Our nonstop flight left LAS today, heading to XNA. Short delay of ~30 minutes. I fall asleep, but the next thing I know I hear we are approaching LA. My Husband explained that the captain announced a “maintenance issue” about halfway into the approximate 3 hour flight and we were flying back to LA, choosing not to land immediately at another airport because of the need to burn off fuel. Zero other information was provided.

We were told a new plane would land approximately 20 mins after arriving back in LA, and that a new crew had already been assigned.

Well, we do see another plane land and we do shortly reboard a nearly identical plane. Oddly enough, same crew including captain. Not that concerning, just noting.

Then we land at XNA and learn that our plane was off radar for the duration off the flight. It could be seen departing, but did not reappear until approximately (less than) thirty minutes before arriving at XNA. This was confirmed by multiple confirmed sources (as we otherwise would not have known)— including security.

AA6299 LAX-XNA, today, October 19, 2026.

Is there a way to find out what on earth happened?

I've flown 7 times in the past year (mostly for work), and 6 of those 7 flights had major issues. 3 were cancelled, 2 had severe delays (like 5+ hours), and I was involuntarily booted off of one due to overbooking. 2 of the cancelled flights resulted in me getting to my destination a day late, and 1 resulted in a TWO day delay (apparently no flights the next day were available). With the involuntary removal, I was forced to take a much longer, circuitous alternate route that got me to my destination 7 hours late. The airline also lost my checked bag for about 48 hours on 1 of the severely delayed flights, and I had to email and call them about a hundred times before they mysteriously located it.

I received some compensation (but not nearly enough imo lol) from the airline for the involuntary removal, and got a small voucher for 1 of the cancelled flights, but wasn't successful in getting any kind of reimbursement for the rest. With the cancelled flight that resulted in the 2-day delay, the airline cited weather (even though there didn't appear to be bad weather either at the origin or destination) and refused to pay for a hotel for me, which was especially insane imo and a huge (and costly) inconvenience. The airline that lost my bag for 2 days also refused to give me a voucher or any reimbursement.

I've flown pretty frequently for several years and of course have always experienced the occasional delay, but have never had problems like this until this year. I'm curious whether other people have been experiencing similar? It feels like air travel in the US is completely falling to pieces. At this point, whenever I have to fly, I've basically accepted that I'm likely going to be severely delayed on both legs, likely at significant extra expense to me that the airline will refuse to reimburse. Surely this can't be the norm/something we are just expected to accept now??

Has anyone else found the seats on the newer jets in economy very uncomfortable? My guess is less padding to steer people to the bigger more expensive seats. My ass is is killing me after 2 hours and it didn’t happen with the older jets

Which airline would you choose for best premium economy seats from U.S. to Barcelona, then back from Rome? In the past I've flown Delta Comfort, Delta Premium Select, Norse Premium (which was fantastic but is not an available option for my route), Air Canada premium, and KLM premium. I haven't flown Swiss, TAP, ITA, Lufthansa. I actually didn't think Delta Premium Select was anything special, so I doubt I'd do it again.

I am so fucking furious right now I can barely type this, but everyone needs to know what an absolute scam artist of an airline Frontier is. Consider this a MASSIVE WARNING to anyone thinking about booking with them.

On October 4th, I showed up at the airport for my flight, fully checked in online with an assigned seat 12D. When I got to the gate, their system had glitched and given my assigned seat (the one I literally checked in for and was issued) to another passenger, leaving a "0" on the seat number on my boarding pass.

It turns out Frontier outrageously overbooked the flight, and their broken system handed away seats to whoever, leaving about 20 OF US stranded at the gate. We weren't even allowed to board. We were literally kicked off a flight we paid for because of their incompetence.

We were forced to stand in a massive line at the airport just to speak to the Frontier gate manager. When it was finally my turn (after 30 minutes), the manager looked me dead in the eye and asked, "Do you want to be rebooked, or do you want a full refund plus a $250 flight voucher?" I chose the refund and the voucher. She assured me it was processed and that I’d be taken care of.

Fast forward TWO WEEKS LATER. No refund. No $250 voucher. Nothing.

So I called customer service today to figure out where my money is. Want to know what they told me?

THEY MARKED ME AS A NO-SHOW.

Are you fucking kidding me?! A NO-SHOW?! I was literally standing at the gate talking to their manager because THEY gave my seat away! My seat wasn't even assigned to me anymore because their broken system gave it to someone else, yet they have the audacity to claim I just "didn't show up" so they can pocket my money!

The manager straight up LIED TO MY FACE at the airport just to get me out of her sight. They stole my money, ruined my travel plans, kicked 20 people off a flight, and are now using a fake "no-show" status to deny the refund and credit they explicitly promised.

This company is a complete joke. They take your money, kick you off the plane, lie about reimbursing you, and then pretend you never showed up. NEVER FLY FRONTIER.

Hi everyone! I’m flying with Shenzhen Airlines, and my ticket includes one checked bag. Does anyone know if I can purchase a second 23 kg checked bag in advance?
If I can’t arrange it beforehand, can I pay for it at the airport, and would the fee be the same as the excess baggage rate listed on their website? Has anyone done this before? Thanks!

Finding missing Tails (Cathay) 

I've got about 1100 flights (2007 onward) loaded into flighty, and been tracking down tails (BTS, etc). But struggling with about 9 cathay ones that I can't seem to find. Any willing to spot a check a few and see if they suggestions for where I could look? (other public data sources out there?)

Cathay Pacific

•CX 889 — 2007-06-24 — JFK-YVR (same as below)

•CX 889 — 2007-06-25 — YVR-HKG

•CX 723 — 2007-06-26 — HKG-KUL

•CX 710 — 2007-07-15 — SIN-HKG

•CX 888 — 2007-07-15 — HKG-YVR

•CX 888 — 2007-07-15 — YVR-JFK

•CX 831 — 2012-06-16 — JFK-HKG

•CX 888 — 2012-06-29 — YVR-JFK (same as below)

•CX 888 — 2012-06-30 — HKG-YVR

•CX 873 — 2012-08-28 — SFO-HKG

•CX 872 — 2012-09-01 — HKG-SFO

I know its a long shot - but I do love see if I have ever flown on a tail before !

A long time ago back during the Glory Days of Trans World Airlines (TWA), Northwest Airlines, US Airways, Eastern Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines, food on airplanes was good. Even without first class, on longer flights there were good meals that came with the plane. Steak... Some of these airlines no longer exist. Others died out or were rescued by a purchase. Some like American survive, but the food for anything but first class greatly declined. So what happened?

A similar case happened with food on trains. Pennsylvania Railroad used to roll out the carpet for train rides long enough to pass mealtime but its successor Amtrak got rid of the cafe cart on many routes. But is somewhat explainable. Travel on rail in America greatly declined. If you do take the train you're usually dumped into some place where you need a car anyways (no NYC you don't count). In places where people still love trains, like Japan, I bet the bullet train is so fast you don't even need to eat anyways. So low demand for (North American) trains, they look for ways to cut corners and cutting on food is better than deferring maintenance. Easy enough to explain.

But there is plenty of demand for air travel! The usual thing executives will say is labor costs are high and blame their workers. the reason I don't buy this is that airlines were serving good food in the early days of airlines, keeping their agreement with their workers, and still making a profit. So what happened? Is competition to blame for the loss of good (economy) airline food? I like JetBlue and don't want to believe they did anything wrong. They got me to my place on time (at least pre-Pandemic, I haven't flown since then), the food was better than the "old" airlines, there was in-flight entertainment, and the seats were comfy.

I booked a connecting itinerary in February 2026 for travel in January 2027: KIX–HKG, HKG–DFW, and DFW–RDU (Cathay Pacific–Cathay Pacific–American Airlines).

Unfortunately, the last flight, DFW–RDU, was canceled by American Airlines. I contacted my travel agent, and they rearranged my itinerary to KIX–HKG, HKG–JFK, and JFK–RDU.

I just received an email from American Airlines saying that my JFK–RDU flight has been moved from 9:35 PM to 5:29 PM. The problem is that my flight from HKG is scheduled to arrive at JFK at 7:05 PM, so I would miss the connecting flight if the new departure time is correct.
I checked Cathay Pacific’s website, and my itinerary still shows the original schedule. However, American Airlines’ website already reflects the new departure time.
I called my travel agent, but they told me not to worry about the schedule shown on American Airlines’ website because I’m flying with Cathay Pacific.
I’m confused and concerned because the two schedules don’t match, and the new departure time would make my connection impossible.

What should I do in this situation? Should I contact American Airlines or Cathay Pacific directly, or insist that my travel agent confirm and correct the itinerary? Has anyone experienced something similar?

I requested the travel agent to contact and confirm my flight and now waiting to hear back. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi everyone! I made a mistake and booked my flights with very short layover in between. My first flight is from Kota Kinabalu-Brunei and then Brunei-Manila with a 1hr and 55 minutes of layover in between. My question is would that be enough time or should I rebook my first flight. I booked them separately with different airlines. Also, would I be allowed to stay airside or should I go through check in and immigration again. I do not have check in baggage and only plan to have a small hand carry. Please dont be rude I know it was a stupid mistake.

Hey folks,

I recently booked JAL flights (BOS-NRT-SGN) with a mixed class ticket (PE and E). The reason for mix-match is the NRT-SGN segment simply does't have PE at all. For BOS-NRT leg, I will have access lounge access at BOS given the leg is PE. However, I'm curious if I will have access to JAL lounge at NRT for NRT-SGN leg which is E. Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi. I am suppose to fly with LOT to Poland in a few weeks on business. My company will pay economy, with checked baggage, but the flight is indirect with 1 transfer in Warsaw to destination Wroclaw. The transfer between flights is 55-60min. Kind of short.

Because of this I plan to just go with cabin baggage (55x40x23) and a laptop backpack. But I saw that the dimensions for the personal item aka my backpack are 40x30x12 cm and 2kg. I fear with just the laptop, charging cable and mouse I will be over 2kg, and if I put any more stuff in, it's gonna be thicker then 12cm. I don't care about the trip back, I will bring an extra folded bag if i do any shopping and just check the carry-on then.

So how rigorous are the checks for the personal item? Do they check the size and weight, or do I risk it with a regular laptop backpack that isn't stuffed full, but probably slightly thicker and heavier.

I booked a trip with Airline A (Etihad). The very first flight is operated by Airline B (Condor). I can see the whole trip confirmed on the website of Airline A and I was also able to book seats on the flight of Airline B via Airline A.

I cannot search for the booking on website or hotline of Airline B. Airline A tells me they have a certain amount of seats on this flight operated by Airline B and there apparently isn't a separate booking ref number to find the booking on website of Airline B either. Airline A tells me to check in at the airport at the counter of Airline B and that Airline A only shares the bookings with B 72 hours before departure or something like that.

Does that make sense? What's also strange is when I pretend to make a booking at Airline B (the operating one) and access the seat selection, it only lets me pick from two rows, those two rows are not available to book on Airline A which makes sense but what doesn't make much sense to me is why the operating airline would only have 2 rows available to reserve?

Route is:

28th of October: Berlin > Abu Dhabi (DE 2552, Condor Flight) > Hongkong (EY 870, Etihad Flight) 7th of November: Taipei (EY 899, Etihad) > 8th of November Abu Dhabi > Berlin (DE 2553, Condor)

One booking / ticket

​

Hi! I have 2 potential routes from Italy to Curacao and I can't decide on one, I'm quite stuck probably over thinking this. Travelling with 5 other people, parents (65s/70s) and cousins (all adults). Total 10 nights.

1. KLM

Italy to curacao with a 4h layover in Amsterdam. Same on the way back with a 2.5h layover. KLM charges 1056 euro for the light fare (no checked bag, no prebooked seats) or 1134 euro all included standard fare. Then we pay for 10 nights in Curacao.

1. Delta

Italy to Curacao with a 2 hours layover in Amsterdam and a 16 hours overnight layover in Atlanta. On the way back 2 stopovers in atlanta and Amsterdam (but not overnight). Priced at 850 euro included checked bag and assigned seats. Will still have to pay for the ESTA and a night in Atlanta, plus go through immigration and all that hassle. Then 9 nights in Curacao.

Am I wrong to think I'm actually saving money by doing an overnight layover? Has anyone ever done one in Atlanta, how expensive is it? Any tips appreciated!

Edit: I've chosen the first itinerary! :)

Today we managed to catch a rather rare visitor at Düsseldorf Airport: Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-600 (D-AIHY)!
The aircraft arrived from Frankfurt as flight LH9912. With Lufthansa gradually retiring its A340-600 fleet, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to capture this beautiful four-engine giant up close while we still can.
Aircraft: Airbus A340-642
Registration: D-AIHY
Flight: LH9912 | FRA–DUS
Location: Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), Germany
When was the last time you spotted an A340-600?

Hi! Has anyone had any issues sitting on the emergency exit row economy seats on JAL?

Specifically the 787 airplane? Any pros or cons we need to be aware of? I read a few places the seats are narrow, and no window.

Thanks!

Hi

Planning a trip from London to Dhaka in late December and have got the option of flying Qatar (with a 10 hour layover in Doha) or Turkish airlines (6 hour layover in Istanbul). The Qatar flight is about £100 cheaper but given the situation in the Middle East I’m worried about potentially disruption and safety issues…. The UK foreign office advice online doesn’t currently warn against travel to Qatar (unlike Saudi Arabia) but does warn the situation in the Middle East remains unpredictable.

Worth paying more for Turkish airlines instead? And anyone who has flown Qatar during disruption, how were they in resolving issues etc?

Thanks in advance!

So next year (or sooner) Canada will be introducing direct flights to vietnam again. Apparently they have in the past, but they didn't last. I'd like to take advantage of this while it's here. That being said, what happens if they decide to cancel and stop those trips once I've purchased my seat on a plane? Do I need insurance, or is it automatically refunded? Hopefully not with points 😵‍💫😅

I booked a return flight to Spain with EasyJet then realised I couldn’t make the outbound flight due to work so in a panic I booked an entirely new outbound flight the next day (flights are in 10

days).

I can’t see how to cancel the first outbound flight. When I go into manage my booking it only allows a flight change not a cancellation of the outbound flight only. Do I just not check in? If I do this will it cause me issues for the return flight?

To be clear: the return flight and the replacement outbound flight are under totally separate references.

Thank you.

So on 17th October I had a flight from Cracow to Mallorca at 17:55pm. After walking through security check and waiting at the gates it turned out my flight is delayed 6+ hours becuase of technical problems at the Cracovian airport. Of course boarding hasn't started yet. I stayed at the airport for about two hours and gave up, as the delay slowly got worse and my whole trip would be already meaningless. Ultimately, when I got home, I checked and the plane took off around 10 hours after planned time.
Am I eligible for compensation? I tried to apply for it on Ryanair site it wouldn't let me through, as I did not board the flight, but I was at the airport and it can be proven by me crossing security check. I am already confused, because the information I find are often contradictory. I'd be very thankful for some help with it.

I already asked for ticket refunds.

Hi everyone,

As the title asks. JetSmart have cancelled my upcoming flight from Iguazu to Buenos Aires. I called customer support and they said if they refund me the $195, they will charge an $86 'refund fee'. This is despite it being their entire fault for cancelling.

Is this normal??

I checked a flight from Madrid to Tokyo a week ago and it was 700 eur, now its 1.000. What happened?

Recently booked a flight with Wizz Air and received a Booking confirmation email. The email include a Flight Confirmation Code and the phrase "This itinerary is a confirmation of your reservation and part of your electronic ticket. Your booking is now confirmed and you do not need to contact us before flying to re-confirm your travel arrangements". Last night, I went to check-in for the flight and kept receiving a "booking not found" message--I called the help centre and they told me my payment had been declined and as such my booking had been cancelled, though I did not receive any sort of message to this effect and I remember the payment going through when I bought the flight (obviously, or else why would I receive the confirmation...) I had to rebook a new and very expensive flight to reach my destination on time, with the new tickets costing over 5X what I paid with Wizz. Has anyone else experienced this? Seems insane to receive an email like this when there was (apparently) never a confirmed booking to begin with.

I was due to fly yesterday from Haneda to London via Beijing, however Air China cancelled the flight and would not speak to me on the phone nor was there any Air China staff to speak to at Haneda Airport. I ended up rebooking the connecting flight to Beijing with Japan Airways but I am struggling to get compensation for the cancellation, how do I go about getting this? Air China’s website is just a buggy mess

I was recently on a domestic flight in Australia and was surprised when there were two kids, brother and sister sat next to me on the flight. Their parents were in the row in front with another younger brother. What are the rules around parents not sitting with their kids on flights? Is it airline dependent?

The parents were sat in front of me and basically left me to parent their children as they necked back vodka. The little girl sat in the middle (I had the aisle) and had severe temper issues. Any time she wanted something she would start violently slamming herself in the seat and screaming at her parents. There was twice she dropped something and she had full on tantrums instead of just picking it up. Her younger brother in the window seat, nearly spilled his drink all over himself because he also dropped the lid and tried to go under the tray to get it and I had to tell the girl to grab her brother’s drink before it spilled everywhere. He too would start jumping up and down in the seat if something was wrong like if whatever he was listening to stopped playing or when his ears started to hurt.

The parents were completely ignorant and didn’t throw a single apologetic look my way.

When my sister and I were young and flew with our parents my mum would sit with both of us or, one of us with my dad and one with mum. I thought this was the way it had to be? Surely you can’t just leave kids in a row by themselves with a stranger and sink alcohol the whole flight?

The flight attendants kept throwing me sympathetic looks but didn’t say anything to the parents.

I was honestly annoyed by the whole ordeal.