FlightsFromHell.com: Wallow in the misery of others

by Justin Glow on

I’ll be honest: I’m a little surprised we haven’t covered this here on Gadling, but I’ve searched the archives to no avail. (Please, dear readers, correct me if I’m wrong!)

FlightsFromHell.com is just like the URL sounds: a depository of unsavory airborne experiences shared by people like us. It’s simple. You, as a reader, can peruse the collection of unfortunate stories, conveniently pigeonholed into categories like Reclining Seats, Luggage and Delays, and Weird People. Let’s jump into that last category and see what we can find! (If you’re eating, stop reading.)

“Then – a man, about late 60’s/early 70’s, sits in the seat one row in front and across the aisle from me. He situates himself, waits until we take off, and proceeds to take off his shoes….first the right, then the left….followed by, of course, his socks – first the right then the left…..he then begins to PICK at the dead, scaly skin on his feet. I’m not kidding – he used his finger nails to scrape, scrape and pull the dead skin from his heels, his toes, the arch of his foot.”

As a writer, and experiencer of horrible things on planes, you can submit your own stories. Do you have any bad experiences worth sharing? Give us the100-word version here, in the comments, and save the novel for FlightsFromHell.com.

[Via Grow-a-Brain]

Yet another terribly depressing airline tale

by Jerry Guo on

I just came across an almost-unbelievable story of how downright mean US airlines have gotten. Customer service stateside simply can’t compare to the elegance of Singapore Air or even the straightforwardness of EasyJet and Ryanair. The front-page Washington Post story tells the sad tale of a 78-year-old woman who was forced to take a 3-leg flight on three separate airlines to catch a cruise she spent 10 years saving for.

Of course, one of the connecting flights was delayed. Her subsequent flight was full, as was the next one, and the next one. At this point, a passenger who had gotten a seat offered it up for her, but Northwest Airlines refused. The kicker: they also refused to let her use a corporate phone to call home.

More fiascos ensued. The cruiseline, Princess Cruises, was also to blame for keeping her $2,500 and when one of the airlines, United, finally refunded her money, it went to Princess! Even the government thinks this is all too much. “Princess is adding insult to injury,” a FTC spokesman was quoted saying.

What has the travel industry come to when everyone’s squeezing a 78-year-old woman for all she’s worth?