Up in the air—literally
Poor John and I are sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport, about to start 20 hours of being airborne and 16 hours of roaming airports (hoping for a quick escape into Singapore). Bad connections. Argh. What are the worst flight connections you’ve ever had?
I find airport internet often doesn’t work, so don’t expect me to be around until sometime Sunday. Have a great weekend. Stay grounded. 🙂
Where to next? 
Airports put me off travelling, to be honest. I don’t envy you that part of your adventures, though the destination (Singapore) is one of my favourite places, even though I have only visited once.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I don’t mind the long-haul flights. Hate hanging around airports. I’ll give your regards to Singapore.
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Safe travels.
One moment, I say to myself; “You are getting old.” Then I say, “no you aren’t. Then I face a plane trip like yours and I say “you are.”
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I long for the days when I could take a bottle of wine on the plane and drink it. But overall I don’t mind the long-haul flights. I have enough practice.
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Happy Journey! Looking forward to a Singapore special blog.
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Not sure how much we’ll see in a short time, but I’ll give it a shot.
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Thanks.. Have fun!
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Safe trip home Peggy and John. I hope John still has those red flags to stop people from running you down. I want to see photos of those flags!
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Thanks. Hoping not to get rundown on the plane. hahaha
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Have a safe flight!
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Thanks so much.
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Good luck
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Thanks Derrick. We’ve made it as far as Changi and a 16-hour layover there. Only 7 1/2 hours to go.
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This is why I’m kinda content traveling where wheels can stay on the ground and I can bring my pups.
Hope you get out soon!
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My dad was a pilot so I grew up in a plane, but I hate leaving the dog.
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Too funny! My dad was an aircraft mechanic for United. We flew a bunch when I was a kid. It was so different back then. I remember never having issues getting on planes, 1st class was always empty! We also were able to sit on the pilot’s lap and ‘fly’ the plane, in mid flight! Boy, have things changed!
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Oh my, things really have changed. I was regularly invited into the cockpit on commercial flights. I flew with dad all the time. He was the civilian pilot for the Army Corps of Engineers. Oh the memories.
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Safe, patient and happy travels Peggy. 🙂
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Patient is working for me. 🙂
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Worst layovers were 7 hours in LAX each way between Florida and Taiwan. Never again through LAX. Wishing you pleasant flights and short layovers.
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LAX has to be one of the worst airports in the world for a long layover. I had 10 miserable hours there once. Next time I was supposed to have a 7-hour wait before I flew on to Phoenix and then Omaha. This was in the 1990s and the guy at the ticket counter was quite happy to put me and the kids on the next flight to Phoenix. Much better place to hang around.
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Safe travelling Peggy (and Poor John)…..I could tell a few stories of my airport experiences & layovers in the 1970s, but they’re X-rated 😆
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X-rated? That makes them even better! 🙂
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You know, here we usually say: Don’t Act Rambo! 😛
Ciao
Sid
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Good advice, and it sure made me laugh. 🙂
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I’m not a motivated flyer. Had good overseas experience, but lousy inter state – lost luggage, delayed flights, cancelled flight.
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I love to fly, but have had plenty of lousy experiences in airports. Flights have been good for the most part.
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At least it hasn’t thwarted you
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Not much thwarts me.
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Safe journey back!! I’m not the keen on flying, longest I’ve ever done was 2 hours. xxx
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Oh gosh, that made me laugh. Especially as I sit here in Singapore having finished a 12-hour flight and am waiting for an 8-hour one.
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I don’t think I could do it. Went to Scotland on the train last year which took 5 hours and I couldn’t wait to get off after about 3! Hope all your flights have been ok and you’re nearly back now. 🙂 xxx
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I asked nicely in Paris and our seats were upgraded to the bulkhead (in economy, of course), so plenty of legroom. On the flight from Singapore to Australia, we’re in the last row—just two seats together, so space. I roam the aisles to keep my legs moving. We board that last flight in five hours. Had a very long layover in Singapore.
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Worst connections: Charles De Gaulle Airport, KLM 2-day delayed flight! with husband having back spasms. My old French came back to me pretty quickly! This was after somehow making it out of Italy, with relief that should have been more restrained.
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Oh dear, what a horrible experience. Good that your old French kicked in.
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Singapore is the airport where Helvi lost one of her most treasured earrings. On the way back from Koh Samui, we went back to the same settee to see if it had rolled behind the cushion. It was gone. One has to love and admire the dedication of a woman who has lost an earring.
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Tell Helvi I couldn’t find her earring, and I can sure sympathise. I lost an earring on the shores of the Nile in Luxor, Egypt. I managed to get a replacement, which I promptly lost in Nebraska.
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When I was touring around Malaysia (1972) many people were turning and looking at me (my friend noticed from a distance, he might have a photo). I was 29 years old, had long blonde hair below my ears. So the people from this area (and Singapore) are not used to hippy people and looks. I have been to Singapore 3 times, a wonderful place but strict laws (no littering, cigarette butts on the floor, no graffiti on cars, gum discarded.. and peeing in public/elevators). Had a somewhat hard time with customs getting into Singapore (my hair?) and leaving waiting on line to board a plane, everyone had to get off (was it me who they suspected, my hair? and my luggage).
Singapore is one of my favorite places… check out the food stalls/a vendor who might offer Chinese Tripe Soup. Travel home safely…
SyS.
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Oh Sy, you made me laugh. I’m trying to picture you with long blonde hair. But I’m surprised that it seemed odd back then.
We had lunch in Singapore, but couldn’t find tripe soup.
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Take advantage of long connection delays and stay at a hotel for a day.
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Tempting, but we did a city tour instead.
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Safe travels!
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Thanks Phyllis. In Singapore so more than half way home.
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We were supposed to land at John Wayne Airport in Orange County but United Airlines made up some ridiculous excuse why they would have to land us in Los Angeles, and they would bus us down to OC. I suspect they wanted the plane in LA, not OC. No airline reps at OC when we landed, and for two hours (now about 11 PM) we could not get a single person from the airline to show up and provide the promised bus. Lots of the passengers had already called private cabs or gotten someone to pick them up. It became obvious they’d blown us off so I finally grabbed a cab with a group of other passengers.
United Airlines had no interest in serving we who’d paid to land in OC. In case you’ve forgotten, this is the airline that dragged a man off a plane so they could use the seat for their own employees. Also the airline that kicked off two ten-year-olds because they were dressed the way ten-year-olds dress.
Very bad connection between corporation and clients. You think I’ll ever fly UA again? I’m never happy when a company goes bankrupt but if UA goes under, I’ll wear a big grin. Sometimes bad karma is truly earned.
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I haven’t had exactly the same experiences, but I’ve had enough with United to say you’ve nailed it. I haven’t flown with them since the 1990s.
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Safe travels Peggy. We use our cell phones to get “hotspot” so that when we are stuck at airports we can always have internet. Plus I use the time to do yoga.. I get a lot of weird looks but it really does pass the time well and helps me feel less agitated sitting for hours on end on the flight.
Peta
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My phone doesn’t have roaming, so I have to rely on airport internet. Singapore has been quite good this time. Yoga is a great idea and I don’t care if people stare. They think I’m weird anyway. 🙂
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55 hours from Antanariva to Pebble Island in the Falklands, via Jo’burg, Abu Dhabi, Sao Paolo, Santiago (3 hrs sleep), Punta Arenas and Mount Pleasant (East Falkland). I thought I was impervious to long transfers but not that long. You’ve seen the posts; they started with this one: https://murrayfoote.com/2016/12/11/the-55-hour-transfer-part-1/
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Murray, that’s a doozie of an itinerary. Think it tops everyone’s.
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I have learned to loathe airports…except for bookstores and the occasional Aunt Annie’s Pretzel kiosk, lol. I do think it is nice that some offer massages now, and nail care–and I do like the neck pillows JFK sells, that look like panda bears!
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Airports are often like torture chambers—the quicker we can escape, the better. 🙂
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I hate airports! Got full body searched in Frankfurt, delays everywhere – I find them a necessary evil for traveling. Good luck!
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Sorry you’ve had that experience. I didn’t get a full body search this time, but I had one years ago—long before 9/11.
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Hey I tried to leave a comment on your post about the billboard and couldn’t.
People are disgusting sometimes(most times(myself included at times))
Followed you Follow back?
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Sorry you couldn’t comment on the other post. Checking out your blog now.
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Wow. I thought being stuck in Miami for a couple of hours was bad…
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That would have been unpleasant too.
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Mother’s Day weekend from Nashville to Dallas, before cell phones. Hurricane on East Coast, layover in St.Louis, lasted 11 hours. Ouch! It was easier to get to Belgium from Atlanta.
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And faster. 🙂
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I can’t think of my worst one but I quickly forget once I get to the destination. Have fun in Singapore!
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Yeah, I forget most of the worst. Easier that way.
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UGH! Glad that’s over with!!
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Me too.
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Enjoy Singapore.
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We did.
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We arrived at Barcelona Airport at 7.30am last October to find that there was no Singapore Airlines flight that day and no Singapore Airlines staff. Fortunately, we found a friendly Lufthansa person on a first class desk, who got onto a Singapore Airlines contact and found that we were supposed to have flown out the previous day and our tickets were suspended. Fortunately, we contacted our travel agent in Cowra just before closing in Australia and they sorted it out for us to fly out on a scheduled flight next day. Unfortunately, the flight was not direct to Singapore but via Milan, which meant eventually that we arrived in Sydney too late for a bus home and managed to get the last room at Rydges Hotel at the airport. Just across from where we caught the bus next morning.
Staying at Barcelona Airport Hotel and Rydges with food cost nearly $600. Then followed a long drawn out effort to get compensation exacerbated by our travel agent not communicating with us. Then we found out that a general exclusion by our travel insurance that booking problems weren’t compensated.After months including complaining to AFTA the travel agents association, we found out that Singapore Airlines and our travel agent blamed each other for not informing us of a change of flight that happened almost immediately we went overseas. The end result with everyone denying responsibility is that we were out of pocket with no recompense.
A sad traveller’s tale! Staying at an airport hotel you don’t want to be at at great expense is almost as bad as being stuck at an airport. We had that on a previous trip from London to Dublin and back. At least on the back where we missed the flight to Florence the airline at London City Airport were enormously helpful, put us up for the night and eased the experience.
All the best
Tony
http://breadtagsagas.com/
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What a horrendous experience. Besides the inconvenience, the biggest bite is the fact that two squabbling, finger-pointing companies meant you got no compensation. Hoping you’ve changed agents! I can recommend a great one.
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If you have to have a long layover, Singapore has one of the best options. I see you did the city tour. It is beneficial to be able to get out of the airport. I did 18 hours then twice on a five week trip…. know Changi backwards and frontwards.
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Singapore Changi is a great place to be stuck. Ah, but did you find the small panel of universal power points in Terminal 3. This is my guilty knowledge. 🙂
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Oh yes. I know every nook and cranny in all 3 terminals like the back of my hand. Just ask me where the free massage chairs, snooze room, movie theatre, sunflower/butterfly/cactus garden. Hair beauty massage salon , left luggage rooms city tour desks etc etc etc……lol. after 36 hours in Changi I felt like Tom Hanks in that movie where he couldn’t leave the airport!!!
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Oh my, I bet you felt like Tom Hanks. We found all those options in our 16 hours, so I can imagine how you must have roamed the terminals. Hoping you never have to do it again.
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I have trouble sleeping on planes, so the long flights often feel endless to me (book, movie, drink, book, movie, drink). But I rather enjoy airports. Some of the best people watching anywhere.
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Oh yes, people watching in airports is a great past-time. I used to be very good at sleeping on planes, but not so much now. 😦
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Have a safe flight dear Peggy
Thank you for sharing
Kisses
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We’re home now and all went well.
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Super, happy to hear that
Kisses
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