perder el vuelo
verbCEFR B1
What does “perder el vuelo” mean in English?
to miss a flight
to miss a flight (fail to board in time; the flight departs without the passenger)
Example sentences
Perdimos el vuelo de conexión porque el primer avión se retrasó dos horas y, cuando llegamos a la puerta del segundo, ya había cerrado el embarque diez minutos antes.
We missed the connecting flight because the first plane was delayed by two hours and, when we reached the second gate, boarding had already closed ten minutes earlier.
Si la aerolínea nos hubiera avisado a tiempo del retraso, no habríamos perdido la conexión ni habríamos tenido que pasar la noche en el aeropuerto sin ningún tipo de asistencia.
If the airline had warned us in time about the delay, we wouldn't have missed the connection or had to spend the night in the airport with no assistance of any kind.
How to use it
Perder el vuelo means 'to miss a flight' — using the transitive verb perder (to lose/miss) with the definite article: 'perdí el vuelo', 'hemos perdido la conexión'. Note that perder is stem-changing (pierde, pierden) and irregular in the present. In English 'miss' is used for transport; in Spanish perder handles both 'lose' (objects) and 'miss' (transport). The perfect tense is common in complaint registers: 'hemos perdido el vuelo por su culpa' (we missed the flight because of you).
Common mistake
English speakers sometimes say 'faltamos al vuelo' — this is wrong. Faltar is used for missing appointments or classes (faltar a clase), not for missing transport. For transport, always use perder: perder el vuelo, perder el tren, perder el autobús.