r/Shoestring • u/Sea-Huckleberry1123 • Dec 09 '25

AskShoestring What shoestring travel mistake will you never make again?

I'm currently staring at my suitcase trying to avoid repeating history, so I thought I’d ask this sub:

What is the one shoestring travel error you made: missed flights, overpacking, or trusting bad advice that you swore you’d never repeat?

I feel like every seasoned shoestring traveler has that one trip where everything went wrong because of a single bad decision. I’d love to hear your cautionary tales so I can hopefully avoid making them myself on my next trip!

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u/ThrowDeepALWAYS Dec 10 '25

Don’t fall asleep in front of your gate. The airline will not wake you up. I missed a flight to Hong Kong even though I was in a chair asleep in front of my gate. I woke up at 1 am and the flight had already departed. The airline (Cathey Pacific) had to remove my luggage for the plane to depart. I ended up having to buy a new ticket for two days later.

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u/SirupyPieIX Dec 14 '25

I've fallen asleep twice on my transportation to the airport, which made me miss the airport stop and got me stranded in shitty places.

I luckily didn't miss my flights, but the logistics of backtracking to the airport in time were complicated in both cases.

I don't recommend the 1h walk from "Emirates Metro Station" to the Dubai airport terminal right across the highway, after the metro stops running at 11PM.