Ooops - wrong destination
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Many years ago an elderly couple drove from Wolverhampton to Plymouth to catch the ro-ro ferry to Santander; their first excursion abroad.
They carefully followed the signs to the ferries, and joined a queue of cars.
Shortly afterwards they were waved on to the ferry; and a few minutes later it set off.
When someone knocked on the car window and asked for the fare, they were quite indignant when it was explained that they would be in Cornwall in about 3 minutes and not Santander in 24 hours.
They carefully followed the signs to the ferries, and joined a queue of cars.
Shortly afterwards they were waved on to the ferry; and a few minutes later it set off.
When someone knocked on the car window and asked for the fare, they were quite indignant when it was explained that they would be in Cornwall in about 3 minutes and not Santander in 24 hours.
Up at PLH airport we held a DHC7 JER/GCI departure on the runway whilst they were whisked out to board it in a Landrover
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I would have thought that BA's gate system would have prevented a person with the wrong ticket from boarding the wrong aircraft. Therefore, I'll suggest this gentlemen and his wife went to the destination on their tickets. Which means he purchased a tickets for somewhere they didn't want to go. Therefore, they were sold by someone who may not have done their job properly. I would have thought a good ticket agent would not only have have confirmed the destination country but also in passing, ask what the traveller intended to do on arrival. Even if just to book a hotel, sell some currency or arrange an excursion. You would also have thought that a "professional" person would have put the cost and flight time through their own "credibility filter" and smelt something wrong. Or would this be the sort of dentist who looks in the wrong hole for somebody's teeth?
I've also seen similar in Europe. People thinking that their flight to Kristiansund was shorter than they expected, only to find they were a few miles short in Kristiansand. People arriving in Sandefjord and asking how they catch the bus to Olso, not realising that real airlines fly direct. Americans doing DIY flight itineraries, arriving at Gatwick and departing from that other well known London airport in Luton (at least they weren't in the London in Ontario).
Returning to the dentist, if I were BA, I'd tell him to go away.
I've also seen similar in Europe. People thinking that their flight to Kristiansund was shorter than they expected, only to find they were a few miles short in Kristiansand. People arriving in Sandefjord and asking how they catch the bus to Olso, not realising that real airlines fly direct. Americans doing DIY flight itineraries, arriving at Gatwick and departing from that other well known London airport in Luton (at least they weren't in the London in Ontario).
Returning to the dentist, if I were BA, I'd tell him to go away.
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Some years ago I was associated with an airline that some might refer to as "Blue Paranoia", a new Captain was joining and needed a flight booking from FRA to FCO, "Paranoia" didn't trust me to book flights (and recharge) so their secretarial staff, bless them, booked this Captain something like a 6am departure from Frankfurt/Hahn
I didn't have too much time for this Captain, indeed he didn't last in the job very long, so I saw the amusing side of picturing him getting from Frankfurt to Hahn at something like 2am, but thereafter "Paranoia" and myself, at a meeting, agreed that I would do the flight bookings in the future.
I didn't have too much time for this Captain, indeed he didn't last in the job very long, so I saw the amusing side of picturing him getting from Frankfurt to Hahn at something like 2am, but thereafter "Paranoia" and myself, at a meeting, agreed that I would do the flight bookings in the future.
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Many moons ago a US couple boarded a flight from LAX to Oakland. They were a little surprised many hours later to be still in flight. Enquiring of the cabin crew what was happening they were told they were approaching Honolulu and would land within the hour!
The couple had boarded an Air NZ flight LAX to Auckland. The couple mistaking Auckland for Oakland had somehow managed not only to board with an incorrect boarding pass but had failed to see how they required passports for a short domestic flight that departed from the International terminal! ANZ were fined a huge amount but whether the immigration folk at LAX suffered at all is not known.
The couple had boarded an Air NZ flight LAX to Auckland. The couple mistaking Auckland for Oakland had somehow managed not only to board with an incorrect boarding pass but had failed to see how they required passports for a short domestic flight that departed from the International terminal! ANZ were fined a huge amount but whether the immigration folk at LAX suffered at all is not known.
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Immigration folk at LAX? There are no 'immigration' checks on flights departing the US. Most airlines check passports at the gate and NZ's SOPs would require it.
This may be an urban myth ...
This may be an urban myth ...
This may be an urban myth ...
It was an American college student returning from a holiday in Europe in 1985. He flew LHR-LAX on Air New Zealand and was meant to take a connecting flight to OAK, but due to a mix-up ended up with the rest of the ANZ transit passengers reboarding the original aircraft for the onward flight to AKL.
His ensuing 15 minutes of fame included an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show, recounting his adventure.
I was once on a BA flight to Milan, early morning departure from LHR, early 1982 I think it was, the aircraft was a Trident. There had been some system problem with check-in/boarding pass printing at Heathrow and there was a Munich flight departing at a similar time from an adjacent gate. We were sitting in our seats at the gate while the cabin crew TWICE did a head count and asked every row of Pax if they were travelling to Munich. No answer from anyone, most noticeably the pin-striped banker type in the row in front of me, who kept his head down in his Times. It was only as we were taxying to 10R and the Captain announced "Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to flight BAxxx (568 I think but can't be sure) to Milan, that said banker type exploded "Milan? Milan? I'm going to Munich!!" We pulled over when about 4th in line to depart, so he could be taken off the aircraft. I always wondered if the Munich aircraft pulled over as well.
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Squeezy flight from GVA to LGW. Crew counted an extra passenger before door closed. Announcement made, second announcement asking everyone to check their boarding cards for flight number destination. Flight number and destination repeated while everyone did same. Finally an announcement please have your boarding cards ready for inspection ... All of the above done in English only (U2 aircraft and crew)
They found the culprit, backpacker who spoke some English, headed for Luton which was boarding from adjacent gate.
They found the culprit, backpacker who spoke some English, headed for Luton which was boarding from adjacent gate.
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Muscat, Oman vs. Amman, Jordan
I can't even begin to tell you how many times people / travel agents have mistakenly booked, and taken flights to the capital city of Jordan, Amman, when they really wanted to be traveling to the Sultanate of Oman. Magnificent!
I wouldn't trust travel agents at all. I told the company one that I wanted to go by train from Stockholm to Copenhagen.
'You can't do that' she said.
'Yes, I can. They have opened a bridge across the sea - the Oresund bridge. the trains and a road runs across it.'
'I'll get back to you'.
30 minutes later
'The train takes 24 hours and you have to change 4 times'
'Funny, that is not what SJ, the Swedish railway people say'
'Well, it does'.
'Don't bother', I said.
SJ were quite happy to take a booking over the 'phone and have the tickets ready for me to pick up at Stockholm station.....
Later, the amount of travel had decreased so the company went from a contract with the travel agent to individual ticket pricing. I pointed out that if I booked my flight direct with BA on my credit card, it cost £4.50. If the travel agent booked the flight (and they charged the full BA website price to us!) they charged £15 for doing it.......I was told to book direct.
Further back in time, when it was a big multinational before it got split up, the company changed travel agent - and overall business travel was in the £100's of thousands back in the 1980's. The new lot were more expensive, incompetent (got several wrong destinations for people) but had the advantage that they were owned by the wife of a main Board Director!
'You can't do that' she said.
'Yes, I can. They have opened a bridge across the sea - the Oresund bridge. the trains and a road runs across it.'
'I'll get back to you'.
30 minutes later
'The train takes 24 hours and you have to change 4 times'
'Funny, that is not what SJ, the Swedish railway people say'
'Well, it does'.
'Don't bother', I said.
SJ were quite happy to take a booking over the 'phone and have the tickets ready for me to pick up at Stockholm station.....
Later, the amount of travel had decreased so the company went from a contract with the travel agent to individual ticket pricing. I pointed out that if I booked my flight direct with BA on my credit card, it cost £4.50. If the travel agent booked the flight (and they charged the full BA website price to us!) they charged £15 for doing it.......I was told to book direct.
Further back in time, when it was a big multinational before it got split up, the company changed travel agent - and overall business travel was in the £100's of thousands back in the 1980's. The new lot were more expensive, incompetent (got several wrong destinations for people) but had the advantage that they were owned by the wife of a main Board Director!
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OK, I had the opposite experience. I was booking a round trip from home port to LAX leaving Sunday.
Now, my home airport was notorious for very high fares, such that we often shopped around for other fields within driving distance (there are several).
So, I made it known that I would be staying overnight the preceding Saturday in another city, and perhaps the agent should explore that opportunity. Agent thought a minute, said "You're staying Sat. night, right?"
"Yes"
"I'll call you right back" - which he did. "Here's what we'll do. We'll fly you to your Sat. location, buy the room, taxi, and meals, fly you back to home city to catch the LAX flight, then fly back home at the end of the week. And all this saves your company $400 or so compared to standard RT fare"!
Oy Vey!
Now, my home airport was notorious for very high fares, such that we often shopped around for other fields within driving distance (there are several).
So, I made it known that I would be staying overnight the preceding Saturday in another city, and perhaps the agent should explore that opportunity. Agent thought a minute, said "You're staying Sat. night, right?"
"Yes"
"I'll call you right back" - which he did. "Here's what we'll do. We'll fly you to your Sat. location, buy the room, taxi, and meals, fly you back to home city to catch the LAX flight, then fly back home at the end of the week. And all this saves your company $400 or so compared to standard RT fare"!
Oy Vey!
