage came out, and (of course) you had to collect it!!!!!! I got to Dom transfer, and they booked me on the 6am flight. I lost the Chennai Courtyard (another $120) and quickly booked Aloft Aerocity Delhi @ $250. No booze or bar, just to bed and got up at 3:30am to get back to the airport with time to spare. Uber is a nightmare at that time of the morning: three times the drivers cancelled, even the concierge spoke to one, but he was going off to sleep!!!! For a 5 minute journey, took nearly an hour to get a car as they got me a car from the Marriott (at a lovely price)! Booked in J, luggage checked, everything seemed to get back to some normality.

Flight on time, smooth exit, waiting for luggage, none. They had lost it from DEL > MAA. It was almost a Monty Python scene in reporting the bag; I told them it was "red samsonite aeris", but on the official form, it became a "silver aluminium Rimowa". When I told the gentleman, he asked me, "Was I sure"!

No luggage to KUL, so caught the KLIA express to Central and bought some temp clothes before getting to hotel. Got to the Sheraton and they could not find my booking. I had stuffed it up and booked the following night (Major Mistake 3). Once they heard my story (they could tell just from my appearance as it had been raining in KUL and I looked like a drowned rat!), they fixed things up and held my room rate. Needed just a few more things, so decided to cross the road to the shops. It had been raining for hours, and as I got to the shops, I slipped backwards, smacked my head on the pavement and bruised my back and legs (and broke my glasses). Sheraton guys were great again and got the house Doc: possible minor concussion, bruising, but nothing broken.

I was advised to rest for a few days, but I left and got home this morning from a mistake-riddled trip. Hopefully, I've used up all my "bad vibes" for the next few years.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Hope this series of mishaps hasn't put you off travelling @leadman
Thanks for sharing and that you are doing ok after your tumble - best to get checked out.
Teen grandson suffered an undiagnosed concussion at gymnastics two years ago and developed post concussion syndrome - 18 months of various treatments has him back to normal now, but no competitive elite gymnastics.

 

[leadman]

Hope this series of mishaps hasn't put you off travelling @leadman
Thanks for sharing and that you are doing ok after your tumble - best to get checked out.
Teen grandson suffered an undiagnosed concussion at gymnastics two years ago and developed post concussion syndrome - 18 months of various treatments has him back to normal now, but no competitive elite gymnastics.

Thanks, but it's a bit too late to put me off travelling; Myflightradar24 is telling me I'm 0.6 days off from having spent one year of my life in the air! And no trace of the luggage.

 

[dairyfloss]

Thanks, but it's a bit too late to put me off travelling; Myflightradar24 is telling me I'm 0.6 days off from having spent one year of my life in the air! And no trace of the luggage.

In that case, maybe just steer clear of the competitive elite gymnastics

 

[VPS]

I just arrived home after a horrid 96 hours of mistakes, delays, lost baggage, accidents, flying firsts, etc. From the start, the last leg of a business trip was always a problem. Had get to Chennai from Kathmandu, got a great J fare with Sri Lankan, almost a status run KTM > CMB > MAA. There was plenty of time for each leg, but it fell apart when they cancelled the CMB > MAA leg. They rescheduled me on Air India KTM > DEL > MAA, but the times were much tighter to meet the MH flight MAA > KUL. The AI agent assured me (Major Mistake 1) that the times were OK, my luggage would be sent through to MAA, and that I didn't have to collect it in DEL (Major Mistake 2). It was tagged to MAA. I had a rethink in Nepal and decided to change my MH flight from the 00:20 to the 11:45 as I just did not believe the agent I could get from MAA T4 to T2 in 1h 30m. It cost me an extra $400, but in the end, it was the right move. Booked the Courtyard Chennai as it was going to be a short stay.

KTM > DEL was late out by one hour, then spent doing donuts over Delhi for another 45 minutes. By the time we touched down, there was the faintest hope of getting the DEL > MAA flight as we pulled up to the aerobridge. But it didn't move, and nothing moved for 15 minutes! Stairs pulled up, and we deboarded from the starboard side of the plane!!!!! I have a feeling I did it once many, many years ago, but certainly not in modern flying times.

DEL > MAA was gone by the time luggage came out, and (of course) you had to collect it!!!!!! I got to Dom transfer, and they booked me on the 6am flight. I lost the Chennai Courtyard (another $120) and quickly booked Aloft Aerocity Delhi @ $250. No booze or bar, just to bed and got up at 3:30am to get back to the airport with time to spare. Uber is a nightmare at that time of the morning: three times the drivers cancelled, even the concierge spoke to one, but he was going off to sleep!!!! For a 5 minute journey, took nearly an hour to get a car as they got me a car from the Marriott (at a lovely price)! Booked in J, luggage checked, everything seemed to get back to some normality.

Flight on time, smooth exit, waiting for luggage, none. They had lost it from DEL > MAA. It was almost a Monty Python scene in reporting the bag; I told them it was "red samsonite aeris", but on the official form, it became a "silver aluminium Rimowa". When I told the gentleman, he asked me, "Was I sure"!

No luggage to KUL, so caught the KLIA express to Central and bought some temp clothes before getting to hotel. Got to the Sheraton and they could not find my booking. I had stuffed it up and booked the following night (Major Mistake 3). Once they heard my story (they could tell just from my appearance as it had been raining in KUL and I looked like a drowned rat!), they fixed things up and held my room rate. Needed just a few more things, so decided to cross the road to the shops. It had been raining for hours, and as I got to the shops, I slipped backwards, smacked my head on the pavement and bruised my back and legs (and broke my glasses). Sheraton guys were great again and got the house Doc: possible minor concussion, bruising, but nothing broken.

I was advised to rest for a few days, but I left and got home this morning from a mistake-riddled trip. Hopefully, I've used up all my "bad vibes" for the next few years.

rest up and take care then