I just had to travel cross country for a work trip, and it was the most ridiculous thing ever

Just wanted to vent about my frustrations with travel. We all know about the issues: delays, cancellations, lost luggage. I’m sure you’ve got a million in the comments. But I’m not from America and it was a really shocking experience, especially when you consider this was a business trip and I was paying a lot of money for the privilege. <br><br>So I had to travel from Seattle to NYC for a conference. It’s a 5 hour flight. I paid a lot for a ticket in first class, just because I could get better sleep. <br><br>First flight: delayed by 2 hours. No big deal. <br><br>Second flight: delayed by 6 hours. Now I have missed my conference. I ask to be reimbursed for my ticket. Nothing. No compensation. I’m told this is just part of air travel. It’s like… I travel from Europe to the US all the time and have never had issues like this. <br><br>I’m finally on a plane that leaves. It’s a 5 hour flight. What could go wrong? I sit down in my seat. I ask for a glass of wine. Five minutes later, a flight attendant comes over with a small glass of wine and a meal. This is the meal? It’s literally a small sandwich and a cookie. I’ve had better food on a European bus. <br><br>About an hour into the flight, we hit some turbulence. Everyone’s phone loses signal. An elderly woman falls over and hits her head. It’s pretty scary and intense. Nothing like I ever had before. <br><br>After another hour of flying, the pilot announces that we’re going to make an emergency landing. I have no idea why, but we just are. We divert to the nearest major airport, which isn’t even on the way.<br><br>The flight is diverted. The flight crew assure us that we will be given hotel rooms and food and that the airline will reimburse us for anything that we purchase. All of this sounds really good. <br><br>A few hours later, everyone gets off the plane and congregates in the airport. I ask to be reimbursed for my conference ticket. No. I ask for a hotel room. No. I ask if I can have something to eat. No. In the end, I gave up and just paid for a hotel and an Uber. The customer service staff were really rude and kind of shrugged me off. I just can’t believe the service here. <br><br>It’s just really stressful and causes a lot of inconvenience. It made me question whether the hassle is worth it. Honestly, not nearly. I’m not American, and this just really reinforced some stereotypes that I had.