Remember when air travel was all comfort and luxury, jet-setting around on the Concorde in full black tie regalia? Yeah, me neither. My years of air travel began in the era of discount fares, with airlines cutting costs and packing riders together to eke out every dollar, and things have never gotten better.
Now, planes are packed to the brim with screaming babies and adults who hate their food, and air travel is a miserable experience. Some experiences, though, are more miserable than others. Today, we want to know about your absolute worst times spent in an airplane.
I’ve had plenty of terrible air travel experiences — former Jalop Victoria Scott claims I have the worst travel luck of anyone she’s ever met — but there are a few that really stand out. The stranding in Amsterdam, the time I had to deplane in Philadelphia for some unknown reason en route back from the Integra launch, the time my flight to Seattle for Ural was entirely canceled with no warning, the 18-hour travel day to Pikes Peak or the 24 hours and 10 minutes home from Sweden — I’ve had some adventures. One, though, takes the cake.
Coming home from a Subaru event, I ended up stuck — like nearly everyone else going home — in Palm Springs. This led to a comedy of errors involving shaving in the airport, taking a red eye home through SFO, and driving six hours on four hours’ sleep. It was not my favorite.
That’s my worst travel story, but what’s yours? Leave your answer in the comments, and we’ll pick our favorites later in the week.