Here is my holiday travel nightmare!
Wanna hear it? Here it go!

I spent a wonderful 4 nights in NYC last week with 2 partners of mine. We left on Friday morning. Our Northwest flight left at 9:15 am. We left the hotel at around 7am. We took the subway to 125th St because we thought it'd be faster and cheaper being that it was rush hour and all. We took a taxi from Harlem to LaGuardia and got to the airport at about 8. We stood in line to self-check in for about 15 minutes! We got up to the checkin 30 minutes b4 our flight left and we were told that we were not allowed to board our flight because we were too late!!

So, we were put on standby for the next available flight. We sat on the floor for hours drinking umpteen number of Starbucks coffees. 4 planes came and left without us boarding! It was about 7 at night before we realized that we could possibly be there for DAYS before we could get a flight back to Detroit. We had conversed with others who were in their 2nd day of being on standby and brushing their teeth in the public restrooms! So we decided to get a room and discuss the best options for us to get home because we were so tired. We found a cheap hotel that was advertised near baggae claim that was only $120 a night in Astoria Queens. We taxi there and we walk in and it looks like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie! The lone housekeeper was obviously drunk. The elevators took 5 minutes to arrive in a 4 story building and the card key didnt work and there was no peep hole in the door. The room hadnt been decorated since the damn Nixon administration! There were strange looking people in the halls looking like a villain you'd find at the end of an episode of Scooby Doo! We decided that we shouldnt stay there and we called Amtrack and Greyhound and some other cat my friend knew that could possily drive us back home. We ended up settling on Greyhound. The fare was only $80 each. So we asked the front desk for a refund which took lots of arguing btw. We asked him to call us a cab to take us back to Manhattan (NY Port Authority). 15 minutes later a short Hispanic man pulls up wearing what looks like his little brother's tuxedo. We follow him outside (it was raining by then) and he runs to a late model white Lincoln stretch limo! We go, wtf! We asked for a basic taxi, not a limo! We aint paying you extra! He agreed to charge us $35 plus toll fee. The limo smelled like ass and cologne! We had to crack a window just to breath!

Anyway, we got to the station and naturally, there are thousands of people trying to get out of NYC. It took us 2 hours to get our bus tickets and finally board a bus that seemed like it was half full of screaming kids. By 10:15, we were on the road. We had to change buses in Cleveland and 14 hours later we were in Detroit. Oh, I forgot to tell you, my car was parked in a garage at DTW and our luggage had already shipped to DTW, so we had to taxi from downtown Detroit to DTW to get it. Once we got there to claim our bags, one of my friends noticed that there was a paper attached that said broken zipper. He opened his bag and there was actually MISSING ITEMS from his bag! He bought some I HEART NY tshirts and some other things he bought at some store in Manhattan. So not only did we have a horrid travel back home but we were also victims of a crime. I learned something through all this, ALWAYS BE AT LEAST AN HOUR EARLY FOR YOUR FLIGHT!
[Edited 12/27/06 7:46am]

I am so sorry.

Ass and cologne.

It was awful. It was like he was in there having a farting contest or something.

sorry for laughing but

thats what your ass gets for being late.

dreamfactory313 said:

Live and learn.
You'll be able to laugh about it soon.

sosgemini said:

Im usually punctual for everything. This will NEVER happen again. Im already laughing at the whole thing. Everyone that I tell this story to laughs their asses off too. Im ok w/ it.

You win the worst travel experience prize. I'm so sorry.

Do you think this will be something that you will look back on and laugh?

I love when things go somewhat wrong (barring any real catastrophes)because then I have a tale to tell. Is that weird?

M

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Certainly. Im already laughing about it. I knew when it was happening that I was gonna have a crazy story to tell when I got home. It was just getting more bizzare as each hour went by. So far, everyone has gotton a good laugh out of it. Its something I'll remember for along time.

for some reason, a lot of taxis in New York smell like ass when you get in them I swear the taxi drivers do it on purpose and then they sit there and marinate in it. You have to open the window AND hold your breath.