I have a rant ....

I haven't flown in years but if this is a regular occurrence something needs to be done. If that had been me i would STILL be complaining to whoever was in charge at that airport-he would have chartered us a plane just to shut me up-that is ridicolus, i do understand that airlines are laying people off but it seems like they would have enough sense to keep enough people to take care of their customers!

Your daughter, son-in-law and grandson must be really fed up with waiting around at the airport. Last week I flew back to my home country from Latvia. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. My flight didn't have a check in counter for ages. There was a very long line of passengers waiting to check in for their flight to Dublin. A long line of passengers started at desks 4, 5 and 6 ready for when these desks would open. So the lines were very slow and I imagine in such a situation it is easy to miss your flight. When I came to the airport to fly to my home country from Israel each traveler was having an interview before being allowed to check in. The questions were challenging and made me feel nervous. I was taken to a private room and the officials searched all of my luggage in fine detail. It took more than an hour and a half. Afterwards they said sorry when they realized I was just an innocent traveler. However I only just made it to check in before the desk closed. Needless to say I didn't get a good seat position in the plane. One time Customs and Excise did a detailed search of the plane before it flew off to the Caribbean. That meant my flight was delayed for four hours. Another time my flights into French Polynesia and the Cook Islands arrived in the middle of the night so I just had to hang around the airport until the morning. So for various reasons I have spent many hours waiting around airports but I have never missed a flight.

Personally, I've never had this situation happen when I fly. Have heard of others who have these issues on a pretty regular basis. Think it depends on the airlines. All airlines overbook flights just to make sure the flight is full. Hopefully their luggage will arrive safely and placed in an area at the airport where it is protected until they get to their final destination. The last few years I've flown Southwest and I can only say they are the very best airlines. Although I realize they don't fly everywhere, they do go to Phoenix which is our destination. They are always on time, sometimes early, the flight attendants are good and the flights are smooth. I've been extremely satisfied with their service. Sorry your daughter had all these problems at the airport and with the airline. Have a good Sunday, carolbee

Hi my friend, I know they must be so angry, 5 1/2 hours I would be crazy mad. This is a shame what they are putting them through. What is the latest now, are they still in Baltimore?

I am what is known as a road warrior. This means that on average I spend at least 35 weeks out of the year traveling, sometimes a bit more sometimes a bit less. I have done this for more than 15 years. I am a million miler on 2 airlines (American and Delta) and close on Northwest and United. Believe me when I tell you that the last two years have been the worst I have ever seen. This year has really been the worst in part because of the cost of fuel and the reduction of available seats. The airlines are cutting the number of planes in the air. But there are some things you can do that aren't well known. Going off on someone doesn't help and it is liable to get you arrested. 1. Print your boarding pass the day before. If you have bags you have to check you can still print your boading pass the night before then you either check the bags at the curb or you self-check inside. Keep in mind that some airlines now charge for even the first bag checked so if you can don't check a bag at all! 2. Do not believe that 2 hours are enough time at any busy airport. It no longer is enough time unless you are flying first class or have elite status. Even then call ahead. Not all airports have elite status security lines. If you are checking bags or need any other assistance at the ticket counter 2 hours will barely be enough time to get to your gate. 3. No matter how tempting it is to fly standby and save a few dollars.....DON'T. There is no such thing as standby seating anymore on the airlines. They oversell every seat. If you are trying to fly cheap that is fine but fly the cheapest reserved seat. 4. Always use the self-check in if you are able. If you find yourself in a line with 45 minutes or less to catch your flight start looking for someone in a uniform to get you to the front of the line. don't assume that you will make it. Start asking for help. Even ask the people in front of you if they will let you get in front if they don't have a flight earlier than you do.

I've never had that problem, but I'm not surprised. There are so many flights being cancelled these days and security is a pain to get thru. The last time I flew was in 2005 and I got there so darn early I was the first there for the flight. LOL I was afraid it might take a long time to check in. I hope your family gets to where they are going soon. Waiting that long for a flight would be so hard on me, I don't think I could do it.

i have also not gone on international fligts before but i think the reporting time is 3hours before the scheduled time of the flight.but anyways it was a very bad experience,hope your daughter reported this incident,hope it was her last bad experience since.

I wish I had known about it earlier, I could have gone up and hung out with them - BWI is about 20 minutes from here. We always fly out of BWI and I've never had that happen to me. Now, when I left Miami last May, I flew American Airlines and the whole checkin things was horrible! We were at the airport about 3 hours early and it was a darned good thing! It took us over an hour to find the checkin place and get checked in. The "self service" thing is a total joke, I wont use it again. I have also flow various airlines that purposefully overbook and then ask people if they want to wait for a later flight - with some comp tickets of course. That really gets to me because if I'd have wanted a different flight, I would have booked it!! I hope your daughter and grandson have gotten home!

I have not flown in a while but I have heard that American is not one of the better ones as far as getting any where one time. The TSA and the FAA have a lot of problems. Eventually it may come down to regulating the airlines again to get all this mess corrected.

Oh wow, what an ending to a good trip! I have never had that happen when I bought my round-trip tickets in advance. I think they owe her at least a partial refund, but knowing Misty, I'm sure she will be contacting them about this,lol. Of course I have never flown AA, but I never had that problem on Delta or Continental. That's the whole purpose of buying tickets ahead of time, to avoid the hassles. I'm glad they had a good trip, wish we could have met up for a little while. Hope they get home soon.

I have never had any problems....but I don't usually go during a holiday. There is so much going on now with the airlines that I imagine there was an overbooking! I have went right before and after a holiday.....without any problems at all. Hope they made it alright!

I always try to get to the airport at least 2 hours in advance, especially when I'm flying home from a city I've never been to before. I've never missed a flight due to long lines, but my family was once bumped from a flight due to it being overbooked. The airline booked us on the next flight, giving us First Class seats at no extra charge.

tyhc415 nope because I do not like flying because of all that trouble so I take buses or trains and probably get there at the same time anyway.lol. I did this flight thing just once and had allthe same problems as your family so never again, take the bus and leave the driving to us. lol

no but we did have to wait 3 hrs extra once because of a problem with the plane. i guess their service is getting worse all the time.

You said 'plenty of time' but obviously that wasn't the case. You say you haven't flown so maybe you're not aware of the heightened security measures being taken at airports today and yes, it can take two hours or more to get through security. If they didn't allow for at least three hours before flight time, you can't fault the airport or the airlines. More employees might have made things move quicker, but that's just the way it is today, and we need to be prepared for it.