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Oh my god, I've missed my flight. How did this happen? Hey there fellow travelers, I'm Mark from Wolters World and today we're going to talk about our actual reasons why people miss their flights because a lot of times you think, oh you miss a flight cuz it's a delay or something happens and my connection didn't work out. Yes, those things kind of happen, but what about the I missed my flight cuz I didn't get to the gate on time? Like how did this happen? Well, here's the thing folks, there's some common things that happen to honest, hard working travelers like you and like me and sometimes we miss a flight just because of crazy things. So, what I want to do is give you a list of
silly reasons that aren't so silly about people, why people really do miss their flights. And I think one thing you need to realize, this is very important, your boarding pass that you printed off and they printed off for you at check-in can lie to you. What I recommend you doing is checking the boards often to make sure that your gate hasn't changed. So, I'm going to Reagan, 60 and 62. We just got to keep checking because these things do change and I see people that get really upset cuz they don't realize the gates change. So, one of the things you want to do just every so often, check it out. Of course, the next thing we got to do is this. Yes, realize that the boarding gate they give you when you
print out your boarding pass, the boarding gate may change. It does happen. That's why it's always important to check those gates again and again. If you're a person like me who doesn't get the boarding pass and you just have it on your phone and you check that one time, oh it's D7 and you don't think about it again until the boarding time and then you go there and it's not there, you have to keep looking because yep, your boarding gate can switch and actually happens quite often. So, it's a good idea to check and keep checking just to be sure cuz just cuz you have that boarding pass, that piece of paper that's going to let you on the plane, doesn't mean it has the right boarding gate when it comes time to board. Now,
speaking of boarding time, I think another reason why people miss their flight is they confuse boarding time with departure time. Look, departure time is when the plane is leaving. Here's the thing, most airlines now close their boarding gate 15 minutes to 30 minutes before the actual departure time. So, what you need to look at is what is my boarding time. The boarding time is when you need to be at the gate to get on the plane, not the departure time. I met many travelers over the years that said, "I got to the gate 15 minutes before departure and everybody was already gone." Yep, that's why it's important not to confuse those things.
You need to be there at boarding time, not departure time. Now, sometimes though, you might be at your boarding gate and you just missed boarding. It does happen because sometimes people miss boarding announcements. Sometimes they're sitting there have their noise-canceling headphones on, you're really into a show, or maybe you're that person that's sleeping on the floor, you know, at by the gate and you're like, "Oh, they'll wake me up. I'll wake up when people go to board their plane." Look, I have met many people, my friend Oliver, he missed his flight. He literally was there to fly back to Germany from his time in Portugal and he slept through and they were literally calling his name over the intercom, but
he had fallen asleep and missed it that way. So, that's why it's really important not to miss those boarding announcements when it's time to get on. That's another thing, if you're at a lounge, don't think they're going to announce the boarding of different flights in the lounge cuz I know some people like, "Oh, I'm in the lounge, it's all fancy. They're going to tell me when I need to head out." No, they're not going to do that. Some do, but a lot don't, so it's good that you know when you need to be there. Cuz sometimes those boarding announcements are in another language or it might be, "Oh, we are going to be taking a bus out here, so hurry up and get on now because well,
if you're not on the bus, we're not going to take any more people." These things happen. Now, another really, really frustrating reason why people miss their flights is they're stuck at the airport bar or restaurant waiting to pay their bill. Look, you do not want to wait until the last minute to pay for your drinks and your food at the airport restaurant because you're in a hurry, they're not. They're just like, "Hey, okay, I'll go get it." And I've seen people literally miss flights, leave spouses behind cuz they wanted to have another drink and they hadn't paid, so someone had to pay for it. So, what I recommend, if you're getting relatively close to boarding time, you're thinking
about having a drink, say, "Hey, I want one more drink, but bring the bill when you bring that back and I'll pay now to get that out of the way." Or just stop drinking sooner or finish eating sooner and then get to your gate cuz honestly, I've seen many people over the years miss their flight cuz they were stuck waiting for their bill at Chili's. Now, another honest, but frustrating reason why people miss their flights, traffic and parking. You know that 20 years of talking about redoing the highways kind of thing, that project that never gets started? Well, guess what? The day that you're going to the airport will be the day that project finally begins and that delays you a half an hour. And then
you're trying to find parking and your favorite parking garage is actually booked full and then you got to figure out another place to go. These little things in the morning can add up. This is why all those dads that freak out like, "We need to get to the airport like 6 hours early just to be safe." Yeah, that is one of those things. So, you want to make sure you're checking the traffic and parking situation beforehand so you know you get a place to park, but also check the traffic the day before or the week before on the day you're going to go, see what the traffic's like on that day, if there's going to be any construction going on so you can kind of plan around that. And also, some people think, "Oh,
Google Maps says it takes me 30 minutes to get to the airport, so I'll be at the airport in 30 minutes." And then they don't factor in the time from getting from the parking lot to security, through security and all these things. And so, that's another thing cuz honestly, I'll be honest, security is another reason because let's be honest, we've all gone to airports where it was like 5 minutes to get through security and then the next time we went, it took 2 hours. Hello, Chicago O'Hare. Tell you what, Chicago O'Hare Terminal 5, I'm in and out, but I go to like Terminal 2 and I'm like, "Dude, what is taking so long?" And that's why it's really important. It's what's cool is if you're in the
there's actually uh, things that'll track how long it takes to get through, you know, uh, security checks to kind of give you an idea. But then you have places like Dublin, which sometimes it's really fast and other times, I've been in line for 2 hours. In Rome, I've been in line for 2 hours, you know? So, you want to kind of factor that in because if you underestimate the security times, it's not their fault you didn't get through security. And that's why I think another reason why people miss flights is they assume every airport works like their home airport. Look, the airport I fly out of, literally, the longest I've ever been in the security line is 3 minutes. That is including me taking off
my coat and going through security. Like going through and getting buzzed and stuff. It's fast. I know other places it can take a lot longer. So, you want to make sure you plan that. If you're going to be flying back from Orlando, right? You're going to go to Disney or Epic Universe and you're coming back, I mean, MCO is just insane and it takes a long time to get through. You got to plan for those things. It's not like your airport back home. If you're going to be going through Charles de Gaulle, you're going to go through security, then you got to take buses sometimes to go other parts. That can cause you to miss some flights. So, just be aware of all the little extra time things that can add on
because it's not your home airport. And I think it's important for me to go back to that security thing cuz another thing people don't realize is sometimes you do get stopped by security. Maybe you have something packed wrong. Maybe you have, you know, you have too many liquids or maybe the medicine that are there they're not sure about or maybe, yeah, we've had it before where Liam, we had Liam's, you know, like carriage thing or like the you know, the pumpkin the pumpkin seat thing you for parents when you think you carry your kid around in, it like tested and set off the alarm for like bomb materials. I'm like, what? And so, literally, we had to go through the whole process. They took the whole thing
apart, put it back together. It was a 35-minute ordeal. Luckily, we're there with plenty of time to get our flight, but you have to think about these things. Little things like that can add on time here and there and next thing you know, you miss your boarding time and then you miss your flight. And kind of going along with the different airports kind of thing, I also think sometimes people forget domestic flights versus international flights sometimes have different procedures for getting on. Maybe it's in terms of how, you know, when the boarding gate closes, what documentation you need, where they are in the airport cuz it might be the Oh, the international terminal's farther
away. So, sometimes you don't kind of plan for that. But, also probably the biggest one is you don't password You don't kind of plan for passport control cuz if you're flying out of Lisbon or you're flying out of Portugal and you've got to go through the non-EU line with your passport before you get to go to your gate, that can add on 20, 30 minutes, 40 minutes. I mean, you've seen horror stories of the Algarve in the south of Portugal with all the Brits trying to get back home, but the lines were so long and that can make you miss things. Also, if there's any strikes or anything going on at the airport, that might add on to something. And you hear in the summer times you see literally
people lined up outside of airports because of so few people at security cuz the security teams are on strike at that time. So, you want to be aware of all those things out there. Now, another thing I think is very important to mention is sometimes people miss their flights because of a bad advice from their friends. Look, it is up to you to get to that boarding gate in time to board and get on your plane. If your friends like, "Oh, no, we can just stay at the lounge a little bit longer. Oh, let's just have one more drink." No, no, no. Do not let them pressure you into that. Be like, "Hey, look, you want to stay for another drink, you stay for another drink. You want to stay in the
lounge longer, you stay in the lounge longer." I know people that have tried to like make their friends happy and stay with them longer and then they missed their flight, okay? So, don't take that bad advice from your friends, okay? And then there's this one. The one that so many people think will happen for them. And they think that the airline will hold the plane for them. They know we're coming in late. They wouldn't leave without us. We have so many people that are on that flight. They're just going to hold the plane for us. No, they are not going to hold the plane for you. Yes, it does happen to
sometimes, but in general, just realize they will not hold the plane for you. They will not hold the boarding door for you. They once that door shuts, it's over and you are missing that flight. So, don't get your hopes up that they're hold that gate for you. They're going to hold up that plane for you because honestly, they're not. They are just as my friend said, "Flying is just public transportation. It's a bus with wings." And they're just going to go. And how many of you have been running that bus stop to get your bus and the bus takes off without you and you're right there at the door?
Airlines do the same thing. Now, I do want to tell you if you do miss your flight, go straight away if there's somebody at the gate, go straight to them to see if they can help you or go to the help desk or call the number they have for their phone line or go on to the app on here and see if they can book you on another flight that way cuz sometimes it's not your fault and a lot of times it's not your fault that you miss a flight. But there are people to help you on there. So, make sure you hop on with your airline and see if they can get you on to another flight. So, I hope you haven't missed too many flights over the years. If you have, let us know in the comments below and share your story
of frustration of failed flying away on vacation. Anyway, I wish you all the best and I'll say thank you for watching and a special thank you to all of our members on YouTube and our patrons on Patreon who help make videos like this possible. We really appreciate your support and I'll say bye from here in London.
