Worst travel mistakes of the 2000's : Locked in the lounge

As we look back at the past ten years, and prepare ourselves for the next ten, lets take a moment to remember the dumbest mistake we ever made when traveling. For the coming week, we'll entertain you with embarrassing stories of our dumbest travel mistakes, all for the sole purpose of your entertainment.

For me, the dumbest thing I did in the past ten years was fall asleep in the airport arrivals lounge.

It all happened when I arrived at Heathrow after a quick trip to New York. As I had a 4 hour layover, I decided to go landside for a full (free) English breakfast in the lounge followed by a quick shower. I then took "a short nap" in the serenity room.

This room was probably one of the quietest and most comfortable in the airport, because I was awoken by a security guard 17 hours later. This also happened to be a full 9 hours after the lounge had closed for the day. I either set off the alarm, or he was on his rounds checking for stupid people who fall asleep in the lounge.

A British Airways representative met me and apologized profusely for failing to notice I was still in the lounge. The airline then took care of rebooking me for a flight to Amsterdam the next morning, and provided a room at the airport Sheraton.

This is by no means the only stupid thing I've done during my many years of traveling, but it is the one that has stuck with the most - and the one that always brings back fond memories of the almost 325 trips I took passing through Heathrow Airport.

Tomorrow we'll bring you another story of a dumb travel mistake, and later this week you'll have the chance to tell us your own favorite - with a chance at winning a fantastic prize!

Filed under: Europe, United Kingdom, Airlines, Airports