What happened? Did you have to re buy the ticket or did the airlines fix you up on another flight?

Sort of.

When I went to Ecuador, I'd booked a ticket to Colombia on points, and then cash for a ticket from Colombia to Ecuador, so they were two separate items. (My points program doesn't have any partners flying to Ecuador) The first flight home from Quito to Bogota was heavily delayed by rain, so I wasn't on the flight from Bogota to Toronto that night.

Obviously, the flight from Quito to Bogota was rescheduled at no charge, since it was that carrier's fault. But the Bogota-Toronto-Edmonton legs were technically "missed flights" since it wasn't really a connection. After spending most of the next morning on hold, Air Canada told me that they could reschedule my flight for just a rebooking fee (I believe it was $100), but for security reasons, the South American call centre could not accept credit cards over the phone, and I'd have to go talk to the AC rep in Quito on Monday. (The next flight was left around midnight Tuesday night, so Monday was fine).

Anyway, the rep in Quito told me that this happens with Avianca-Air Canada connections quite frequently, and there'd be no charge. Great news. Then, on Tuesday - after spending 12 hours in the Bogota airport, one of the crappiest airports imaginable - the boarding agent told me that their computer was showing me still owing the $100. So I pulled out the business card of the Quito rep, said I'd talked to her and she said I was good to go...they let me board and I was on my way. A happy ending at last.

My wife had a cash ticket that was booked all the way on a single itinerary, and that presented its own problems, since although Air Canada was the one that booked the Avianca flight, the two airlines don't really talk to each other and getting a reservation confirmed on both airlines was a huge challenge. In the end, she was issued a handwritten boarding pass because the Avianca system couldn't handle it.

ONCE!!

Luckily they put me on the next flight - 2 days later. I still haven't lived it down.

Twice. Once, I had an early-morning flight from Barcelona to Brussels. I stayed out all night (at a bar and then a club), and was mugged on the street at 4:30am, winding up with a broken nose. They rebooked me at the airport with no problem. The other time, I had an early-morning flight from Minneapolis to Guatemala City via Houston, Slept in, made a mad dash to airport in a taxi, arrived to check in ten minutes before departure time. They rebooked me that afternoon.

Thrice!
Because I'm irresponsible.
In no particular order:
1. Going Seattle to San Francisco. I just didn't catch the bus in time. So I was really sweet to the lady and she let me on the next flight free of charge. Normally, she told me, it would cost me 70 dollars to change it. So if you're less polite, that's the fee. On Alaska Air. Flight leave every few hours (or hour) for California on Alaska, so my wait time was almost nothing.

2. Going to Tunisia in Morocco. Again, I just was dumb. But I got on the next Royal Air Maroc flight for 30 bucks. I may or may not have given a bribe to the ticket man. Seriously. I am not sure. But I only had to wait 3 extra hours and everything was fine.

3. Belize to Seattle. (that was odd, I took a Cesna to catch my flight from S. Belize and the Cesna had to stop down somewhere inbetween so technically it wasn't my fault)I was in luck though that day. Apparently the plane that left before me had major engine trouble. So it had to turn around. HA! And for the record: Everybody was fine, but once the flight returned it took a while to get a brand new airplane so I was able to board when it took off the 2nd time.

Once. Air Europe didn't mark its gates very well, and I was admitted onto the wrong plane. I only found out when someone else had my ticket. I passed through the first gate, and then the stewardess who checked the ticket. On a bus I would have asked where it was going to be sure. In an airport, with people checking tickets 'carefully'?

I went to the office to arrange for another one, and recieved:

No apology. Their excuse was the computers were down, and they couldn't be expected to do a good job.

No free ticket, no cheap ticket. No ticket at all. They maintained they called my name thrice, I didn't appear, and that was the extent of their responsibility. BTW-they never called my name at the gate that I was on.

I should have taken their names down and seen a lawyer. Instead I walked away angry.

The flight only cost 100 euros, so I suppose the lawyer would have cost more than the ticket.
They kindly allowed me to take another flight going out in two hours for 400 euros, and I would have had to pay the whole thing.

This is why I boycott air Europe as much as possible.

Once because I am irresponsible like Prisa and also due to super busy/loud airport and not the best announcement of boarding.

Also like Prisa, it was a west coast frequent flight on Alaska/Horizon. I was in LA on my way home to PDX from Australia and I called my mom to check in... I accidentally started telling her about how I got hurt in an accident that could have been way, way worse. Being a mother, once I opened that door, she had to hear every detail and fuss at me incessantly. I was trying to keep an ear open for the call to the gate and was also standing RIGHT next to it but it was one of those round sections where tons of tiny gates are crammed together. So, I guess I missed them calling people to the gate (it was really hard to understand the intercom) and I never heard my name being called. They also left about 15 minutes early as they tend to do on the flights that leave practically every 30 minutes (LAX-PDX-SEA, etc). So yeah, I was standing right next to the gate and still missed my flight. I went up to inquire as to whether we were boarding since I couldn't really figure out what was going on and it was a few minutes after the board time. Dude looked at me and said, "It just left, look, it's right there." Pointing out the window as my plane taxied away. Seriously?! I double checked my watch, ticket and their clock time, explained how the plane was supposed to be currently boarding, I had been standing right there and didn't hear anything. I was super polite about it and slightly frantic as I really didn't want to spend $100-200 on a fee/new ticket. They pointed me to a different customer service type who booked me on a new flight, no charge, no hassle. They flat out told me it happens all the time, I'm pretty sure because they have so many flights it's just load and go. As long as I didn't have to pay more I was totally cool with it and really appreciated the relaxed yet very helpful customer service.

I still get stressed about missing those little flights, though.

I almost missed a connection in Mexico City due to the flight in being delayed. I ended up sprinting through the airport and immigration/security after trying to decipher a long, rushed speech from the very sweet and caring customer service lady. She worked really hard to get us to the proper gate on time but it involved alot of instructions that I had a hard time understanding after a long day of travelling. And once we got to the gate we were loaded onto one of those transport car things that load at the gate like a plane and then carry you to where the plane really is. Sorry, I don't know what they are called but they look like something out of Star Wars and I'd never even heard of such a thing before. I was cursing my poor Spanish and incredibly grateful for the few folks who were slightly bilingual and assured me I was in the right place. I'm still shocked I caught that flight.

Thanks for all the replies.

From your feedback it sounds as though a missed flight can be made up with a small fee or for free if lucky.

Is that the general idea?

One night I had a nightmare I missed a flight. I got lost behind the airport and could not find my way back in.

That was the reason for this thread. I wondered what would happen if I was ever late for a flight.

I've never had to pay to rebook a flight I'd missed. I think it's only a big issue if everything is overbooked for the next few days.

I've never missed a flight as far as I can remember, but I've definitely had my share of sprinting-through-the-airport-dirty-looks-from-the-other-passengers experiences.

I think the closest I ever came was when I had a layover in Sydney on my way from the States to New Zealand. I had a good three or four hours there. Plenty of time, right? No worries. So I go through security, chill out in the departure lounge for a few hours, eventually hear the first boarding call and reach for my passport to get ready. My passport is gone. Oh, God. I have disobeyed the number one rule of travel and forgotten to keep my eye fixed on it, and now it's missing and oh god oh god I'm not going to be able to get on my flight and worse they probably won't let me rebook for a later one because this is entirely my own fault.

I asked the woman at the counter if anyone had turned it in. No dice. She had me ransack my bags no less than three times. Nada. I retraced my steps since the security checkpoint (which was the last place I knew I had it). Nothing in the bathroom. Nothing on the floor. Nothing anywhere in the departure lounge. Crap.

Finally, as the plane was about to take off and I was near tears, someone from security walkie-talkied the gate and came running up with my passport to save the day. Needless to say, as soon as my plane landed in Dunedin I got my passport surgically attached to my arm.

That was a really close call Arre. I haven't been in the situation where my passport has gone missing. However, I have missed a few domestic flights, resulting in my spending the night uncomfortably in the airport.

From Brisbane back to home, yeah. We missed it because a truck had crashed on the highway. Our travel insurance covered it.

Once I purposefully missed a Boston-LAX flight by taking a shuttle bus that was too close to departure time. I wanted an extra day in Boston without the fee penalty. The airline put me on another flight that night at no charge. This was a long time ago when I was much younger and more reckless. Now days I buy travel insurance.

I too almost missed a flight because of a lost passport. It was handed to me by a security guard. You have no idea how relieved I was, even though this happened in JFK. Yes, after this it WAS surgically attached to me.

Yes when my entire family immigrated to Canada. We were supposed to arrive in Canada 3 days before Christmas, but due to the heavy traffic caused by last-minute shoppers, we missed the flight. I don't know if my parents had to pay extra to get us all onto the next available flight, which was on Christmas. Luckily, we didn't miss the next flight since the streets were relatively empty during Christmas morning. We departed in the afternoon, and thanks to the 15-hour time difference, we arrived just in time for Christmas dinner. It's not everyday you get to spend Christmas with your family on 2 different continents, and while moving to a different country. In so many ways, it was probably the most memorable Christmas to date, and why Christmas will always have an additional special meaning to my family.