I’m always intrigued by situations that come up in travel. It seems like while travel is amazing, it can also bring out the worst in people.
(SEE ALSO: Woman FURIOUS After Fiancee Takes $2,000 To Not Board Delta Flight)
In some cases, travel can be super stressful, and so it’s only natural that you might find yourself in an unfamiliar or uncomfortable situation. Personally, I try to follow my 2 rules of traveling when things go wrong.
Man Boards Plane… But His Wife Is Nowhere To Be Found
Reddit’s “Am I The A******” forum gives people an opportunity to share unusual situations and ask strangers to weigh in on whether what they did was correct or not. The original post in this situation is quite long, but I will attempt to summarize:
- A man and his wife were visiting their daughter, who is in college across the country
- He is a “Type A” personality and prefers to have everything organized and make sure that we get where we need to be early, especially when traveling.
- His wife is the opposite, very “go with the flow” and “we will get there when we get there”.
- On a recent trip, they were connecting and when they got to the terminal in their connecting airport, they had about 15 minutes until the plane was set to board.
- His wife wanted coffee and wasn’t happy with the off-brand coffee near their gate – instead she wanted Starbucks, which was in another terminal (a train ride away).
- As they started calling boarding groups, his wife had not returned. Eventually, the gate agent told him he needed to either get on the plane or they were going to shut the door. He got on the plane
- When his wife got to the gate, they would not re-open the boarding door and she wanted him to get off the plane. He refused and stayed on the plane. His reasoning was that this had happened with a previous trip to visit their daughter, and due to the wife’s lateness they BOTH missed the flight, costing them a day with their daughter.
The Reaction
The reaction was overwhelmingly in favor of the poster. Here were a few of my favorite comments
I stopped being the caretaker for my partner after the first time we missed a flight. Told him nope never again. Next two flights he missed and man he bitched. Explained again he’s a damn adult and has choices to make. The third time he missed a 10 day cruise. He’s never been late again. He’s pissed about it but listens to me and gets up and ready and out the door on time.
You are not responsible for waking her up. You are not responsible for getting her out the door. She’s an adult and she can do what she wants.
Imagine missing time with your child because you thought coffee was more important? During a move no less. The only option is to stop coddling your wife as apparently people have been doing all her life. Leave on the dot, every time. Eventually she’ll learn to be on time or be left behind. The world doesn’t revolve around her and it’s high time for her to grow up.
They wouldn’t let you deplane even if you asked. Your wife needs to grow up
My Take
I first read about this story over at View from the Wing, where Gary suggests
- You’re doing your travel companions a favor by going without them
- They may be perfectly capable of traveling by themselves
- It’s the financially responsible move
I agree, and I’m fortunate that my wife is a similar type of traveler to me, though we have sprinted through the airport a time or two… On a recent flight when we (uncharacteristically) realized that we were much later than we thought we were going to be, I did go ahead of her, but that was mostly because I’m faster and I wanted to have at least ONE of us there to let the gate agents know we were on our way. Had they offered me the ultimatum to leave her behind, I would have stayed. But it might have been different if it had been because she was off getting Starbucks a terminal away.
I’m reminded of the Holderness Family video of the two types of airport people (which is hilarious)
The Bottom Line
A man posted on Reddit about how he left his wife at the airport because she left the gate area to go to another terminal to get Starbucks and wasn’t back when the boarding doors were closing. He chose to stay on the plane to visit his daughter across the country, and now he says his wife hasn’t spoken to him in a week.
What do you think? Was the man right to leave his wife at the airport?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
It depends on the penalties for missing the flight and possibly missing the hotel reservation.
All travelers should plan ahead of time what to do in case of separation or one person suffers a stroke.
She deserved to be left behind….. PERIOD!!
Hope she enjoyed her coffee. Her selfishness set into motion what transpired.