Yes you did read that right, I got stranded in New York and went on a road trip with two complete strangers. Before I get into the story, I think I need to give some background on how I found myself in such an unfortunate situation.
It all started on a cold, cloudy Friday morning where I started my 17 hour trek to Pittsburg USA at 5am in England. I had 3 flights to catch, one to Amsterdam. One to New York and one to Pittsburg PA. Now if you’ve seen the news recently you will have seen how stressful travelling is at the moment. The airline industry is not prepared at all for how many people are choosing to go on holiday and their staff just cant keep up with numbers. Add that to my list of pre departure stresses.
THE JOURNEY
Surprisingly the journey went really well. My first 2 flights were on time and I had time to spare on my connections to relax and get some food before my next flight. I board my flight to New York and luck out because nobody sat next to me! Everything went smooth, up until this point.
They make an announcement on the flight just before landing that once you’re through immigration in New York and you have connecting flights, you have to pick up your luggage and re-check it. Great, another stress. The flight lands and I rush off to get through immigration. Again, I thought everything was going great. Immigration took 20 minutes, which is unheard of at JFK airport. I go through, find my bag and walk out to the exit. At this point, I’d already had 2 notifications saying that my next flight to Pittsburg had been delayed. It was due to leave at 7:20pm, but had been delayed to 7:50pm. I wasn’t too worried at this point as a delay meant there was extra time to go through security and find myself some food again. I
re-check my bag and get told by the agent that my flight had been delayed again until 8:30pm, I accept this news and head for security which took about 30 minutes. And here is where everything went wrong.
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THE CANCELLED FLIGHT
After getting through security I found myself something to eat and I head to my next gate where I can see my flight information is displayed. I sit for around 20 minutes, whilst exchanging texts with my friend I’m going to see about how excited I am to see her finally. Suddenly I hear an announcement “The 7:20pm flight to Pittsburg is cancelled, see the Delta desk to rearrange your flight.” Panic takes over my body, why is this happening?! I made it this far, only one more flight and its all done for the day. Why did this have to happen here and now?
I head over to the Delta desk with the 300 other people who’s flights had been cancelled. I stand and wait in the line to speak to someone for over 2 hours, and still didn’t make it to speak to anybody from Delta. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I guess you could call it bad luck or I’m just prone to unusual travelling experiences.
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THE ROAD TRIP WITH STRANGERS
Naturally, when you stand in line with other people in the same situation as you, you get talking. I started talking to alot of different people around me. In particular there was a couple in-front of me who were on my flight. They had just been to Scotland for a vacation and were also headed to Pittsburg. After trying to weigh up options, we all still found ourselves at a stand still. We were no closer to our final destination and I think thats what was the most annoying part. Being stuck and feeling like you’re not progressing to getting to where you need to go.
After talking with this couple for hours and getting to know them, we all discussed the option of renting a car and driving the 6 hours to Pittsburg where my friend could come and pick me up. So we exchanged contact information and they headed to try and find us a rental car. I stayed and waited in the line to speak to someone from delta. About 30 minutes later, they contact me and let me know they got a car and we all agreed to split the fare 3 ways. Without hesitation, I left the line, exited the terminal and went to find them.
We took the 6 hour journey together, and honestly it was the best thing ever. It was literally like something out of a movie. We drove through Staten Island, New Jersey and then spent hours driving through Pennsylvania. I made it to my friend at around 4am, where she was waiting for me. Not the reunion we had imagined, but I was just so grateful to have got to her safely. Even if my luggage was still stuck in New York.
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THE MORAL OF THE STORY
I guess with any story there is a moral to it. Mine is that sometimes you have to put trust in others, even strangers. Without them, I would have been stuck in New York for 3 days, by myself. Of course you have to use your own judgement in situations and figure out for yourself if people seem genuine or weird. I am just so thankful that God put me behind that couple, because I don’t know what I would have done.
Everything worked out for the good, and I took a chance and it paid off. The moral of this story is don’t take a road trip with strangers, unless you’re stuck in New York and you know they aren’t going to murder you. 🙂 Oh and don’t ever fly Delta!
This made me think of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 😂 Glad it all worked out for you!
Travelling right now is stressful and requires a lot of patience. I feel bad for the employees who have to deal with angry customers. It is not the employees’ fault. They are doing the best they can. If you don’t have patience, you shouldn’t be travelling right now.
Hahaha it really does!
I know, I feel so bad for the staff, because as you said its not their fault is it?
Love this story Olivia! The things that happen during travel days hey? 😂😊 I’m sure I’ve some stories like this too! Xo
I know right! You have to be prepared for anything!x
😂😂😂 that’s one heck of a story. But at least you survived. Should this happen again (God forbid) maybe consider a coach? 🤷🏿♂️. Deffo lived a movie. Are you in contact with those strangers?
I wish there had been an option for a coach. Americas public transport isn’t as good as here in the UK. And yes! I have stayed in contact with them 🙂
I’ve had a few adventures myself in the US, and at the time it feels awful but just as in your case, it’s usually possible to get something positive out of it. Hope the rest of the trip was what you hoped it would be.
It seems to be a trend that America is known for cancelling flights just whenever they feel like it! The rest of the trip was wonderful thank you!
I’m so glad you made this into a blog post! I can totally agree with the airlines being crap lately. My husband and I were actually stranded in Oklahoma after our wedding thanks to canceled flights. Luckily, we got a new flight early the next morning because we had a honeymoon to get to.
You are so brave to travel with strangers, but you’re right – sometimes you need to trust the process and people and I’m so glad you made it to your destination.
It just seems to be such a common problem right now! I’m glad you guys made it there safe eventually and at least you were stuck there together!
you never know right? I remember being in a car accident in Seattle decades ago, an if i hadn’t been for the help of strangers..at the scene, the cops, tow truck drivers, hotel staff, cab drivers..they wanted to help. and if not for them, I might still be in Seattle…
Honestly, we are made to think all people are bad and that we shouldn’t trust strangers and people out of our circle. And yes we should be weary, there are bad people out there. But there are good ones too.
Wow, what a mess! This sounds 10x worse than the flight inconvenience I experienced the other day when Jamaica’s air traffic controllers striked. I’m not sure I would’ve gone with the strangers but I’m glad it worked out in the end. I hope Delta refunds you too asap, and you get your luggage.
I probably wouldn’t have gone with strangers normally, but I really had no choice. And it turned out to be the best choice!
This sounds like an amazing adventure!! Thanks for sharing!!
wow that is so crazy but i love it! i would have been too scared to travel with strangers unforunately :/ or maybe if they seemed like legit nice people that want to leave just like me then i might have gone with them.
Thats exactly it. They were so nice and genuine. I knew I wasn’t in danger 🙂
NY airport is the worst! But honestly I can’t travel with strangers! You made it! 🎉
It really is the worst though.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Olivia .. girl this made me imagine a complete movie scene while reading, so happy everything worked out for the good — I don’t trust people especially strangers so I probably would’ve stayed in New York for three days by myself.
The idea of staying in a New York airport by myself felt so much more unsafe than riding with those people. They were really nice and genuine. I’m glad I did it! And it made for a good story😂
This is definitely a memorable story for you. I’m so sorry that happened but I’m glad it worked out at the end.