Women Take Delta From Barcelona To Boston. Then They Have To Emergency Land In Portugal. Days Later, They’re Still There

Finding out your flight is delayed can leave you feeling pretty helpless.

However, no matter how delayed your flight is, how uncomfortable your seat is, or how long it takes for you to get your bags, you’re probably going to have a better time than these two travelers. In a video with over 1.8 million views, TikTok user Eve (@evelillyyy) explains how a Delta flight from Barcelona to Boston turned into a travel nightmare, resulting in them getting home several days after they left.

According to Eve, the journey began with a flight from Barcelona toward their destination. At least, that’s how it was supposed to go. In reality, the flight had to have an “emergency landing in Portugal due to smoke in cabin.”

And so, Eve and her travel partner, Jos, landed in Portugal, ready to get on the next flight home. This would not happen for several days.

Stuck In Portugal

After landing, passengers were told that they would likely need overnight accommodations. From there, they were deboarded, made to go through Portuguese passport control, and then sent on their way. Eve and Jos say they were left wondering how they can actually get a hotel to stay in for the night—and whether there would be a flight for them in the morning.

Eventually, Eve says they decided to follow the crowd to the buses, as there was no Delta representative at the airport. This ended up being a good move, as the pair were brought to a hotel for the night.

Even then, Eve says their future was uncertain.

“Go down to lobby bc we need to ask ppl what we even do next,” she recounts in the video’s overlay text. “No one knows anything!”

The pair then went to sleep. The next morning, Eve says they called Delta, which managed to arrange them a new flight for that afternoon. Knowing that this allowed them a little free time, they decided to go to the beach before getting to the airport.

They would not, it turns out, be getting on a flight that day.

The Next Flight Is Cancelled

Upon arriving at the airport, they were greeted by a sign that read, “flight cancelled.”

“Bro genuinely what do we even do,” she writes in the video’s overlay text.

According to Eve, both she and Jos were left in the dark about where to go or what to do next. Even calling Delta initially proved fruitless as the pair were stuck on hold, she says.

“Initial crashout bc genuinely we have no idea what to do,” she writes. “No one’s telling us anything.”

Eventually, she says Delta picked up. The good news was that Delta offered them a flight home. The bad news is that it is the next day and involves “two risky connections,” according to Eve.

“We’ll take it!” the TikToker writes.

One might think that the troubles were over for Eve and Jos. Unfortunately, they had one more hurdle to surmount: actually getting a hotel.

The Hotel Won’t Take Them

From here, Eve says the pair had to wait in line for a bus. According to Eve, they would only be provided with a hotel if they took the Delta-approved transportation. Consequently, they waited for the Delta-approved bus. While it took “forever,” it eventually arrived and took them to a hotel where there were “only 5 rooms left.”

While Eve says she initially believed they would be getting one of these five rooms, it turns out that there were “actually ZERO available rooms.” At this point, she says a hotel worker called Delta. The Delta worker, according to Eve, told Eve and Jos to take a rideshare to another hotel—a Holiday Inn.

When they got to the Holiday Inn, however, they were told that because they did not use Delta-approved transportation, they could not get a room, she claims.

“Tried to kick us out because we didn’t arrive on the delta bus. ngl we genuinely crashed tfo,” she writes.

This crashout may have played to their favor, as Eve suspects her tears may have been a motivating factor in the pair actually getting a room. Trying to make the best out of a bad situation, the two decided to have (hopefully) one final night in Portugal.

They Make It Home

The next morning, the pair had breakfast, got into an Uber, and made their way to the airport.

“PLEASE GOD LET TODAY GO AS PLANNED,” she writes.

Already, there were issues. The pair intended to fly from Porto to Amsterdam to JFK to Boston. However, the Amsterdam to JFK flight was delayed.

“We will be cutting it close and certainly cannot let them check our bags at the gate,” Eve says of the updated situation.

The pair were forced to check their bags at the gate.

Despite all of this, they managed to make it to Amsterdam, then through to New York with their bags and bodies intact. While there were some more slight delays, the pair eventually made it back home to Boston.

“LANDED IN BOSTON THANK GOD,” she writes, followed by a prayer hands emoji.

In an email to BroBible, a Delta spokesperson provided the following statement: “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience as a result of this unplanned diversion, which required customers to be manually rebooked on new flights. All customers were accommodated on alternative flights from Porto to their destinations, which included travel on our partner airlines. This is not the experience that Delta strives to provide, so as a gesture of goodwill, our Customer Care team has also reached out to customers directly to offer a full refund for eligible tickets.”

What Can You Do In This Situation?

Seeing all this trouble, one may wonder what someone in Eve’s situation can do—apart from simply kissing the ground and being thankful that she made it home.

As it turns out, Eve and Jos may be entitled to more than they think.

In short, their flight was coming from the European Union. The EU has a ton of protections for air travelers. For example, Eve and Jos should not have to pay for their transportation, hotels, or meals. If they submit receipts for these expenses, they can get them compensated.

Not only that, but they may be entitled to €600 each. Under the EU261 compensation schedule, a cancellation involving a flight of over 3,500 kilometers provides each passenger with €600 under certain circumstances. This is paid on top of food and accommodation expenses.

Furthermore, it’s possible that they could get an additional €600 each for the other canceled flight. This means that, in total, the pair could receive €2400, plus payment for any costs incurred during their travels.

It’s still annoying to deal with—but it’s a lot better than showing up two days later than you thought with a lighter wallet.

BroBible reached out to Eve via Instagram direct message and comment.