People Are Sharing Their Very Worst Stories From Long Flights, And Crying Babies Are Just The Start
Ah, the holidays! It's a time for joy, family, and relaxation — that is, once you get where you're going. We all know people are at their worst when they take to the skies, and the people of r/travel proved it when they responded to user slightlylessright's question: "What was your worst experience on a long flight?" They kicked things off with their own (very relatable) tale:
1."I flew internationally last year, and there was a baby, I kid you not, crying for 10+ hours straight. It was absolutely brutal. I had my earplugs in and took sleeping medicine, but that was not strong enough for me. I didn’t get a wink of sleep. The entire flight. That baby was crying louder than the plane engine! I nearly lost my mind. And it never ever stopped. There was a lot of turbulence, and the airline crew didn’t let the parents walk around to comfort their baby."
Here's what everyone else had to say:
2."Young woman traveling on her own with a very clear fear of flying on a 12-hour flight downed some pills with red wine, was already visibly drunk, and liquid shit herself five hours in. I had the window, there was no one in between, and she had the aisle. Called for a flight attendant who spent at least 15 minutes trying to wake her up. I had an extra pair of sweatpants in my backpack that I gave to her. She was in terror, mortified. When we landed, she asked for my address. She sent me the nicest thank you card and a pair of nicer sweats in the same color and size I gave her."
3."Found out my grandma died RIGHT before my 10-hour international flight took off. Interesting note: my other grandma had died a week earlier. I exited the plane without grandparents."
4."The flight from Auckland to SFO was actually pretty chill, but because I used the opportunity to veg out for 13 hours, I ended up with a blood clot that required emergency surgery. So, remember to move around, stay hydrated, and consider compression socks and maybe an aspirin or two would be my advice. I’d been backpacking in New Zealand for five weeks and was in my early 50s, so it’s not something that happens exclusively to people who already have one foot in the grave."
5."I fainted on my way back from the bathroom. I have low blood pressure, and I think it just dropped. As soon as I was able to lay on my back and elevate my legs, the blood came back to my head, and I felt alert. Which meant I was acutely aware of the fact that everyone was staring at me. It was so embarrassing. When the flight attendant asked if anyone on board was a doctor, an enthusiastic man nearby jumped up and declared, 'I can help! I’m a dentist!' He was very nice and did manage to make my husband feel better while they took my pulse and blood pressure. It was all okay, but just embarrassing."
6."Flight from San Jose, Costa Rica, to JFK. The flight was fine; I was in an aisle seat. When we were disembarking, a guy opened the bin above me and pulled out his bag. I got COVERED in sand — it got in my eyes — and I almost screamed. He said, ‘It’s just sand.' No apology. Took a few minutes to get out of my eyes. Fuck that guy."
7."Mumbai to Newark, NJ. 17-hour flight flying coach. None of the in-flight media screens worked. Not the end of the world, I figured I would sleep as much as possible on the flight back to EWR. That did not happen, not even a wink. There was a family in front of us with two small children. I have to say, of what felt like 800 kids aboard the flight, they were the most behaved by far. But to accomplish this, the father looped a 1.5-minute video of the song 'You Have a Friend in Me' that included baby sounds and pans banging. Over and over and over again. At some point, an older kid started 'walking' from armrest to armrest on the aisle seats in a zig-zag pattern. Just as she got to the woman's seat across from me and stepped down, the whole armrest gave way and snapped off. Once we landed, before even getting to the gate, the guy in front of me stood up and opened the overhead bin. Approximately three pounds of cashews dumped on my head and lap."
8."Guy next to me smelled like shit the whole time for an eight-hour flight."
"I am so sorry. I sat next to a dude with the worst breath for a two-hour flight, and I almost lost my mind. Breath like decay, AND he talked the entire duration. I can’t imagine having to endure that for eight hours. I think I would legit vomit."
9."I was visiting a friend on the East Coast and took the 12-hour direct flight from Atlanta back to Honolulu. I sat next to this old guy who had a bad cold or some other sickness. He spent the entire flight coughing and spitting his loogies into a gallon ziplock bag that he kept on his lap. By the time we landed, the entire bag was basically overflowing with his saliva with green phlegm floating around."
10."Red eye from Istanbul to Cape Town. I sat next to a woman whose phone alarm would go off every 30 minutes for some reason. At one point, she went to the bathroom, and it started going off; my husband had to reach into her purse to shut it off because it was driving us nuts, and she was nowhere in sight. I also had to sit in a bassinet seat. For 10 fucking hours."
11."LAX to Dubai. I was in the back, lower-level economy section. Something busted loose and was leaking water from the ceiling onto the seats below. Overhead bins were filling up, the flight crew was packing towels everywhere, and water (that we hoped was clean) just kept coming. Luckily, my seat was on the edge of the flood zone, so I was only indirectly affected, but it royally sucked for those who were in the splash zone. Full enough flight that they couldn’t move the people out of the splash zone. Maybe the first-class passengers upstairs had to forego their showers on that flight?"
12."A kidney stone decided to pass on my flight from Seattle to Tokyo. IYKYK."
13."Paris to Houston, so it’s 11 hours during the day, not overnight. Had just been broken up with by college GF studying abroad. I was on the aisle but in the central group of four seats. The entire two to three rows, both in front and behind me, were all one group; I was the only non-family member. I was leaned over on multiple occasions for a conversation or to pass something. Many in the group brought homemade food onboard that didn't smell particularly pleasant. The cherry on top was I got a Diet Coke can from the stewardess, and when she opened it, it spewed all over me. In hair, face, clothes. Whole deal. I was so defeated I didn’t even bother changing shirts. That really sucked."
14."Business class back from GRU (São Paulo) with my ex. Turns out I had a 104-degree fever and pneumonia. I was literally out of it. But I thought I dreamt that the MMA 'roided up dude across from me lost his shit, rioted on an airplane, and caused a big scene. Turns out he did. The pilot was standing over me, debating a midair diversion to northern South America while they restrained him forcefully in his seat. Instead, police arrived and arrested him on landing in Miami. The plane was taken out of service with a lay-flat business seat ripped in literal half by his bare hands, and I got on some extreme drug cocktail to overcome some Amazonian infection. I realize said guy could have ripped my head off, and I wouldn't have known...whole flight crew was shocked I didn't wake up during his rampage."
15."I got stuck next to the toilet on a flight to Kuwait to stage for the war in Iraq. Hundreds of Marines took dumps that night. Hundreds."
16."From CDMX to NYC. Died in the lavatory, both ends, for six hours. Went to a clinic a day later when it didn’t end. The doctor told me I won the bacteria lottery. Got pumped with an IV of antibiotics. Never have eaten street food in Mexico (or really anywhere) again."
17."My girlfriend threw up in both of our air sickness bags. One bag sprung a leak, and I had to catch the vomit coming out as I ran to find a trash can. She then spent the rest of the flight retching in the bathroom and sitting in the flight attendant's seat in the galley. This was an 11-hour flight from London to Los Angeles. It was bad for me; must have been a lot worse for her."
18."15-ish hours, AUH (Abu Dhabi) to YYZ (Toronto). An old woman seated in the row behind me was looking quite rough from the start of the flight and was making strange gurgling noises on and off for a few hours. About nine hours in, a bunch of flight attendants gather around, and the next thing I know, they’ve laid her out in the aisle next to me and were calling for a doctor. They couldn’t revive her, and she died. The plane was packed, so they left her there, covered in a sheet, for the remainder of the flight. Right next to my seat."
19."I had a migraine on a flight from Dubai to Melbourne. It lasted 10 hours. I ended up on the floor at the back of the plane, shaking with a blanket over me."
20."I woke up on a flight, stretched my legs, and got a terrible leg cramp. Tried to be calm and cool and walk it off with a trip to the bathroom, but no luck. Walking back to my seat, I missed my row. Soon, I realized I was at the front of the plane; then the anxiety hit. I started to get lightheaded, and things went gray and fuzzy. I turned around and passed out in the aisle, hitting the seats on my way down. The last thing I saw was the stewardess racing down the aisle toward me. Got off the plane with several face bruises. A close second was when our plane lost an engine over the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and diverted to New Orleans."
21."Europe to the US, flight full of a cheerleading team that took up most of economy that all got food poisoning at the same time. Vomit everywhere."
22."Flew right into a bad storm on the way to Taiwan from the US. I was on a 747, and I’ve never seen the wings of a plane flex so much. Bins were falling open. People were crying; a flight attendant was injured. The engines were absolutely roaring, and we would just drop hundreds of feet at a time. The lighting was intense. I was just trying to pound beer for my nerves, and I could barely do that without spilling it everywhere. The most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced. This was about 15 years ago. I’ve made those flights once or twice a year since without incident."
23."I was on a 16-hour flight, on my period, and had the middle seat. It was the absolute worst."
24."I was 30 weeks pregnant, traveling cross country (WA to FL) to see my grandparents with my 20-month-old toddler, without my husband 😅. The flight was as fine as fine can be with a busy toddler. Until about four hours in, when they said there was a bad storm in Tampa, and we’d have to circle around until it passed. Fast forward to circling; they say we’re running low on gas and need to go to Orlando to fill up. Well, all the other planes from Tampa did, too! We waited for another hour to get gas, then another hour to fill up… all the while, we weren’t allowed off the plane. They ran out of drinks and food. It was miserable. We finally got into Tampa 9.5 hours after we left Seattle. I silently cried as much as my toddler did, to be honest. It was brutal."
25."Bad ear infection while flying from Sacramento or San Francisco to Chicago. I have a high pain tolerance, and it hurt more than anything. I just sat in my seat, eyes closed, trying not to move. I've broken bones, had gout attacks, been beaten and left for dead twice, and had sinus surgery where the after-surgery morphine didn't help. Nothing was as bad as that."
26."I got upgraded to first class. Yay. Ate seafood in the lounge and felt rather odd. Subsequently, I locked myself in the capacious bathroom and vomited all the way from Hong Kong to London."
27."Red eye flight from SFO to Dulles for a wedding. Planned on eating a weed brownie and sleeping. The packaging said something like '1/4 dose.' I read that as the whole edible was just a quarter dose, so I ate the whole thing. What the label meant was to only eat 1/4 of the brownie for one dose. I fell asleep but woke up super nauseous, sweating, and way too high. Felt like my heart was going to explode. Puked a few times on the way there. Luckily, most everyone was asleep, so there was no line for the bathroom. Longest six-hour flight of my life."
28."The child in the seat in front of me spilled his milk and cereal directly into my brand-new purse. He and his mom said nothing while I called over the flight attendant and used a pile of napkins to suck the milk and Cheerios out of my brand-new leather handbag. At the end of the flight, when we stood up, he broke down crying and apologized to me. The poor kid was probably stressed the whole flight about it."
29."My 18-month-old baby vomited all over me on an international flight. Traveling alone, no spare clothes in my carry-on."
30."Six hours from NYC to LA. Then, 12 hours from LA to Sydney. I started to feel sick on the way to the airport. By the time I got on the plane, I had a raging fever, deep muscle aches, and was freezing cold. Every minute felt like an hour."
"This happened to me about 10 minutes before boarding an Amsterdam to Chicago flight. Couldn’t find any meds near the gate or in my bag (damn you Europeans and your healthy avoidance of symptom-easing meds!). Only had a light jacket and violently shivered the whole time.
Turned out I had the flu and a 103-degree fever. Longest flight of my life."
31."Sat next to a very odd, very hippie woman who talked a lot about being a spiritual healer. When we started our descent, she pulled out a little vial, waved it around in a pattern several times, and then SNORTED IT. It looked like ashes. Her nose bled for like twenty minutes, but she had a blood-stained reusable cleaning cloth to dab away the blood. Truly the weirdest seat buddy I have been next to."
32."I got liposuction in Thailand when I was 19. I was wearing a girdle a week out. I’m allergic to fish. On the 14-hour flight back, I was throwing up from whatever soup they gave me. Then I got my period. I spent several hours crying in the bathroom, but every cry and heave hurt my stitches. My mother gave zero shits cause it was 'my choice.' I’m now 40 and have flown on many, many long-haul flights. That was my worst."
33."Middle seat, middle aisle of the plane. The guy to my left constantly sneezing. But instead of covering it, he would stare directly up at the ceiling. The soft falling mist of a stranger's sneeze juices."
34."I was 8 and traveling with my mom from Malaysia to Canada. She gets super duper sick on planes. Sometimes Gravol works, and sometimes not so much. She was puking the whole time next to me and lost so many fluids they put her in the suite (fancy Cathay Pacific double-decker airplane). They hooked her up to an IV, but at 8, it felt like my mom was dying. I couldn’t cry or complain because I didn’t want to add to everyone's stress, so I just took it for the 12-hour flight and more or less fend for myself, sitting alone in an empty row. Very scared for my mom. When we landed in the States, I had to be her communicator with the medical staff at the hospital because she was too sick. So I got her juice and helped as best as I could. Finally, I got to go home the next day, back to Canada. But it was horrible. Funny thing is she has no other illnesses, just not good on airplanes. 🤷🏽♀️"
35."I sharted/shit myself on an 11-hour flight from London to SFO. Went to the bathroom, rolled my undies up in paper towels, and stuffed them in the trash. Free balled it for the remaining seven hours."
36."10-hour international flight. Warsaw to Denver. An older man seated next to me with a CPAP machine. No complaints about the machine, but his letting me know that he used a CPAP was his opening for a random stream-of-consciousness, one-sided conversations throughout the flight. Here are the highlights:"
"(Me, earbuds in, watching a movie.) He taps my arms to say, 'If only the Wright Brothers could see us now!'
(Me, eating dinner, some sort of chicken which reminded him of KFC.) Him: "My car got stolen once, and it was found in Louisville. That was a long flight to get a car! Only time I was in Kentucky.'
(Me, reading) Him: 'Whatcha reading?...hmm, weird. You can see the sign of the beast everywhere these days...books and TV and all."
(Me, using in-flight internet on the smartphone) Him: "I don't trust those things. The 5G causes cancer."
I finally got annoyed at this one and said, 'No, it doesn't.' He then responded with something about windmills and that men are being women now and vice versa. I responded that my partner was trans (this was true), and then a trans person behind me saved my ass by adding that they are trans and work on cell towers and they could confirm that 5G nor windmills cause cancer.
Thank god for the person behind me. If they hadn't agreed with me, I think he would have just kept going no matter what I said or how disengaged I tried to be. Weird guy..."
Makes you want to never fly again, right? I know you have a flight horror story to rival them all, so sound off in the comments (or through this anonymous form). And of course, best wishes for safe, uneventful travels this holiday season... fingers crossed.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
