Made any travel mistakes lately?

[Oneworldplus2]

drop wife off, booked another flight, drove the 4 hour round trip and finally boarded. Very frustrating when this happens that the airlines wont allow you to still use your return ticket if you dont board the outbound flight.

I missed an out-bound flight with Easyjet (due to work) and booked a o/w with BA. Easyjet still let me use the return.

 

[c814875]

I have done this too, easyjet Rome to Gatwick. At least it was cheap.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Booked an outbound flight commencing with the inbound city and front up to be told no cigar bucko. Highly embarrassing given the travel I've done.

I never stop learning how great is that !!

 

[Youfah Mizzum]

Parked car at SYD long term parking (I think called Blue Emu now). Shuttle bus was about 100m away & I couldn't be bothered bolting for it, knowing that another bus generally rocks up in another 10-15 mins.
So we know where this is heading already.

Waited for the next bus...waiting...waiting 20 mins later it finally arrives, and I now realise I might actually miss the flight boarding. And I did. No refunds, no exchange for next flight, no nuffin. had to buy tix on next flight. Only MEL but still hurt.

 

[flyrod]

Where do I start?
Rented a 4th floor,1 bedroom apartment in Paris for a week. The elevator was big enough for two + luggage and had a plastic bifold door on the inside. My Brother-In-Law and his two adult children checked out of there hotel in the morning and had until late afternoon for the London train so I suggested leaving their luggage in the apartment while we had lunch.
To save trips in the elevator I put all the luggage in, pressed 4, shut the door from the outside and ran up the stairs...the luggage fell against the door and stopped the elevator.
I eventually got the message through with very basic French, but being a Saturday we were told that a technician would be there on Monday.
That was going to be a problem because my BIL's passport was in the elevator. After some sweet talking about reservations that day etc we finally got a tech that day. The leisurely lunch we had planned turned into a very stressful couple of hours.

 

[Alanslegal]

Not travel related but I accidentally bought some Bose Cinemate GS 2 speakers two weekends ago. Cost me $750. It happened on eBay when I accidentally clicked on the buy it now and confirm buttons too quickly

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

Rocked up to 4Points in Perth back in Nov, late around 11p, tired.
They said I had already checked out...WTF...oops, the booking was for the day before, not the day I arrived.

Oil/Gas doo was on in town, all rooms booked. Finally got a place at the Duxton, $500 including breakfast for very ordinary room.

My bad.

 

[Hvr]

This year February and March have the same dates & days (until the 28th). <snip>

Actually that happens every year.

 

[boomy]

Actually that happens every year.

Not according to my iPhone Calendar:
View attachment 31432
View attachment 31433

 

[Rebekkap]

Actually that happens every year.

Except if it's a leap year.

 

[sinophile888]

Yesterday, I made what could have been a whopper of a mistake.

I bought myself a new Forester in February and soon after was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia. So I only got to drive the car twice before I was in and out of hospital having general anaesthetics on a regular basis. I am now driving the car myself a little.

Yesterday I met some friends for lunch, driving myself there. I’m still not used to the whole keyless entry thing and initially thought that the car locked itself when you walked away. So I got away with an unlocked car a number of times.

But yesterday, as I walked away from the car, I tried to use the remote and lock the car but didn’t hear the door click shut. After lunch, as I walked towards the car, I noticed that the lights were still on. Funny I thought. And when I got into the car I realised that the engine was still running.

So the car had been sitting by the side of the road for about 2 hours with the doors unlocked and the engine running.

I try to live my life by the “Pay It Forward “philosophy. I will have to make some serious deposits to cover this major withdrawal.

P.S. I "forgot" to tell my husband.

 

[Rox]

That's a good ad for how quiet the foresters engine is!
Pre- keyless entry days, I left my car parked in a shopping street on a busy Saturday morning for several hours. I was desperately trying to find the keys then realized I had left them in the passenger side door.
2 theories:
Car thieves don't like peugeots;
They presumed ( as they probably did with you) that to do that I must have been very close by and watching the car.

 

[luckydog]

First time I arrived at Inchon airport I foolishly accepted the help of a very helpful "taxi" driver who drove me in his limo taxi to my hotel. 160000 won (about $160) when a regular taxi driver is around 70000 won and the limo bus (which is excellent) is 16000. I sadly knew no better though.

Only made that mistake once.... Now I warn people on the plane and tell all the plain clothes taxi drivers who repeatedly approach you in the arrivals hall to bugger off. A very annoying way to arrive a new country - to be ripped off by the first person you meet. Oldest travel trick in the book I suppose.

 

[Rox]

If it makes you feel any better, a very long time ago arriving at SFO very late, tired and grumpy, a limo driver approached us with an offer to take us to the hotel for the cost of the taxi fare as he was driving back to the city empty. Well we weren't going to fall for that, said no, caught a taxi, and it was exactly what he said it would be!

 

[luckydog]

Melbourne airport is packed with these dudes... at least I know what price to ask for in my 'own' city.

 

[dodgeyhack]

A couple of trips ago I donated my keys to Unicef =(

 

[Sprucegoose]

Melbourne airport is packed with these dudes... at least I know what price to ask for in my 'own' city.

Negotiate and become a regular

 

[JohnK]

A very annoying way to arrive a new country - to be ripped off by the first person you meet. Oldest travel trick in the book I suppose.

That has happened to most us. In fact it still happens from time to time.

Got ripped off in 1990 in ATH as I got off the flight. I was going to bus station. Took another couple in taxi, drove around half of Athens and dropped them off along the way. Charged them and continued to overcharge me. Fare should have been 2,500-3,000 drachma and the fare in the end was 5,000 drachma which was ~AUD50 at the time. I knew what was going on and told him I should really call the police but I wanted him out of my sight and paid him the rip off fare.

 

[ellen10]

First time I arrived at Inchon airport I foolishly accepted the help of a very helpful "taxi" driver who drove me in his limo taxi to my hotel. 160000 won (about $160) when a regular taxi driver is around 70000 won and the limo bus (which is excellent) is 16000. I sadly knew no better though.

Only made that mistake once....

Same happened to us in Dubai it was 1.30am tired after a flight we were walking to the taxi rank and was directed by a man in a uniform to a black shiny taxi. I started to doubt going with him but hubby had put the bags in the boot, questioned the guy whether he was a taxi, and of course he said yes. Of course when we got into the car we saw that 50 dirham was already on the meter, to late.
Oh course our return trip back to the airport was a third of the cost!

 

[Foreigner]

First time I arrived at Inchon airport I foolishly accepted the help of a very helpful "taxi" driver who drove me in his limo taxi to my hotel. 160000 won (about $160) when a regular taxi driver is around 70000 won and the limo bus (which is excellent) is 16000. I sadly knew no better though.

That limo bus gets you swiftly into Seoul. Ride is just over 60 minutes but pleasant. Drivers are very courteous...directs passengers to buckle up then takes a deep bow before journey.