This lady had a prepaid, nonrefundable OTA (Online Travel Agency) reservation for one night at our hotel. She called around 10:30 pm on the night of arrival. I answered the phone with the standard greeting.

Guest: “Hey, so, I just landed at the airport, and I was wondering when the shuttle would be here to pick me up.”

There was a split second of “Oh, my gosh” before I had to tell her:

Me: “Oh, uh, our hotel doesn’t have a shuttle.”

Guest: “Oh… Well, how am I supposed to get there, then?”

Me: “Which airport are you at? Pittsburgh?”

The Pittsburgh airport is two or three hours away.

Guest: “No, Philadelphia.”

What the f***?!

Me: “I mean, you could try calling a taxi, but I doubt a lot of them would be willing to drive that far. It’s a pretty long way away — like, a seven-hour drive.”

She didn’t say anything for a minute, and I was just about to ask if she was still on the line.

Guest: “Where is your hotel?”

Me: “It’s in [My Town], Pennsylvania.”

Guest: “It’s… not in Philadelphia?”

Me: “No.”

Guest: “Oh. I must’ve accidentally booked the wrong hotel. Can’t you, like, transfer my reservation and payment to [Different Hotel Brand] in Philadelphia?”

Oof. I wouldn’t even be able to do that if it was the SAME brand. How do people think our computers work? This wasn’t the first time someone had insisted that all hotels are connected through their computers.

Me: “No, I’m sorry. That’s not possible for me to do.”

Guest: “Well, can you at least cancel it and refund me?”

No, ma’am, I can neither cancel nor refund your NONCANCELLABLE, NONREFUNDABLE reservation. No, I didn’t say that, but do you KNOW how many times I’ve WANTED to say that?

Me: “I’m sorry, but you booked a noncancelable, nonrefundable reservation through a third party.”

Guest: “But don’t you make exceptions for accidents?”

Me: “I can’t do anything with a third-party reservation like this. I’m sorry. When you book a prepaid [OTA] reservation, your payment information and money go to their company. We don’t have any of that information here because we aren’t the people you actually paid. I’d recommend calling the customer service number at the bottom of the confirmation email they sent you and asking them if they can do anything.”

Guest: *Sighs* “Okay, thank you.”

Ten minutes later, I got a call that started with the dreaded:

Travel Agency: “Hello, this is [OTA], and I’m calling you on behalf of our mutual guest.”

Bleurgh.

They asked me to cancel it without penalty. I told them I couldn’t cancel a noncancelable reservation.

Travel Agency: “But don’t you make exceptions for accidents?”

Me: “I can’t do anything with a prepaid, nonrefundable reservation. The virtual card was charged days ago. If you want to cancel it and refund her, that’s up to you. But I can’t do anything on my end here.”

Aaaand she said, “Thanks, I’ll tell the guest, bye.”

I can’t believe people really wing their travel plans like that. If you’re flying from another state, you’d think you’d double-check that all your accommodations were correct and taken care of so you don’t end up stranded.

If this lady had booked directly, I could’ve canceled it. But when you book through a third party and they inevitably f*** up, I can’t do a thing about it.

I did feel bad for her, but come on, people! Check your travel plans BEFORE you travel.

I work in an airport as an agent. I got a complaint against me, stating that I didn’t ask a pregnant woman if she was pregnant before denying her a seat in the emergency exit row and moving her to another seat. She had presented her Fit-To-Fly document which stated that she was twenty-nine weeks pregnant.

The supervisor on duty that day berated me for it.

Supervisor: “You must ask all passengers if they’re pregnant, if they’re over sixty-five, if they’re under sixteen, and if they understand Portuguese and English. All of them, no exceptions.”

I asked for that in writing, and she gave it to me with her signature. Whenever I did check-in, I had the laminated order posted on my counter.

After a week, I was called by the station manager about my “behaviour”, to which I replied by presenting the order.

Station Manager: *Sighs* “Order rescinded.”

I’m a disrupted operations manager for my airline, and this happened in March 2021, soon after I returned from maternity leave.

Due to industry-wide staff reductions in most airlines in 2020, mine included, now that the flights are restarting in a “normal” fashion, we are a bit understaffed. This means I sometimes have to take over duties I normally don’t do, such as check-in, during this period.

I am staffing one of the check-in counters for a flight to Boston.

Me: “Good morning. Passport and reservation number, please.”

Passenger: “Here. Can I place my bag?”

She hands me a US passport and the reservation paper.

Me: “Of course, ma’am. Did you pack your bag, and was it always in your possession?”

These are mandatory security questions.

Passenger: “That’s none of your d*** business! Who do you think you are? Get me your supervisor right now, you hussy.”

She starts yelling up a storm, while my coworkers and the other passengers stare at her, and I call the police.

As soon as they arrive, she turns toward them and demands they arrest the “Irish-Mexican” filth that dared to question someone of her “status.” (I’m pale-skinned with auburn hair, and Portugal equals Mexico to this woman, apparently.) The police take her aside, and the commanding officer come to talk to me.

Commanding Officer: “Hey, [My Name], what’s happening?”

Me: “The passenger refused to answer security questions, and she was spewing insults at me.”

Commanding Officer: “Really? What do you want to do?”

Me: “Check-in and boarding denied due to disruptive behaviour.”

The commanding officer nods and then goes to the passenger to inform her that she is going to the security inspection room and that she’s going to miss this flight due to her behaviour. Her screaming begins again.

Passenger: “What!? Who the h*** does that b**** think she is? I demand to speak to a manager!”

Commanding Officer: “Sure. [My Name], can you come here? This ‘lady’ wants to speak with a manager.”

Me: *With my best customer service smile* “Hello, ma’am. [My First Name, Clearly American Last Name], disrupted operations manager. How may I be of assistance?”

The other passengers began laughing. The passenger screamed insults while being escorted by police. She did leave for the US — three days later as a deportee.

I’m an agent in an airport. I’m telling a passenger which gate they need for their flight.

Me: “Gate six.”

Passenger: “Four?”

Me: “No, six.”

Passenger: “Okay, got it.”

They miss their flight and then come back to complain.

Passenger: “You b****, you sent me to the wrong gate. I went to gate one, when it really was gate six!”

What I want to say: “Yeah, it’s my fault. You ignored me, several screens, and several boarding announcements saying the gate number. It has nothing to do with you being a moron.”

What I say:

Me: “Complaints are over there at the counter.”

Long ago, back around the disco era, I was on the archery team at my college. We were invited to a tournament far enough away that we had to fly there. Even though it was before 9/11, we still couldn’t take our bows and arrows as carry-on luggage, so we were all checking them in. I went first.

The baggage clerk looked strangely at my locked, plywood equipment box and asked what was in it. She panicked when I told her that it was my archery gear.

Clerk: “You can’t have that on the plane!” 

Me: “I know; that’s why I’m checking it in.”

She didn’t like that and dashed off to get the TSA officer. I think they called them Sky Marshals back then. So, she came back with a petite woman in a red blazer. She couldn’t have been more than five-foot-two, but she had a tiny bit of a sneer that indicated her attitude was several times larger than her diminutive size. Obviously, she wasn’t going to tolerate any foolishness. 

TSA: “What’s the problem?”

Clerk: “He’s got bows and arrows in this case.”

TSA: “So?”

Clerk: “But those are weapons!”

TSA: “So?”

Clerk: “Weapons can’t go on the plane.”

TSA glanced at my equipment box, rolled her eyes slightly, and then glared at the clerk with one of those no-nonsense cop stares.

TSA: “First, it’s going into cargo, so he can’t get to it. Second, it’s got a padlock on it so nobody else can get into it. Check it into baggage, and quit bothering me with trivial things that you should already know.”

And off she went, leaving the clerk open-mouthed.

The rest of the team had no problems checking in their gear.